Today sees a Virtual Earth update that adds a wealth of new features to Windows Live Local (local.live.com). Changes include:
- 3D representations of 15 major US cities (San Francisco, CA, Seattle, WA, Boston, MA, Philadelphia, PA, Los Angeles, CA, Las Vegas, NV, Baltimore, MD, Dallas, TX, Fort Worth, TX, Atlanta, GA, Denver, CO, Detroit, MI, San Jose, CA, Phoenix, AZ, Houston, TX) – Codenamed Spaceland
- A new "flythrough" mode that allows the user to roam and discover
- In-world advertising
Because of the scale of the release, we've made several posts covering the changes, have a screencast showing the update in action, and an audio interview with Stephen Lawler (General Manager for VE product development).
The interview covers a range of topics, including how the 3D photorealistic cities are made, whether there will be a Virtual Earth client and whether Virtual Earth will be going mobile.
Update: The press release just went live, check it out here: Official Press Release
Screenshots (Click to enlarge):
