The Bing Maps Platform represents the next evolution of the Microsoft Virtual Earth platform offering, with innovative new capabilities for organizations, governments, and developers.

Developers have the flexibility to tap into four Bing Maps APIs: Silverlight Map Control, code built on Silverlight 3; the Bing Map AJAX Control, which lets users make requests via JavaScript to an AJAX map object; Bing Maps Web Services and the MapPoint Web Service API, which uses SOAP XML to communicate with customer applications.

The Bing Maps Platform is an integrated set of services that helps organizations visualize data and provide immersive end-user experiences. The site www.bing.com/maps is a consumer-facing online search and mapping tool that is underpinned by the Bing Maps Platform. It gives people the ability to learn about, discover, and explore a specific location.

The Bing Maps Web Services offers many of the features and functionality of MapPoint Web Service, with the rich imagery of Bing Maps.

In addition, Bing Maps Web Services features include one-box search functionality, mobile device optimized imagery, geocoding, and routing.

For more information about the Bing Maps Web Services, visit the SDK. For more information about MapPoint Web Service, visit the MapPoint Web Service SDK.

The Bing Maps Platform is simply the new name for Microsoft Virtual Earth. There is no change in the enduring values of the Microsoft mapping platform: useful functionality; global coverage; performance; and enterprise-class reliability, availability, and scalability.

Bing Maps for Enterprise is the commercial version of the Bing Maps Platform, and offers additional features and benefits including support, service level agreement and additional imagery options. See licensing page for more details.

The Bing Maps Platform enables a broad range of consumer, enterprise, and government applications, including Web site store locators, information portals, travel portals, call center applications, and fleet and asset tracking.

While Microsoft is no longer growing or updating the MapPoint Web Service, existing applications built using MapPoint Web Service will function as usual and will not experience degradations or changes in service. Microsoft will continue to provide maintenance and support to existing MapPoint Web Service customers. Microsoft also offers Bing Maps Web Services, with many of the features of MapPoint Web Services, plus the aerial imagery of Bing Maps.

If a customer has an application built with the MapPoint Web Service API and would like to enhance it with new imagery and features available in the Bing Map Control, Microsoft provides an SDK to assist developers. Customers may also want to consider working with a Bing Maps partner.

Interested developers can leverage the Bing Maps Interactive Software Development Kits (iSDK) for the Silverlight Control and the AJAX Control, check out the Bing Maps SDKs, request a Bing Maps account, and try out the services on a free 90-day trial.

There are a variety of options for organizations, governments, and developers looking to use the Bing Maps Platform. Get more information about licensing here.

There are several options for licensing the Bing Maps Platform, including free options. Visit the licensing page for complete details.

A transaction is a method for measuring usage of the Bing Maps Platform, which includes the MapPoint Web Service, the Bing Maps AJAX Control, the Bing Maps Web Services, and Photosynth. For complete details, visit the SDK.

When the Bing Maps Silverlight Control and the Bing Maps AJAX Control are loaded with a valid Bing Maps Key, Bing Maps counts sessions. A session begins with the load of Control into a user’s browser and includes all Control interactions until the browser is closed or the user moves to a different page.

You can find a partner to help you build, deploy, and manage your solution. Visit the Find a Partner section of the Bing Maps Web site.

This feature provides an aerial map view at 45 degrees. Currently, this feature covers major metropolitan areas in the United States, Canada, the U.K., Western Europe, and Australia. As with the road and aerial map styles, you can use the standard navigation methods to pan and zoom the bird's eye imagery.

Reverse geocoding is the ability to convert latitude and longitude coordinates into an address, and is available wherever geocoding is available.

We are continually updating Bing Maps with new imagery provided by our partners, including aerial, bird's eye¹, and global satellite imagery. Several terabytes of data and imagery are added and updated each month, with regions of higher population density generally seeing the most new data.

Street level imagery enables map users to experience Bing Maps from street level. Street level imagery will supplement maps, directions, and local search. Imagery is collected using a 360 degree camera typically mounted on a car or SUV. We only drive public roads and other areas open to the public (e.g., parking lots), with our main focus on streets with businesses and points of public interest. At times, due to a connecting road or traffic, we may drive residential areas as well. Street level images will be made available as part of Microsoft’s online mapping service at www.bing.com/maps in the future.

