Windows Live Local

Window Live Local's "Bird's Eye View" images make Google Maps' satellite images look so outdated. Seattle Times writes, "The most striking difference in Windows Live Local is the improved imagery used for maps and directions. Previously, the service used aerial views of cities overlaid with road networks. Now, it will offer more precise images collected by a business partner, Rochester, N.Y.-based Pictometry International. Pictometry planes fly over the most populated areas of the country, taking up to 12 different views from a 40-degree angle, said Dante Pennacchia, a senior vice president at the company."

I am very impressed by this new Microsoft service. The photo image of my apartment (not just the complex, my unit) is crystal clear. The image looks like a view you would see from an airplane window right before it lands. And it seems that most of the images were taken within the last few years.

Check out Window Live Local and see your house from a bird's eye view.