In yet another Windows Live update coming this week, the Live Local team (formerly VirtualEarth) will release a technical preview at https://preview.local.live.com that demonstrates the new StreetSide feature for two cities: Seattle and San Fransisco.
This new feature provides a vivid flythrough experience for the user, especially in the downtown areas that the technical preview focuses on. The user appears seated at ground level, as if they were driving around the map themselves. The preview version aims to provide the team with feedback on the new feature and imagery, which supports the existing road, aerial and birds-eye views that the Live Local service already offers. The small rollout is mainly due to the vast number of images that are needed, reportedly over 10million for Seattle alone.