Microsoft Trumps Google on Street Looks

By David Sims

TMCnet Contributing Editor

 

Poor Microsoft (News - Alert), getting beat like a rented donkey by Apple on the whole tablet thing -- witnessing yet another of Steve Ballmer's hollow promises to get out there and kick the iPad's butt, our friend Chris Selland referred to Ballmer as 'the Wile E. Coyote of the technology industry.'

A little good news goes a long way in Redmond these days, and it's a good day when you kick Google's (News - Alert) butt. Industry observer Christopher Null reports that Microsoft is showing off 'a substantial upgrade to what Google has done' with Street View, with a new technology called Street Slide.


In a nutshell, Null says, 'Street Slide gets rid of single, static shots and replaces them with a smooth panorama. As you move down the street, the landscape 'slides' with you, forming a fluid look at the area that's a little more natural, and a lot easier for the mind to parse since there are no jarring breaks in the photos.'

It's gotten rave reviews. Britain's The Independent's Gadgets and Tech correspondent calls it 'the future.' And The Register (News - Alert) says 'The researchers have combined two approaches -- the bubble view which simulates a panorama from a fixed viewpoint (the approach used today at Google and Microsoft) with multiperspective strip panoramas, which give more information but lack the sense that you're moving alone.'