Microsoft and Google vie for virtual world domination

Microsoft Corp. and Google Inc. have both recently made acquisitions that would help them in their quest to dominate what is called in the jargon of the trade "local search" - electronic versions of the kind of information found in local telephone directories. Microsoft's Virtual Earth and Google's Google Earth already give computer users the ability to enter the name of a city or a street address and watch as a photo giving a bird's-eye view of the desired location appears on the screen. With Microsoft's acquisition of Vexcel Corp. and Google's of @Last Software, the two competitors want to provide photos and highly realistic computer-generated simulations to give a sense of where a certain spot is located, not just from above but from the ground as well. These acquisitions bring the rivals closer to achieving their ambitions of creating virtual worlds resembling the ones in video games but depending entirely on accurate topographical data generated from cameras and satellites.