Here's a shocker*: Microsoft's Streetside service has hit a bumpy road in Germany. The company says it's shut down Streetside imagery in Germany after complaints about the way the company was handling blurring requests. Microsoft spokesperson Thomas Baumgartner tells PCWorld that he's not sure if or when Streetside will be reinstated in Germany. A Microsoft statement says that the complaints are from "customers," not from any government data protection-related agencies. We have learned that there are a limited number of customers in Germany who raised concerns about the way we are pur [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Local | Microsoft: Bing Streetside | Microsoft: Outside US

Microsoft's Streetside photo service will be taking photos across Europe before the end of the year. The expansion comes on the heels of its launch in Germany earlier this year -- a move that's generated far less resistance than Google's Street View service. According to German news reports today, Bing's Streetside service has received about 90,000 requests from German residents wanting their homes removed, while Google received about 244,000 similar requests when Street View launched there last year. "Compared with other services, the acceptance of our service is great," Microsoft spokesw [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Local | Microsoft: Bing Streetside

Bing Maps has added what it's calling a "significant enhancement" to its Streetside product, but the best version remains the one that's only available with Microsoft's Silverlight plugin installed. According to today's announcement, the Streetside upgrades are both structural and functional. On the structural side, Bing has eliminated what it calls "bubbles" of street-level views and replaced them a more seamless collection of imagery. They did this by using technology from another Microsoft project called Street Slide, and the new desktop experience more closely resembles how Streetsi [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Local | Microsoft: Bing Maps & Local | Microsoft: Bing Streetside

It's probably not something that you can wrap your head around pretty quickly. It's also not something you can describe in quick, easily digestible terms. "It" is a new Microsoft Bing effort called Read/Write World that has some pretty lofty goals: things like indexing and connecting all of the world's "geo-linked media." And not just indexing and connecting all this media, but also making it easy to use and consume, too, on any platform and type of device. It's stuff like maps, photos, panoramas, movies, business listings -- almost anything that can be tied to a physical location - [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Mobile | Features: General | Microsoft: Bing Maps & Local | Microsoft: Bing Streetside | Microsoft: Photosynth

Well, that didn't take long. Just days after announcing plans to operate its Streetside map/photo service in Germany, Microsoft is already dealing with its first governmental objection. Thomas Kranig, head of the Bavarian State Office for Data Protection, has issued a statement (in German; here's a Google translation to English) giving objections to Bing's plans for letting residents opt-out of Streetside photography. In short, Kranig says Bing should allow residents to opt-out before any photographs are published online. Bing's plan is to publish the photographs first and then allow re [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Local | Microsoft: Bing Streetside | Microsoft: Outside US

Hoping to avoid the problems that have plagued Google's Street View service, Microsoft says it will launch its version -- Streetside -- in Germany next month. Microsoft Germany tells Deutsche Welle that Streetside vehicles will begin driving in four cities (Nuremberg, Furth, Erlangen and Augsburg) on May 9th. The images should be online sometime this summer. Eventually, Streetside cars will photograph about 50 German cities in the next 18 months. Google has had all kinds of problems with its Street View service in Germany. Some towns tried blocking Street View almost as soon as Google an [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Local | Legal: Privacy | Microsoft: Bing Streetside

Bing has released a new version of their iPhone app. This is a version 2.0 update and includes a huge array of new features. You can download the app by clicking here. Those features include: Quickly find the perfect restaurant based on your price range, cuisine, atmosphere, or location. Easily find great movies by name, location, or theater. Use the Plans feature to plan a night out, a dinner and a movie, or any event you want. See what plans your Facebook friends like and read their comments. More transit directions to help you plan your commute. Real-time transit updates for [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Mobile | Microsoft: Bing Mobile | Microsoft: Bing Streetside

Today at the TED conference in Southern California, Microsoft's Blaise Aguera y Arcas demonstrated a new crowdsourced-version Bing Maps that integrates photos and even live video that is shared by others. Microsoft will also soon launch what we've dubbed "Bing Sky," the ability to use Bing to look up in the sky and see what's in space above. Bing also has a blog post with the news. It's the live video that will likely cause the most buzz from today's news. During the demo, Bing streamed video live from Seattle's Pike Place Fish Market into a static picture of the market, as viewed through [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Local | Google: Maps & Local | Microsoft: Bing | Microsoft: Bing Streetside | Top News

Microsoft has had a collection of mapping tools and assets that haven't been fully utilized or received the play (or usage) of Google Maps. But in an announcement today Bing Maps breaks new ground in online mapping even as it plays a bit of catch up with Google. First, Bing Maps is introducing "Street Side" in 56 US metro areas, with the ambition to go global eventually. This is the Microsoft answer to Google Street View: immersive street-level photography that, like Street View, allows users to "walk down the street" and explore neighborhoods in cities. Microsoft began Street Side at rough [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Mobile | Google: Maps & Local | Microsoft: Bing | Microsoft: Bing Maps & Local | Microsoft: Bing Mobile | Microsoft: Bing Streetside | Top News

Gizmodo, in something of a tongue-in-cheek post, compares the cars and cameras Google is using to capture its StreetView imagery with those being used by Microsoft for what has been known as StreetSide. StreetSide is a Live Local product that predated Google's StreetView but has been limited to San Francisco and Seattle. What this post suggests, although I've yet to confirm this with anyone officially, is that Microsoft is expanding its StreetSide program beyond the two cities -- perhaps in response to StreetView. Opinions are mixed about the utility (vs. novelty) of street-level photogra [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Local | Google: Maps & Local | Microsoft: Bing Maps & Local | Microsoft: Bing Streetside