Keith Kinnan's Blog

Many people have asked how to create numbered pushpins using the Virtual Earth API. One way to do this is to have custom pin images with numbers in the image. However, you can also do this in the v5 API using VEShape and custom HTML and CSS styles for...

One of the new features of the Virtual Earth v6 Map Control API is the ability to import KML layers on the map. Previous versions of the API allowed you to import GeoRSS using client-side XML parsing. However, one of the restrictions was that the GeoRSS...

The v5 Virtual Earth API has improved GeoRSS support. The Virtual Earth API now integrates GeoRSS Layer support with the VEShapeLayer. So, you can now load a GeoRSS layer feed and then access the items in that layer through the VEShapeLayer and VEShape...

Here is a simple example mashup that automatically cycles through a set of Virtual Earth 3D Scenes every minute. This mashup shows how to control the screen view of Virtual Earth 3D. Virtual Earth 3D Scenes Mashup Here are some screenshots of some...

One of the powerful features of the Virtual Earth v5 API is the new VEShapeLayer. The VEShapeLayer allows you to organize VEShapes into groups. In the previous VEShape example, the VEShapes were added directly to the map. When shapes are added directly...

If you have not seen this already, check out the Bing Maps Traffic Gadget . It attaches to your Windows Vista sidebar and shows the real-time traffic conditions from Bing Maps for the major city around the U.S. of your choice. The cities you can choose...

One of the powerful features that was introduced in the Virtual Earth APIs in version 3.0 is the GeoRSS Layer. The GeoRSS Layer allows you to easily add a set of points and information to the map from a standard GeoRSS XML file using the W3C Basic Geo...

We recently just announced the latest Bing Maps Ajax Control v7 .  I wanted to start with some simple “Hello World” samples to help get you started developing with v7.  First, you must go the Bing Maps Account Center and sign up for a free developer...

In the v3 version of the Virtual Earth API, we added support for custom Tile Layers, which allows you to add your own custom imagery and overlays on the map. One of our developers, Jaya Bhatia blogged about Tile Layers with the v3 Virtual Earth API...

The Virtual Earth v5 APIs added a new VEShape class to make it easier to create pushpins, polylines, and polygons. The new VEShape class gives these shapes a standard interface and a uniform way to create and access drawing elements on the map. VEShapes...

I wanted to start with a simple “Hello World!” sample to show you how to create your first application with the Virtual Earth Silverlight Map Control CTP . With just a few easy steps, you can get started building applications with the Virtual Earth Silverlight...

Check out the MSNBC Virtual Earth Santa Tracker .  You can see Santa at his village in the North Pole and also track Santa as he travels around the world delivering presents.  The Santa Tracker requires the Virtual Earth 3D plugin to be installed...

Thanks to everyone who attended my session CL36: Deep Dive on Bing Maps Silverlight Control at PDC09 !  Hope you had a good time.  Here is a link to the code samples from the session: Download BingMapsSilverlightSamplesPDC09.zip   To use...

We just released the Virtual Earth Map Control v6 API. You can find all the latest details in the Virtual Earth Map Control SDK, Version 6.0 . Or you can download the Virtual Earth Map Control SDK (CHM file) directly. You can also try out the updated...

When adding a GeoRSS layer to the map, the current map view gets updated automatically so the best view of the GeoRSS layer is visible. However, several people have asked how to disable this since they are adding several layers to the map or already had...

The same way you can import GeoRSS Layers into VEShapeLayers , you can also import any public Virtual Earth Collection from Live Search Maps . It is very simple to do and is probably one of the easiest ways to create a Virtual Earth application. Steve...

One of the new features from the Virtual Earth v6 Map Control API is the ability to bulk add groups of pushpins to the map in one step. This improves performance when putting a large number of pushpins on the map since the HTML markup of the pushpins...

Microsoft Virtual Earth is now officially known as “ Bing Maps ”. You can see the Bing logo on the Bing Maps website (formerly known as Live Search Maps) and on the Bing Maps Interactive SDK . You can see the SDKs for the Bing Maps Web Services and the...

The Virtual Earth Silverlight Map Control CTP is designed to work with Silverlight 2. However, since Silverlight 3 is reverse-compatible with Silverlight 2, you can use it with Silverlight 3 projects also. At MIX09 , Joe Stegman demonstrated a nice...

Using the Virtual Earth Map Control API, it is very simple to create a mashup application that is full screen and takes up the entire browser window. Here is the source code for creating a v6 Virtual Earth full-screen mashup: <!DOCTYPE html...

Check out the Virtual Earth Screen Saver I created and uploaded on CodePlex , Microsoft's open source project website. The screen saver reads Virtual Earth permalinks from RSS feeds and uses the Virtual Earth API to show Birdseye and satellite images...

The Virtual Earth map control supports several interactive ways to zoom in and out on the 2D map view. For example, you can: Click on (or click and hold) the zoom In/zoom Out icons on the navigation control. Double-click on the map to zoom in at a particular...

In the Virtual Earth v6 API, one of the new features is improved Birdseye accuracy. The Virtual Earth v6 API has some new methods to more accurately position pushpins when in Birdseye view. Satellite (Aerial/Hybrid) and Road imagery views are direct...

We recently updated the Bing Maps AJAX Control v7 a week ago with some new features.  Check out the official announcement on the Bing Maps  Blog if you missed it.  Here are some details for developers of the new features in this update...

One of the new features of the Virtual Earth API is multipoint routing. Now, you can specify multiple points on a route and get directions to/from them. The new GetDirections call on the VEMap makes it easy to do this. For example, here's a simple...