Virtual Earth Platform Features and Functionality

The Virtual Earth platform delivers rich features and functionality to help create immersive end-user experiences, visualize business information, and manage resources:

Bird’s Eye[1] Views and Bird’s Eye Hybrid.
View maps from a bird’s vantage point and pan continuously to get the lay of the land. Bird’s Eye Hybrid adds street names to the bird’s eye maps to provide better visual context and orientation.

Aerial Imagery.
Enjoy high-resolution aerial images.

3D Imagery.
Create 3D photorealistic views featuring dense city models.

Flexible, Standard APIs.
Utilize services-oriented architecture (SOA) best practices with multiple platform support through our SOAP and JScript interfaces.

Comprehensive Support.
Benefit from newsgroups and forums, and receive 24-hour support with a commercial license.

Shapes and Shape Layers.
Use HTML and CSS to customize the way that maps present pushpin, shape, and information box data.

Customization Capabilities.
Use HTML and CSS to customize the way that maps present pushpin, shape, and information box data.

Proximity Search.
Return a list of points of interest based on proximity to a selected location.

Intuitive User Experience.
Utilize AJAX technology to drag and pan the map, zoom in and out with the scroll wheel, and interact with the application.

  

Geocoding and Reverse Geocoding.[2]
Find an exact address on a map, and find the closest street address based only on latitude and longitude coordinates.

Driving Directions with Traffic-based Routing.
Provide optimized driving directions with step-by-step instructions, and choose alternate routes based on current traffic flows.

Walking Directions.[3]
Find the most direct route to walk to a destination.

Localized Directions.
Get localized driving or walking directions in 15 languages.

Multipoint Routing.
Optimize travel schedules and improve driver efficiency.

Traffic Reports.[2]
Overlay traffic reports on maps with color-coded traffic-flow visuals.

GeoRSS Feeds.
Import shapes, pushpins, and polylines with GeoRSS feeds.

Cross-Browser Support.
Enjoy support for Apple Safari 2 and 3.

MapCruncher Beta.
Use MapCruncher™ Beta for Microsoft Virtual Earth to easily overlay maps in an application.

1. Available in many metropolitan areas. Not available for government customers.
2. Available to users in the U.S.
3. Available to users in North America and the European Union.
4. Available to commercial customers that implement the client token authentication infrastructure.

 

* Source: Microsoft Corporation

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