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It seems like Nokia wants to keep up with Google's Earth or Bing's Maps as they recently released a new beta for their Ovi Maps  service which is in epic 3D.

As you have experienced for a month now, Nokia is providing its users photorealistic images of different cities in 3D. It allows you a birds-eye view all the way down to street view. In fact, it allows users to zoom in and out different places including London, Oslo, New York, and other big cities such as  Florence, Barcelona, Madrid, Prague, San Francisco, Miami, Boston and Vienna. Users however are required to install Safari plug-in to be able to get a 3D view. That special 19MB plug-in is the primary tool to render life like 3D textured buildings in a level of detail. Once installed,  activate 3D on maps.ovi.com; that simple for a phenomenal visual change.

Nokia has worked with C3, the leading provider of 3D mapping solutions, in achieving such drastic improvement. Sweden based, C3 used high technology camera system equipment to acquire ome image per second of the same subject from up to 100 angles. These images reproduce the shape of the subject, then drapes each shape with the texture chosen from the image of each subject. C3 has been doing this for awhile and has been the only reason why they stood out in their 3D mapping services. The 3D data's resolution are 8 to 12 cm per pixel.

C3 used planes with DSLR pointed everywhere, capturing everything in overlapping images then later render them in 3D using custom machine-vision software. Although C3 should be using LIDAR technology to gauge the size and the sahpe of 3D geometry, they rather not. LIDAR process is expensive and C3 claims its process is 98% automated and requires little cleanup.

Although we have heard about Apple's major plan improvements for their maps, Nokia's did sure become 10 times more greater than it was before. Of course Google Earth can do 3D in their maps too, but as incredible as C3's. Try it and see for yourself! http://maps.ovi.com/3D/

Reference: blog.gadgethelpline.com/nokia-launches-3d-beta-ovi-maps/

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