(don’t?) leave the mapping to Google

The Bird's Eye imagery from Virtual Earth - shown above in Echo myPlace - can help you get your bearings much quicker than the straight-overhead satellite imagery at Google and other mapping sites

According to Rob Pegoraro, Consumer Technology Columnist over at the Washington Post, "Google Maps falls short of Microsoft’s Live Search Maps."

From Post Points - "Google Maps (maps.google.com), the cartography site run by the Web-search giant, can be your easiest Web-mapping option, thanks to the Google-search shortcuts in most browsers’ toolbars. But, for all its smart, sensible features, Google Maps falls short of Microsoft’s Live Search Maps (maps.live.com) in some areas.

One is accuracy of driving directions: Google’s site won’t route you on Interstate 66 inside the Beltway, for example, even if you’re heading to Dulles Airport, while Microsoft’s map trusts you to follow I-66’s HOV restrictions.

Another is photographic detail: Live Search Maps’ “Bird’s eye” views, with photos shot from an angle and only a few hundred feet up, can help you get your bearings much quicker than the straight-overhead satellite imagery at Google and other mapping sites."

- Jeff