Amazon search engine variant A9 has now dipped it's toe into the cold water of the mapping pool (see link below). You may remember that A9 was sending out vans (a paid position with Amazon, I might add) to take pictures of every square block of the universe. This way, when you clicked on a business address you could not only see what the physical storefront looked like, but you could take a virtual walk around the block and look for other nearby shops, parking, etc. The new A9 maps site combines these street-level photos with mapquest. While I still don't like the overall layout compared to Google's version, and there are a lot of cities A9 has yet to photograph, this site could definitely be a contender in the future.
HINT FOR A9: Let this one stew in the beta broth for a while, otherwise it could die on the vine. Given enough time, fertilizer, and tender nurturing, it just might survive to actually win the day. Sorry for the mixed metaphors, but I think you get the point.
- Hutch
A9.com Maps
