Google Maps now uses vectors (not tiles), allows rotation, 3-D, faster loading

Actual original source: http://mobilized.allthingsd.com/20101206/googles-andy-rubin-...

This change is mainly to benefit mobiles, and is introduced in the context of the Motorola Android tablet.

I imagine (and Andy Rubin says this too) that this will gradually make it to the desktop/web version of Google Maps especially for those browsers that support WebGL or SVG. If so, this would mean API changes to support all the new viewing aspects etc, and hopefully rich support for addressing individual map artefacts in vector form.

This negates OpenStreetMap's main selling point which, for me, was that it uses vector data. That said, it may allow better comparisons between mapping service's data as vector data can be compared far more accurately and efficiently than bitmap tiles.

How long before Google Maps subsumes Google Earth? The browser is capable of incredible things.