I’ll be honest, when Microsoft revealed Bing I was glad to see something that might finally give Google a little competition to keep things interesting but I really didn’t expect too much.  I use Bing now but of course I still use Google as well, moreso in fact, and iGoogle is still my homepage.  When Bing Maps unveiled some cool new tech a while back using Photosynth for a Streetview like display I took some more interest but it still wasn’t quite a “game changer” or anything to steal the thunder from the Googs.

Well with yet another TED conference to unleash the cool involved with Silverlight, Dragon and Photosynth here, Bing Maps has just really blown my mind.  Augmented Reality photos from Flickr, live video that is photo-stitched into the streetview image and the full night’s sky viewable from wherever you are in the street level view courtesy of WorldWide Telescope.  Watch the presentation video after the break, you shan’t be disappointed.