A9.com, a subsidiary of Amazon.com today launched “A9.com Maps,� a new service that shows users an interactive map and corresponding street-level images in a single interface.

A9’s Block ViewTM technology brings traditional maps to life by combining driving directions and other convenient mapping tools with street-level images of millions of places and their surroundings.

The fully-functional A9.com Maps beta is now available at http://maps.a9.com.

“We’re making maps slightly less abstract and closer to the real world,â€? said A9.com CEO Udi Manber. “With A9.com Maps you can actually see pictures of where you’re going and places on the way there.â€?

A9.com Maps starts like other web-based maps by asking users to type an address (or two addresses in the case of driving directions) and providing an interactive map in return. But the similarities end there. In addition to the map, A9.com Maps users have a wide variety of tools to learn how to get where they want to go and what the sights will look like on the way there. For example, users can:

See street-level images of the addresses they enter.
Virtually walk up and down the street to see different photo angles of restaurants, offices, shops, public parks and landmarks.
Virtually jump to the opposite side of the street.
Click anywhere on the map to see images of places nearby.
Zoom in and out and see an overlay of all streets for which A9.com currently has Block View images. - Create driving directions, and then click on points along the way (intersections, street corners, etc.) to see how they look in the real world.
Click on a point in the map to get the corresponding address.

A9’s Block View technology transformed traditional yellow pages when it was introduced in January as part of A9.com Yellow Pages. A9.com developed the technology to efficiently capture photographs of businesses using trucks equipped with digital cameras, global positioning system (GPS) receivers, and proprietary software and hardware. This convenience gives users a better way to select a business, recognize businesses they have seen in the past, find nearby parking spaces, get a feel of the neighborhood, and much more. Block View has grown to cover more than 22 U.S. cities with 35 million images. Block View images are currently available in Atlanta, Austin, Boston, Chicago, Dallas/Ft. Worth, Denver, Detroit, Los Angeles, New York City (Manhattan), Philadelphia, Portland (OR), Sacramento, Salt Lake City, San Diego, San Francisco Bay Area, San Jose, Seattle, Washington, D.C., Phoenix, Miami, Houston and Fargo. Portions of more than a dozen other major U.S. metro areas are also covered.