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Poly9 Free Earth is a cross-browser, cross-platform 3-D globe using Adobe Flash. I gave the site a quick run-through, and it looks like they're off to a good start in providing an alternative to the Google offerings. If you're used to the Google controls, you'll be familiar with the controls provided by Poly9. One really cool feature is ability to view in full-screen. The imagery is a little dated for my area, but it's better quality than I get with Google.

Of particular interest to me was the integration with the Garmin Communicator plugin, allowing you to import waypoints, routes and tracks from your Garmin device. I loaded up a weekend excursion to a nearby park and gave it a whirl. My tracks, routes and waypoints loaded up without a hitch. I had only one route, and found that I was unable to select for display in the map. Waypoints and Tracks gave me no trouble because I had several of each.

In all, not a bad start for Poly9. The addition of Communicator Plugin support is a great way to begin to differentiate themselves from Google.

The Map Room blog informs us about this new Google API meant to embed Google Maps in flash applications. From their summary : "So, what do I like about the API for Flash? Smoothness and speed are a big part of it. We’ve designed it so that Flash graphics can be used for each tile layer, marker and info window — opening up possibilities like dynamic shading, shadowing, animation, and video. When the user zooms the map, magnification changes happen smoothly and place names fade in. After the user drags a marker, it gently bounces to a halt. Generally, Flash allows for much greater embellishment, and, well … “flashiness.” I get excited just thinking about the creative ways developers might take advantage of having a Flash API for Google Maps."

To check it out, please visit the Map Room blog.

The thematicmapping blog updates us on a previous article with an example of displaying vectors using the Google Maps Flash API. From their summary : "Most of the current map APIs quite cleverly use use the build-in vector support in Firefox and Internet Explorer (and others). Firefox supports Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG), while Microsoft use the obsolete Vector Markup Language (VML). The Google Maps API and OpenLayers API automatically check your browser and draws the vectors with the appropriate technology.

But the SVG/VML/DOM technology has some serious performance issues - if you add many complex polygons the browser will run terribly slow. While we wait for HTML 5 (and browsers to support it), Flash APIs might be a better solution."

For more information and relative links, please visit the article link above.