Microsoft maps out Google beater!

New mapping software is set to make finding your way around unfamiliar areas easier.

Computing giant Microsoft is plotting a rival to Google’s Street View software – and the new set-up presents your pre-planned route in the form of a video, giving a firm idea of landmarks and how to negotiate key junctions.

Google Maps has quickly become a popular choice for drivers planning short journeys on unfamiliar routes when sat-nav isn’t available. However, the maps have an abstract nature, while Street View’s manual plotting is sluggish – so junctions can often be confusing when you come to them in real-life. The Microsoft version, trialled recently in Graz, Austria, by a team of researchers from the University of Konstanz in Germany, provides a video run-through of the route.

The camera view speeds up through the simple parts, before slowing down and expanding to reveal memorable features on turns to help you remember them.
The mapping software is likely to form part of Microsoft’s recently launched Bing search engine.