Bing Blogs

Bing Blogs

This is a place devoted to giving you deeper insight
into the news, trends, people and technology behind Bing.

WELCOME

Follow Bing

ARCHIVES

Archives
Archives
Archives
Archives
Archives

Maps Blog — Jul 2011

  • Jul
    26
    20 11

    Bing Maps Updates – Account Center, REST...

    Today we are announcing the number of updates that have been made to the Bing Maps Account Center , Bing Maps REST Services and the Bing Maps MSDN documentation. Bing Maps Account Center The new updates in the Bing Maps Account Center make it easier to maintain your location data sources through the account center without the need to have to re-upload your entire data source. The latest updates to the data source management tools allow you to: Add or create a new dataset record in an existing data source . Before this update adding a new record to an existing data source required making the addition to a local copy of the data source and then re-uploading the complete data source. Edit a Data Sources Schema . You can now edit the schema of data sources that are already uploaded to the Bing Spatial Data Service. You can add a new property field or edit the data type of an existing field. This saves you the time of having to re-upload your complete data source. Upload Tab of Pipe delimited data source files . Originally only the Bing Spatial Data Service XML file schema was supported by the Bing Maps Account Center. Now you can upload Tab and Pipe delimited data sources that meet the... Read More Today we are announcing the number of updates that have been made to the Bing Maps Account Center , Bing Maps REST Services and the Bing Maps MSDN documentation. Bing Maps Account Center The new updates in the Bing Maps Account Center make it easier to maintain your location data sources through the account center without the need to have to re-upload your entire data source. The latest updates to the data source management tools allow you to: Add or create a new dataset record in an existing data source . Before this update adding a new record to an existing data source required making the addition... Read More
    • Comments (0)
  • Jul
    13
    20 11

    What's New in the AJAX Map Control

    Today we are officially introducing three new modules and several new features for the AJAX 7.0 map control. The new modules add some very handy features, and they really show off the dynamic module loading capabilities of the AJAX 7.0 control by adding functionality when you need it, and getting out of the way when you don’t. The new modules help you: Calculate driving directions using the new Microsoft.Maps.Directions module. This makes it easier than ever to integrate driving, transit, and walking directions into your applications. Try it now (Interactive SDK) . Display a venue map using the Microsoft.Maps.VenueMaps module. Venue maps show details of what’s going on inside malls, airports, and shopping districts. Now you can show your customers not just where the building is, but exactly where your store is located inside. This is one of the most popular consumer features on Bing Maps today and now you can make it part of your apps as well. Try it now (Interactive SDK) . Show current traffic on the map using the Microsoft.Maps.Traffic module. Not only does this module make it easier to show traffic conditions, the new traffic overlays that shipped... Read More Today we are officially introducing three new modules and several new features for the AJAX 7.0 map control. The new modules add some very handy features, and they really show off the dynamic module loading capabilities of the AJAX 7.0 control by adding functionality when you need it, and getting out of the way when you don’t. The new modules help you: Calculate driving directions using the new Microsoft.Maps.Directions module. This makes it easier than ever to integrate driving, transit, and walking directions into your applications. Try it now (Interactive SDK) . Display... Read More
    • Comments (3)
  • Jul
    12
    20 11

    Updates to Our Road Map Style

    If you have looked at a Bing map in the last 24 hours you might have noticed a few new things about our road map style. So what did we change? Simply put, we made things easier to see. Based on many phases of usability testing we’ve made dozens of changes to improve our base road map style. The result is a new style designed to communicate more important information at a glance. We have just finished rolling out our English version of this new style, and you will see French, Flemish, German, Italian, and Spanish rolling out over the next week or so. Key changes include: Primary roadways are denoted in a more distinct color One way streets are more clearly marked Road shields are more visible Text labels are easier to read Traffic overlays are clearer and more defined Lots of other details to improve map readability As the saying goes, pictures are worth thousands of word so we’ve put together a 9 page guide to what’s new to go deep on all the changes. Of course, you can also just go to Bing Maps right now and see it all for yourself! The Bing Maps Team Read More If you have looked at a Bing map in the last 24 hours you might have noticed a few new things about our road map style. So what did we change? Simply put, we made things easier to see. Based on many phases of usability testing we’ve made dozens of changes to improve our base road map style. The result is a new style designed to communicate more important information at a glance. We have just finished rolling out our English version of this new style, and you will see French, Flemish, German, Italian, and Spanish rolling out over the next week or so. Key changes include: Primary... Read More
    • Comments (2)
  • Jul
    11
    20 11

    A new user interface for Bing Maps

    Over the past few months, we’ve been testing some enhancements to the Bing Maps interface that we’re excited to now make available for everyone. The most apparent changes are to our task and navigation controls, where—based on your feedback—we’ve made it easier to find the most common actions to complete your task at hand. For reference, here’s the previous design (pay particular attention to the top and bottom of the page): Here’s the refreshed version: We’ve consolidated actions that were previously scattered throughout the page, and concentrated them along the top, where you expect to find them. We’ve included text labels for most of the buttons. And, most importantly, we’ve focused on making the controls accessible while still allowing the map to be the focus of the page. These improvements are being rolled out to all of our international sites with appropriate market-specific functionality. For example, Bing Maps users in the UK will still have access to the London Street Map and Ordnance Survey styles, along with our standard Road map, via the vector style drop-down. The public transport overlay, showing... Read More Over the past few months, we’ve been testing some enhancements to the Bing Maps interface that we’re excited to now make available for everyone. The most apparent changes are to our task and navigation controls, where—based on your feedback—we’ve made it easier to find the most common actions to complete your task at hand. For reference, here’s the previous design (pay particular attention to the top and bottom of the page): Here’s the refreshed version: We’ve consolidated actions that were previously scattered throughout the page,... Read More
    • Comments (3)