Live Search Maps Getting Better At Giving Directions
In addition to the abbreviated directions,other improvements include:
—Landmarks are now given in driving directions that indicate you’ve gone too far.
—Black is the new red. Traffic speed is now shown with four colors (green, yellow, red, and black). Black means total standstill, versus red, which means creeping logjam.
—In some cases, Live Search Maps will now actually re-route your directions around bad traffic.
—Guided search gives you Yellow Page categories in a left-hand panel, and individual business details are now populated right on the map from sources like Judy’s Book or CitySearch.
—3D fly-throughs now support force feedback if you are using an Xbox 360 videogame controller, and buildings go transparent when you run into them.
—Microsoft even (admittedly) stole a line editing feature from Google Maps.
Competition is good. Here’s the video of Microsoft’s 3D Bird’s Eye view, which was first hinted at last May: