Microsoft Virtual Earth Enters the 3rd Dimension

Microsoft has launched an update to Microsft Virtual Earth. Windows users can now browse the planet in 3D at Live.com, Microsoft's next-gen search destination. Marshall Kirkpatrick at TechCrunch has this to say:

Users with Vista-ready Windows computers and IE 6 or 7 will be able to navigate through an aerial view of 15 select cities with enough detail to discern the texture of buildings and read clickable billboards from the likes of Fox, Nissan and John L. Scott Real Estate. Virtual Earth 3D is expected to expand to cover up to 100 cities around the world by the end of next summer.

Here at Widgets Live, I'm sitting next to Microsoft's Nathan Buggia, and he showed me the new Virtual Earth during the afternoon break. Nathan tells me that the 3D maps can also display traffic data, and that Microsoft will be adding functionality to Virtual Earth incrementally.

The 3D imaging really breathtaking. Zooming around Seattle, the detail is really sharp. You can even see Mount Rainier in the distance.