Microsoft has a new version of Bing Maps that gives users a street view of many U.S. locations. Most online mapping services already feature bird's-eye aerial photos. The new Bing Maps, in beta version, takes it down to the ground, featuring street-level photos of locations. Here is an example of a street-side view of Westlake Center in downtown Seattle.

From Pri0

Microsoft, which has about 10 percent of the search market, is trying to gain share in a market dominated by Google.

To access the Streetside feature in Bing Maps, click on the Blue Man icon at the bottom of the map screen. If the feature is available, you can drag the man to a location on the map, and the map will convert to a street view of the location.

The mapping technology is built on Microsoft's presentation software, Silverlight, so everything zooms in and out rather than reloading every time the user clicks on a new zoom level.

Many urban locations in the U.S. are available, but it has yet to build out internationally. Streetside searchers for the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, the Forbidden City in Beijing and Placa de Catalunya in Barcelona turned up nothing. It also does not have Streetside photos for every neighborhood in Seattle. If users make Photosynths of specific locations and geocode them, they will show up in Bing Maps.

Bing has also partnered with Twitter so developers can build on top of the mapping application. For instance, developers such as Seesmic and Twidroid can build applications that integrate Twitter with Bing Maps.