Virtual Earth & MapPoint B2B https://docs.microsoft.com/archive/blogs/mappoint_b2b/feed.xml Tue, 16 Apr 2019 05:17:20 GMT en-US hourly 1 Blog Deprecated.... https://docs.microsoft.com/archive/blogs/mappoint_b2b/blog-deprecated Tue, 11 Mar 2008 01:59:00 GMT https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/mappoint_b2b/2008/03/11/blog-deprecated/ I should've wrote this a year ago, but I was too lazy to find my credentials, login and actually do it. So, sorry.

Anyway, by now perhaps you know I power the Virtual Earth Blog on MSDN, so if you haven't already point your RSS reader over there. I'm going to try and migrate some of this content over, but in the next few months I'll be deleting this blog.

CP

]]> Come see me @ MIX https://docs.microsoft.com/archive/blogs/mappoint_b2b/come-see-me-mix Fri, 27 Apr 2007 13:47:00 GMT https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/mappoint_b2b/2007/04/27/come-see-me-mix/ I'll be @ MIX working the midnight mashup camp. If you're going to be around and plan on hitting the camp between 8PM and 2AM Monday night, stop by and chat. You can also code against the lab I wrote for Version 5 due out shortly.

]]> Rooftop Geocoding Now Available! https://docs.microsoft.com/archive/blogs/mappoint_b2b/rooftop-geocoding-now-available Tue, 17 Apr 2007 14:52:00 GMT https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/mappoint_b2b/2007/04/17/rooftop-geocoding-now-available/ The era of rooftop geocoding is upon us. Rooftop geocoding is now available in MapPoint Web Service. What is rooftop geocoding? With the popularity of aerial photography interpolation geocoding which has been in use for years is no longer sufficient to accurately pinpoint where a location is. Rooftop geocoding specifies exactly where the roof of a particular address is. FYI – interpolation is a process of estimating where on the street a particular location is. The upside of rooftop is many: (1) The point will be properly placed on the address; (2) the point will no longer be in the middle of the road; (3) for routing, we cross-bred interpolation with rooftop to put the point in front of the right address – otherwise routing would be all screwed up.

Here’s what you need to do to get rooftop geocodes. First off, you need to have an MapPoint Web Service account. Rooftop geocodes are not available via Virtual Earth, but they will display on Virtual Earth – a lat/lon is a lat/lon to VE. Rooftop geocoding is not available in the batch system (Customer Data Service). It is available only via the front end APIs – specifically, FIND using the FindAddress() method. When you make your request, set the “RooftopFlag” in FindResultMask (in the FindSpecification.Options class) when calling Find Address.  You’ll get back a find result with two locations, one called “FoundLocation” and one called “BestViewableLocation” the latter of which is rooftop. You can create a batch service on your side to go through your records hitting our front end APIs to get your rooftop geocodes. Let us know if you plan to destroy our front ends – a little warning is always a good thing – just shoot me a mail so we don’t block your IPs. We have approximately 45 million rooftop geocodes, since that's all that is available, but will continue to push more and more out as they become available. And, yes, it is only in the US. I know, I know, no love for the rest of the world, but if you know of someone who actually is creating this data, let me know. We'd be interested.

So, yeah! for everyone since we can now accurately pinpoint 45 million locations on aerial photos. Oh, and we didn't roll this out on the consumer site (Live Maps); not yet, at least.

CP

]]> Illustrating Signal Strength on Virtual Earth https://docs.microsoft.com/archive/blogs/mappoint_b2b/illustrating-signal-strength-on-virtual-earth Fri, 13 Apr 2007 18:52:00 GMT https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/mappoint_b2b/2007/04/13/illustrating-signal-strength-on-virtual-earth/ Ironically, I was sent 2 applications using Microsoft mapping today both of which are illustrating coverage maps for the range of their networks.

1 - Cincinnati Bell is using MapPoint Web Service to highlight their wireless coverage on a map.The site highlitghts signal strength with color coding of areas; and, highlights partner companies that pick up the service when CinnBell doesn't have coverage. The app supports full geocoding, zooming, panning and a reset button to get back to square one.

2 - National Public Radio is using Virtual Earth to highlight their radio stations and the network reach on the map. You can search by postal code, city/state, and call letters. Plus, you can even using a route planning function to show all of the stations and their coverages areas along a route. This is slick. Say I'm driving from Seattle to San Diego and I want to see what stations will be accessible and when. You can see the towers along the route drawn on Virtual Earth and as you hover over each of them you can see their respective coverage area. You can also geocode your house and place a marker on the map - kind of random, but whatever. It would be nice if when I moved the map the towers would repopulate on the map. Sweet either way.

 

]]> Virtual Earth Version 3 & 4 Map Controls Compressed https://docs.microsoft.com/archive/blogs/mappoint_b2b/virtual-earth-version-3-4-map-controls-compressed Wed, 04 Apr 2007 13:36:00 GMT https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/mappoint_b2b/2007/04/04/virtual-earth-version-3-4-map-controls-compressed/ Versions 3 & 4 of our API were compressed yesterday - they went out with the release of the new version of Windows Live Local/Maps, Live Maps, Live Search Maps or choose your favorite name, but remember Virtual Earth is the platform and not the web site.

Anyway, versions 3 & 4 were considerably reduced in size: Version 3 was reduced from 338k to 92k and Version 4 was reduced from 442k to 104k. You should see performance increases in your application if you're using either of these controls. Also, since it was done yesterday and my phone and inbox haven't been blowing up, I'm going to assume the upgrade was seamless and there were no breaking issues. There could be potential issues if you downloaded the control and modified it - not a best practice and against recommended guidelines - but, if you were brave enough to do that you probably have a contigency plan in place for when we make changes.

