Virtual Earth Silverlight Map Control CTP available :-)

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The Virtual Earth Silverlight™ Map Control, enables a new level of performance without document object model (DOM) constraints. The release allows users to enhance their mapping and data visualization applications with powerful extensions, including high-fidelity video, animation, and vector graphics. The use of Silverlight also provides a development environment working with managed code, which allows for development, unit testing and debugging with Visual Studio 2008.

Integration with Detailed Virtual Earth Features

  • Build and deploy road, aerial, and hybrid map views, with Silverlight in the .NET framework.

  • Engage with the interactive map view control with mouse and keyboard panning and zooming, set the map view programmatically and create new perspectives with integrated world wrap.

  • Build and overlay multiple robust and animated maps, and clusters of maps, quickly and more easily, and design custom images and more easily build complex code through Visual Studio.

  • Add shapes such as polygons and polylines to enrich maps and add custom tile layers using MapCruncher.

Seamless Development and Rich Toolkit

  • Use a single toolkit for building next generation user experiences, incorporating video, smooth zooming, and more—all using low bandwidth.
  • Easily integrate Silverlight-based applications with existing Web applications, without any ripping and replacing of content. With Silverlight, developers can easily incorporate services and data from anywhere, using Virtual Earth Web Services or AJAX to deliver stunning data-driven experiences.
  • Extend your reach with built-in support for multiple browsers, including Internet Explorer 8 and Firefox 3.
  • Embed rich geovisualization capabilities into your existing Silverlight applications or create new rich internet applications (RIAs).

Rich, Interactive Silverlight Applications

  • End users can now experience Virtual Earth applications that feature the “deep zoom” capabilities of Silverlight, including fly-through and scaling views of landmarks, properties, and more. The availability of fluid video imagery can create immersive, highly engaging end-user experiences that bring location-based information to life.
  • Developers can provide a new navigation paradigm for multimedia collections by overlaying them as points on a map, creating halo and fade-in effects, dragging and dropping images, and drawing on maps.
  • Designers can extend applications by embedding brand-enhancing multimedia, advertising, and more into the map.

To begin developing with Virtual Earth Silverlight Control CTP, visit Microsoft Connect: https://connect.microsoft.com/silverlightmapcontrolctp

 

I got the bits a while ago and have to say that I’m more than pleased ! Unfortunately back than they were still under NDA as we intended to disclose them at MIX so you can imagine my excitement that I’m finally allowed to share the goodness with you :-) (and that I can release a Silverlight version of Where is Daniel soon :-) if I find some time…)

 

Cheers!

    Daniel