As with all Microsoft technology, street level imagery and Bing maps were designed with security and privacy concerns in mind. Our mapping products comply with applicable laws governing the acquisition and publishing of imagery. Specifically, we use automated software and advanced algorithms to detect and blur faces and license plates to protect individual privacy. This automated software and advanced algorithms are based on years of Microsoft Research investments in computer vision techniques. We also accept requests to blur or remove images of faces or persons, homes, cars, acts of violence, nudity and unlawful material. We review every request. Depending on the content of the imagery, we may remove it entirely, blur a portion of it, or take no action.

Microsoft has collected street-level imagery in a number of US metro areas and will begin collecting street level images of public roads, primarily in commercial areas in Canada near venues associated with the 2010 Winter Olympic Games including the Vancouver and Whistler area.

Yes, Bing Maps can provide latitude and longitude coordinates based on a physical address or place name via the geocoding feature.

All communications with Bing Maps may be encrypted using SSL. Read more information about the customer identification and authentication features for each API at the following links: AJAX Control, Silverlight Control, and Web Services.

The Bing Maps Imagery Hosting Service makes it easy for governments to distribute their public-facing orthoimagery. Leveraging Bing Maps saves money and critical resources, while helping meet the public service goals of most spatial data infrastructure initiatives. See the Bing Maps Imagery Hosting Service data sheet for details.

Yes. Now it's easier than ever to integrate your own 3D models into Bing Maps. Instead of creating a collection to integrate your 3D models into the platform, you can now host them yourself and retrieve them from a 3D data file through a call to a URL.

Bing Maps can provide walking and driving directions. Walking directions are available in the United States and Europe. Customers in North America can also choose to reveal hints for itinerary items that feature familiar landmarks such as gas stations and fast-food restaurants by name. With one-click driving directions, users can instantly get directions from east, west, north, and south, without having to enter a starting address.

Yes, in 71 markets in North America, Bing Maps can use real-time traffic-flow data to generate routes for customers.

Coverage includes traffic overlays for more than 70 major metropolitan areas in the United States, plus one in Canada, and provides incident and construction traffic data as well.

Yes, Bing Maps allows you to modify the look and feel of routes.

The recommended maximum number is 25. Regardless of the number of route objects, however, the time it takes to calculate the route is proportional to the total distance of the entire multipoint route.

No. In version 6.2, Bing Maps creates routes in the order in which the points are created.

Yes. You can define your search area, search along a specific route, and search for businesses.

Photosynth allows users to transform digital photos into a three-dimensional, 360-degree experience that displays the big picture, as well as specific details. Photosynth analyzes each photo for similarities and builds a rich, interactive model.

You can embed “synths” on your Web site to display properties and merchandise, and you can even integrate synths into your Bing maps. Public synths, which anyone can access on www.photosynth.net, are free up to 20 GB of storage. Unlisted synths are free up to 1 GB of storage and 500 views per month. Use of Photosynth beyond these limits requires a commercial license.

You can obtain a Photosynth commercial license by signing a Bing Maps licensing agreement. If you have an existing agreement, contact your sales representative to associate your Photosynth Live ID to your account.

All synths are hosted on Photosynth.net, but you have the option to list your synth as public or unlisted. An unlisted synth cannot be found on Photosynth.net through the search function. Unlisted synths, however, are not secure. Anyone who has the direct URL can view the synth. At this time, you cannot host synths on your own server.

There are two places where you can access embedded maps:

• For an AJAX embedded map, visit bing.com/maps, click the share button on the action bar on the lower left hand corner of the screen. Then you have the option to customize, preview, and embed your map.
• Visit the SDK for an AJAX embedded map or to link to a Silverlight Map, visit the SDK.

No. The Silverlight Map Control requires that users have a new Bing Maps account which uses the new, lightweight method of authenticating with the Silverlight Control. It allows customers to create up to five Bing Maps Keys and to manage those accounts from one interface. To get started, visit the Account Management Portal.