CP

]]> Evidence of Virtual Earth's Power in the Enterprise https://docs.microsoft.com/archive/blogs/mappoint_b2b/evidence-of-virtual-earths-power-in-the-enterprise Tue, 03 Apr 2007 01:29:00 GMT https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/mappoint_b2b/2007/04/03/evidence-of-virtual-earths-power-in-the-enterprise/ We've recently published a case study and video highlighting British Petroleum's use of Virtual Earth - see it here: http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/features/2007/mar07/03-07crisisresponse.mspx. Now, I love to demo this application - it's a powerful illustration of what Virtual Earth brings to the table in terms of data visualization. If you're trying to prove to someone that you want Virtual Earth in your enterprise or need some validation of geography as a backdrop for data, well, here it is.

]]> Sweet Home San Diego - You're in 3D! https://docs.microsoft.com/archive/blogs/mappoint_b2b/sweet-home-san-diego-youre-in-3d Fri, 30 Mar 2007 01:36:00 GMT https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/mappoint_b2b/2007/03/30/sweet-home-san-diego-youre-in-3d/ Along with a few more cities, plus more bird's eye and our first exposure into the GlobeXplorer library. Also, Chicago you finally get your bird's eye (Germany too). And, Norway? Are you kidding me? Check out Oslo! And how about some International 3D? Britain, you finally can see some 3D. Here are the full details directly from our internal VEIPP (Virtual Earth Imagery Processing Pipeline) Team, completely unmodified and formatted crappy for vintage feel (crappy format didn't work, so here's the info);

Vexcel/3Di/Boulder hi-res Orthos:            
 Austin (from Harris) 
 Cheektowaga        
 Calgary 
 Glendale        
 Toronto, CAN 
 ManHattanNY_2        
 Hamilton_blk2 
 Portland_blk2        
 Buffalo 
 Ottawa, CAN        
           
Vexcel/3Di/Boulder BUILDINGS/TEXTURES     
 Portland, OR 
 Paradise, NV  
 Plymouth, GBR      
 San Diego, CA 
 Spring Valley, NV  
 Cardiff, GBR      
 Chula Vista, CA 
 Seattle, WA  
 Bristol, GBR      
 EastLA, CA 
 San Francisco, CA  
 Gloucester, GBR      
 LongBeach, CA 
 LAX, CA  
 Wolverhampton, GBR      
 Compton,CA 
 Malibu, CA        
 Glendale, CA 
 Roseville, MN        
           
Pictometry/BLOM Obliques (NA): 
USA
CookCoIL (Chicago); Ventura, CA; Broomfield, CO; Pinellas, FL
CharlestonCoSC

UK 
Bedford; Chesterfield; Hull; Ipswich; Lowestoft; Morecambe; Carlisle; Tamworth; Aylesbury; Exeter; Kettinger; Newport; Pontypool; Stafford; Rugby; Taunton; Torbay

Germany
Bremerhaven; Celle; Delmenhorst; Esslingen; Ibbenbuerren; Oldenburg; Osnabrueck; Rheine; Wilhelmshaven; Aachen; Bremen; Flensburg; Fulda; Hamln; Herford; Minden; Muenster; Wetzlar; Ahlen; Arnsberg; Emden; Lippstadt; Wesel; Kassel; Neustadt

Italy 
Naples; BOLZANO; CAGLIARI; Trieste; MESSINA

Spain 
Pamplona; Seville

Switzerland  
Bern; Geneva; The Hague

Norway 
Oslo; Trondheim

Netherlands
Rotterdam; Utrecht

Belgium  
Antwerp

France 
GRENOBLE; LIMOGES; TOURS

GlobeXplorer Orthos:            
 Ventura-1f-0706          
 StLouis-1f-0304          
 SantaBarbara-1f-0706          
 SanDiegoCounty-West-1f-0106          
 SanDiego-East-1f-0105          
 SanBernardinoCounty-CA-1f-0106         
 RiversideCounty-CA-1f-0106         
           
                    

:

 

]]> MWS 5.2 is now Live! https://docs.microsoft.com/archive/blogs/mappoint_b2b/mws-5-2-is-now-live Thu, 29 Mar 2007 22:51:00 GMT https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/mappoint_b2b/2007/03/29/mws-5-2-is-now-live/ InfoNow parts ways with MapQuest for Microsoft https://docs.microsoft.com/archive/blogs/mappoint_b2b/infonow-parts-ways-with-mapquest-for-microsoft Wed, 28 Mar 2007 18:52:00 GMT https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/mappoint_b2b/2007/03/28/infonow-parts-ways-with-mapquest-for-microsoft/ official press release from InfoNow. Where are those MapQuest defenders now?? You can still have your MapQuest.com, just don't expect to see it on many other web sites. ]]> Farallon Geographics Builds Web Based GIS Redevelopment Project Tracking Portal for Boston Redevelopment Authority https://docs.microsoft.com/archive/blogs/mappoint_b2b/farallon-geographics-builds-web-based-gis-redevelopment-project-tracking-portal-for-boston-redevelopment-authority Mon, 26 Mar 2007 16:18:00 GMT https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/mappoint_b2b/2007/03/26/farallon-geographics-builds-web-based-gis-redevelopment-project-tracking-portal-for-boston-redevelopment-authority/ Check the press release here: http://www.fargeo.com/company/press/2007/03/farallon_geogra_2.html.

This is a great example of how Virtual Earth can help in government applications. You can see screen shots of the application via the link which illustrates the use of pushpins, vector line and polygon drawing, raster overlays, Bird's Eye imagery and 3D all integrated into a site with an existing application. You can extend the use of your applications by integrating Virtual Earth via the APIs.

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