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Microsoft expands Virtual Earth

Aerial and satellite imagery firm GlobeXplorer to provide high-resolution images to Live Search Maps.

Candace Lombardi
In a software-driven world, it's easy to forget about the nuts and bolts. Whether it's cars, robots, personal gadgetry or industrial machines, Candace Lombardi examines the moving parts that keep our world rotating. A journalist who divides her time between the United States and the United Kingdom, Lombardi has written about technology for the sites of The New York Times, CNET, USA Today, MSN, ZDNet, Silicon.com, and GameSpot. She is a member of the CNET Blog Network and is not a current employee of CNET.
Candace Lombardi
Microsoft has signed an agreement with GlobeXplorer, an aerial and satellite imagery provider, that will provide new images to Live Search Maps. GlobeXplorer's images will be within the next few months.

The update will affect Live Search Maps, which is powered by Microsoft's Virtual Earth online mapping platform, according to Microsoft. Among the changes, more than 400,000 square miles of U.S. aerial footage will be updated with high-resolution images.