Microsoft’s Live Search Maps adds new features

Giving Google Maps a run for its money, Microsoft announced today new features for its Live Search Maps software. What are they?

Powered by Microsoft’s Virtual Earth platform, which maps out the world in stunning detail, Microsoft Canada’s Live Search Maps is a free, next-generation mapping and location service offering photo-quality 3-D maps.

Need to run out to a meeting? Simply type in your address, such as your home or office, and where you’d like to drive to and immediately you’ll see both an overhead map that illustrates the route from point A to point B and a text-based route summary.

This week, however, Microsoft has introduced "multi-way point routing," which also accounts for stops along the way such as gas breaks, restaurants, tourist attractions and other goodies for your fall family road trip.

Also new is route-based traffic information, therefore you can avoid heavily congested areas, for example, thanks to up-to-date traffic info integrated right into Live Search Maps for many locations across Canada.

3-D weather is pretty cool, too, to compliment the 3-D views of Canadian cities — such as Toronto, Ottawa, Calgary, Edmonton and Montreal — with weather updated every three hours in select cities (check out the two photos for examples of Toronto and Calgary).

More information on the new features is available at the official Canadian Live Search Maps website.