Microsoft Corp. announced Nov. 6 the launch of Virtual Earth 3D, a new online mapping interface providing consumers with a three-dimensional (3-D) experience to search, browse and explore the real world online.

Using hybridized satellite and aerial imagery, visitors to Live Search (http://live.com) can post a query and click on a "maps" tab to get results in a map context offering the option to explore the area using two-dimensional views (aerial and bird’s-eye) or two-dimensional models with Virtual Earth 3D, a new technology compiling photographic images of cities and terrain to generate textured, photorealistic 3-D models with engineering-level accuracy.

Initially, 3-D models are available for 15 U.S. cities: San Francisco, San Jose, Seattle, Boston, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Detroit, Phoenix, Houston, Baltimore, Atlanta, Denver, Dallas and Fort Worth, Texas; up to 100 cities are anticipated to be cached by summer 2007, with expansion to continue. Terrain imagery in 3-D is available globally. Other features provided by Live Search include access to real-time traffic information in select major U.S. cities, and access to "yellow pages" business listings and "white pages" people listings allowing consumers to easily ascertain local information.