Microsoft has joined the map mashup game by releasing MapCruncher, a downloadable map-publishing tool billed as an API for the non-programming masses. The Microsoft Research team says MapCruncher will do for mashups what Word did for documents. From the "I'm an avid commuting cyclist," Howell says, "and Jeremy also likes biking to work. He moved here a year and a half ago, and he asked, How can I get to work?' " They took a look at a county cycling map and found a promising route. But at one point along the way, it appeared the route was interrupted by a freeway. The cycling map recommended the route, but how was a cyclist supposed to cross the freeway? By registering the cycling map with aerial photography from Microsoft Research's TerraServer database, the answer became obvious: Upon zooming in on the aerial view, they could clearly discern a pedestrian bridge crossing the freeway. "In fact," Elson says, "I use this route all the time now." MapCruncher accepts both drawing formats (PDF, WMF, EMF) and image formats (JPG, PNG, TIFF, GIF, BMP). The MapCruncher application requires Windows Server 2003 or Windows XP. It also requires the .Net 2.0 runtime, which it will install if necessary. Check out the Demo Gallery here.") Drag this to your Bookmarks. Add to document.write("Del.icio.us") Yahoo My Web
Microsoft Debuts MapCruncher
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