Microsoft Virtual Earth platforms
Unlike Google Earth, Virtual Earth is a Map designing/development tool. It can be used to design /develop customized, immersive end-user experiences. Virtual Earth provides unique opportunities for developers to incorporate both location and local search features into their Web applications.
By developing on the Virtual Earth platform, you can develop immersive experiences for desktop or mobile based on high-resolution map detail, aerial imagery, bird’s eye views, and 3D city models. You can also develop deep functionality with customized content layers and map controls.
The Virtual Earth platform delivers the flexible development tools, robust features and functionality to enable customers in every industry to connect in an efficient way with their customers, visualize business information, and manage resources.
Virtual Earth consists of 3 platforms
Virtual Earth Map Control: This is a very helpful JavaScript programming model. It helps in creating rich maps and detailed imagery. And helps user to search, discover, explore, plan, and share information about specific locations.
Virtual Earth Web Services: This offers static map images (.gif, .jpeg, and .png), search options, geocoding (the process of finding associated geographic coordinates (often expressed as latitude and longitude) from other geographic data, such as street addresses, or zip codes (postal codes), reverse geocoding and routing.
MapPoint Web Service: It is a programmable web service that is hosted by Microsoft and is used buy enterprises and independent users to update and integrate location based services such as maps, driving directions, and proximity searches into various software applications and business processes.
What Virtual Earth covers: The virtual earth contains various levels of coverage for the world (country/region etc). The major geographic coverage properties:
Street Level Information:
Full: Contains nearly 90% of street level data of the country or the region specified. Remote areas are not covered that efficiently.
Major cities only: Contains the details of the streets and roads of major cities only. The details of the rural area are restricted to highways only.
Capital Only: contains the complete street level data of the capital city of the specified country. Only important roads are highlighted for the other regions.
Highways Only: Only the Highway details of the region are made available.
Geocoding Accuracy:
Rooftop: In the given Region Using this method, the coordinates (latitude and longitude) to the centre of the object/building/location in concern are calculated.
Address: In the given Region, the coordinates for the street in front of the building are resolved. This is an indirect method, means works on the inference of the building.
Street Name: In the given region the coordinates for the street on which the building is located is calculated.
Basic: The geocoding accuracy is basic when a country or a region has low quality data provider or there is no specific support available. The virtual earth tries to resolve the requirements on its own but the accuracy of the output is not guaranteed.
Routing:
Full: For a given region, a route can be calculated between two locations.
Basic: there is no basic relevant data available for the region. Virtual earth tries to resolve it but again the results are not guaranteed.
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