Based on feedback from participants of the CTP, we’ve made updates to the Silverlight Map Control. In addition to being built on Silverlight 3, V1 includes support for Microsoft Expression Blend, improved overall performance, and more. For a complete list of changes, visit the SDK. The CTP will be retired on December 31, 2009.

Microsoft CDN is a key pillar of the Microsoft cloud computing strategy and is an investment the Bing Maps Platform team is making to increase overall platform performance.

CDN consists of data centers across the Americas, Europe, and Asia that allow Bing Maps to host content closer to end users, resulting in reduced Bing Maps content delivery speeds.

Yes. A new network domain was created to support CDN. In order for users to utilize CDN, an opt-in code change is required to reference the new network.

For more information, please read the related documentation on MSDN.

No, using CDN should not alter the code used to access alternate tile servers.

Bird's eye hybrid is bird's eye¹ imagery with roads and labels overlaid in perspective view.

Yes, you can use bird's eye and explore cities looking at buildings in 3D.

Bing Maps version 6.2 is backward compatible with version 6.1.

Bing Maps supports Firefox 2 and 3, Internet Explorer 6, 7, and 8, and Safari versions 2 and 3 on Mac.

Yes, Bing Maps can import data in both GeoRSS and KML formats.

Bing Maps AJAX Control: Not currently supported by the Visual Studio designer, but the Visual Studio JavaScript IntelliSense helper can simplify development.

Silverlight Map Control: Developers can build and deploy road, aerial, and hybrid map views, with Silverlight in the .NET framework using Visual Studio 2008.

Bing Maps Web Services (BMWS): Developers can simplify BMWS development by utilizing Visual Studio Windows Communication Foundation proxies to unfold class and related methods.

MapPoint Web Service (MWS): MWS integrates with the Visual Studio help system. Visual Studio automatically generates the methods and classes once developers have registered the Web Services Description Language with their Visual Studio solution.

Yes, Bing Maps can be programmatically accessed by virtually any development environment that conforms to the required standards. The MapPoint Web Service API is a standard SOAP XML-based Web service exposed through WSDL. Provided that your development platform supports SOAP Web service standards, it can be used with MapPoint Web Service.

Because the Bing Maps Control is a client-side component run in the Web browser, there is no dependency on the development environment. The control can be developed in any environment that can output standard HTML and JavaScript code for the client, even in environments that can deliver only static pages.

The SOAP-based Bing Maps Web Services is fully supported and documented via the SDK. Designed for mobile and desktop clients, the functionality is not JavaScript-based, and the maps are static.

Hosting and development services are available from our technology Partners. We have carefully selected several technology Partners that have proven success at providing these services.

Yes. Through the Bing Maps Web Services, Microsoft offers features and enhancements to support mobile devices. Customers can offer mobile applications featuring geocoding, static maps and map tiles optimized specifically for mobile devices. Developers will have a rich control experience, and can build navigational elements into mobile applications.

Bing Maps will render a mobile-specific map style that can be displayed on any mobile device with Web connectivity. These include Windows Mobile, RIM Blackberry, and the Apple iPhone.

The Bing Maps Silverlight Control is the new control that features increased performance, managed code development in Visual Studio 2008, and a range of new possibilities made possible through Silverlight – Deep Zoom, high-fidelity video, animation, and vector graphics.

To begin developing with Bing Maps Silverlight Control, sign up for a Bing Maps account.

No, at this time the Bing Maps Silverlight Control does not support bird’s eye views or the 3D control.

The Bing Maps Silverlight Control will auto-detect if Silverlight is installed on the user machine; if Silverlight 3 is not found, the user will be prompted to install Silverlight. Web developers can customize this installation dialog to match the experience of the host application.

Yes. You can find more information here about the program and benefits. When you join the Microsoft Partner program, you create a profile that includes your Bing Maps or MapPoint solution. You will be listed in the Microsoft Resource Directory with other solution providers, independent software vendors, consultants, training providers, and developers that work with Bing Maps and Microsoft MapPoint technologies.