Microsoft's Clearflow Takes On MapQuest, Google Maps

Microsoft said the free service, which is currently available for 72 U.S. cities, could help drivers avoid making detours to routes overcrowded due to the original traffic jam. According to a report in The New York Times, Clearflow is the result of a five-year project by Microsoft's artificial intelligence division at Microsoft Research laboratories.

Service developer Eric Horvitz told the Times he got the idea for an intricate mapping system after getting stuck in side streets trying to avoid highway traffic in Seattle. "Everything seemed to be backed up," he said. "It hit me that we had to do all the side streets. We really need to understand the whole city."

Microsoft enters this field amid competition from Google Maps, MapQuest and a slew of portable GPS devices, which all offer traffic advisories and alternate routes.

However, Microsoft is betting traffic data collected in Seattle over four years (on nearly 17,000 trips), combined with artificial intelligence, will give Clearflow the edge. So far, though, there has been no word as to if, or when, Microsoft plans on introducing a mobile version of the service.