Wednesday 13 April 2011

Microsoft’s alternative to Google Street View

 

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Microsoft’s new StreetSide offers users a chance to see street- level photographs of cities across the world and is being made available in the UK and Europe.

Google attached Street View as an add-on to Google Maps and Earth last year however Microsoft have decided to implement StreetSide into the Bing search engine. When writing this, StreetSide only currently covers 56 USA towns however it is expected to grow over time.

The company will be using cars with cameras fitted above them to drive through Europe and take photographs. The cars developed alongside Nokia have already started gathering images of London.

Microsoft have confirmed that they will blur British’s people’s faces and car number plates.
Users have the option to alert Microsoft with any concerns that they may have via the Bing website. The search engine have also said that they will be alerting towns and cities beforehand.

Microsoft’s director of search, Dave Coplin has told the BBC:

“We're not setting out to record every street. We believe it is most valuable in urban centres where people want to find services,"

He also mentioned:

"Privacy is imbued in everything we do. Lastly, we took the decision to postpone Wi-Fi data collection. We'd like to do it the right way."

Google went through various problems with Wi-fi last year.

PREVIEW: Gadget Show LIVE pictures coming tomorrow!

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