The first public release of the free Windows software Google Trail changes this. The application offers functionality to create custom Google Earth maps from web mail maps, which can then be imported into Garmin devices that support custom maps. This is done intuitively in the default web browser of the system.

Users should note that the application uses Microsoft’s Silverlight technology, which means that Silverlight needs to be installed at least for the default browser to make use of the app.

The application itself launches in a command line window which loads a local web page that displays the application interface in the default browser. This web page displays a web map with controls.

The map provider is available for selection at the top left corner of the screen, as are the available display modes. Normal is selected by default, which can be changed to Satellite, Hybrid or Terrain. There are controls to change the zoom level and pan the screen. Zooming and panning can also be done independently with the mouse and mouse-wheel, which most users should find more comfortable.

One interesting option of GoogleTrail is the ability to add maps from other map providers on top of the currently displayed map, which basically can be used to merge multiple maps into one. The opacity of each map that is added as an overlay is individually customizable.

The View menu holds options to create a custom map which can be saved in a Garmin compatible custom map format, and to draw track information directly on the screen which can later be saved as GPX files.

A custom map is created by selecting custom map from the menu first. It is then necessary to zoom in on the area that should be included in the custom map. A click on Draw Area enables the draw mode which can be used to draw a rectangle around the area that should be part of the custom map.

Select highlighted area saves the information. It is furthermore possible to activate the buttons is first tile available and is last tile available to check if all map tiles are available so that they can be downloaded later on.

A click on build map starts the build process which displays the approximate kmz map size. Save map finally saves the map as a map project.

It is then required to start the map downloader which is linked from the start menu and the application directory.

The kml file can be generated after the tiles have been downloaded. This is done by switching to the Generate KML tab in the application. The last map tile download directory is automatically selected, and all that’s left is to enter a name for the KML file. This file can then be imported into a Garmin device, or any other device for that matter that supports the KML format.

The second available option is to create gpx files. This is done by selecting Draw Track from the selection menu.

Here it is possible to load, save and edit gpx files. Track data can be imported via GPX files which are then shown on the map. Tracks and waypoints can be edited with the application before they are saved to the local system.

Google Trail is available for download at the official CodePlex website. The developer has posted Word documents that explain the core functionality of the program. Users who are stuck should take a look at those to understand the workflow. The application is compatible with the Windows operating system, it tested fine on a 64-bit Windows 7 system.

While eleven may not sound like much, it is a solid start and the developers have already confirmed that they will be adding additional cities in the future.

Currently, the following cities are supported on Bing Maps: Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, New Jersey, New York City, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Seattle, Washington DC and Vancouver.

bing maps transit directions

Transit information can be displayed by adding two supported locations in the From and To fields, and selecting the Transit symbol afterwards on Bing Maps.

Calculations take a few seconds the most and display suggested routes to the user of the map service. Transit information include walking information to reach the destination.

Options are provided on the screen to receive car and walking directions as well, to compare those without much effort.

Directions can be send to email or GPS as usual in the end.

The transit information are very US-centric at the moment, and it is not clear when and if cities from other parts of the world will be added to the service.

Google’s Transit service is currently supporting more cities than Bing Transit. That on the other hand seems natural, considering that their service started a few years earlier.

The information are similar for supported cities.

Users who are living in one of the supported cities may find Bing’s Transit directions useful. Everyone else may use Google Transit instead, or rely on the information provided by the local metro site.

Interested users can check out Bing Maps on the official site.

The performance of Bing Maps was improved in several ways. Microsoft is now serving maps from seven different locations in the world making it faster for the user to access the information requested. The default Bing Maps homepage has seen a size reduction as well from nearly 700 Kilobytes to less than 500 Kilobytes which should be noticeably by and beneficial to low bandwidth connections.

The full list of changes includes:

• Draggable Routes – Yes! This is a great (and much requested) feature added to Bing Maps allowing you to generate a route, then in the case that you need to change the route, you can simply grab any part of it and drag it to where you want the route to actually go. To use draggable routes, click the directions link in the welcome pane or the car icon near the bottom of the welcome pane. Enter a start and end, generate a route, then grab anywhere on the route to move the route line. The route will regenerate for you.
• Zoom Bar – No longer just a zoom in and zoom out button, the zoom bar allows you to jump to specific zoom levels within predefined settings.
• Command Parsing – Want driving directions? Enter “Bellevue, WA to Space Needle” in the Bing Maps search box. Want traffic info? Enter “Seattle Traffic” in the Bing Maps search box.
• Embed a Map – You can now take a map view right from Bing Maps and embed it into your site. To do this, you’ll want to click the Share button once your map is where you want it to be. You can copy the embed code from there; or, you can click the Customize View link which will take you to the embeddable map customizer (EMC). The EMC allows you to set a map to the map height and width (small, medium, large or custom); the map type (static or draggable); the map styles (road, aerial, aerial w/ labels); and, add links to Bing Maps for Viewing a Larger Map or Getting Directions. Once you’ve set everything the way you want it, click Generate Code and boom! there’s your code. You copy it, then paste it into your web page and you’ll have the map you wanted.
• Dynamic Compute – We’ve moved the processing power closer to the user. Using Microsoft’s ECN, we now have Bing Maps running in data centers in 7 locations around the world. This means wherever you are around the world, you will access Bing Maps from the closest geographic node to where you are physically located.
• New Navigation – We also added a subset of features to a button bar along the bottom of the welcome pane. Each button loads features on Bing Maps. Welcome loads the welcome pane; the car loads the route planner; the star loads My Places, formerly called Collections; the envelop loads the ability to share the map with someone via email, copying a URI or embedding the map into a web page (more on that below); the printer icon is for printing; and, stoplight will load a traffic overlay with flow and incident information.
• World Wrap – no longer will your Bing Maps experience stop at the international date line. Keep going around, and around, and around…
• Diet Bing Maps – The default Bing Maps home page dropped from 678kb to 484kb. It zips through the pipes much faster now.

Bing Maps is a service over at Microsoft’s Bing search engine.

Bing Maps 3D is an add-on for Bing Maps which activates the 3D mode. This mode adds the possibility to zoom and rotate in 3D. Probably the most interesting aspect of the add-on are the 3D models of buildings and sights that have been added to the map. Among the cities are New York, Las Vegas, Tokyo and Berlin.

Bing Maps 3D can be installed in two different ways. The first option is to visit the Bing Maps website and click on the 3D link in the upper left control panel. This will open a window with the possibility to download Bing Maps 3D. The second possibility is to download the add-on directly from a Microsoft server. The web browser needs to be closed and restarted after installation. The installation displays (preselected) options to switch to MSN as the homepage and Bing as the default search engine. Users who do not want this should ensure that they have unchecked the options.

A fast video card and Internet connection is advised to enjoy Bing Maps 3D.