The Bing Maps team has announced a beta SDK for Bing Maps that is designed to give you a way to integrate Bing mapping into your Windows Metro style apps.
The Bing Maps blog post about the SDK says: “If you’ve tried to use the Bing Maps AJAX v7 control in a Metro style app using JavaScript, you’ve likely encountered issues (due to sandboxing of the web context) that make it difficult to consume. With the new SDK, we’re now providing a JavaScript control specifically intended for use within your JavaScript apps.”
The JavaScript control is based on the old AJAX v7 control, so has a similar API with some enhancements. The beta version has support for all of the same map types, pushpins, polylines/polygons, infoboxes, and tile layers as AJAX v7, plus the addition of the Venue Maps module. Directions, traffic, overlays, and other modules are due for addition later.
The SDK also comes with a native map control for use with any native or managed Metro style app written in C#, C++, and Visual Basic. According to the blog, the client vector rendering capability should offer smaller data downloads and improved rendering. The ‘road’ map style (which is limited to the US for this beta release) is rendered completely on the client. The control also offers a traffic overlay, and because it’s designed for use with XAML, you can also overlay and position any custom XAML element over the map.
In an attempt to encourage you all to go out and make use of Bing Maps, Microsoft is giving developers free and unlimited use of Bing Maps APIs until Windows 8 is released. You can download the beta from the Visual Studio Gallery.
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