Earthware Blog

It seems that we are not the only people who think that TheWorldCupMap, Earthware’s tour of the World Cup stadiums, is pretty cool. The guys at BBC sport also agree and have added it to their dedicated World Cup page alongside their own venue guide and Fifa’s offering too. It’s great to have our work recognised in this way and to see this amazing new technology being used so well.

TheWorldCupMap shows what the ‘art of the possible’ of online mapping is. It is the world’s first release of Aerial Video Integrated Mapping (Avimap) technology which combines the Bing Maps Silverlight mapping API, the latest Internet Information Services (IIS) smooth streaming technology and Windows Azure cloud hosting to give a movie-like experience of a location. 

If you would like more information about how you could use the latest web mapping technology to display your business information in a compelling way please contact Earthware on 0845 642 9880 or email info@earthware.co.uk. 

Here at Earthware we are all very excited about the World Cup. However, it’s not the goals (or lack of!) that has got us energised, it’s our latest web based mapping solution, Avimap, which provides an interactive aerial tour of all the stadiums hosting World Cup football matches. Even if you can’t make it to South Africa in person with this online mapping application you can now visualise where all the action is happening as you fly over the stadiums at the same time as viewing the surrounding area in the map and understanding where the stadiums are located in relation to each other. Take a look for yourself by visiting http://www.theworldcupmap.com.

Avimap combines the very latest in online mapping technology, Bing Maps Silverlight, with high definition aerial video footage, from Skyworks, to create an application using cloud hosting from Mircosoft Azure allowing the user to explore any location in a smooth movie-like way.

To our knowledge this is the first time anyone has combined digital maps and aerial videos and used cloud hosting to produce an experience like this and it’s not just mapping football stadiums that this technology can be used for. The scope for any business, but especially those in the travel sector, is endless. Imagine embedding travel mapping into your website clearly displaying everything anyone could want to know about a destination at the touch of a mouse button.

If you would like to find out more about how digital maps can differentiate your brand, drive customers to your website and convert leads please contact Earthware on 0845 642 9880 or email info@earthware.co.uk.

It’s something of a milestone week for Microsoft’s Bing Maps with the launch of its Map App SDK (Software Development Kit) at Microsoft’s TechEd convention in New Orleans.

Developers can now download the Bing Map App SDK and start building, testing and submitting applications which if approved by the Bing Maps team, could feature in the Bing Maps App Gallery.

Earthware has already developed three map apps on behalf of Microsoft: the Bing Maps World Tour, Foursquare Everywhere and Oodle property apps. These provide great examples of what Bing is calling “truly compelling map experiences”.

Speaking about the launch of the Bing Maps App SDK, Brian Norman, Earthware’s Technical Director, said: “The public availability of the SDK opens the door to some groundbreaking new Apps which will really show the potential for businesses in providing rich visual web experiences by harnessing the power of mapping. Here at Earthware, we’re working on some exciting new Apps for the Bing Maps Gallery to complement the ones we’ve developed so far, including Foursquare and Oodle. Watch this space!”

To access the Bing Map App SDK, login to Microsoft Connect at http://connect.microsoft.com/bingmapapps (you’ll need a Live ID).

Please feel free to contact us if you are looking to explore how Bing Maps or any other interactive web based mapping, can help your business.

This week has seen a further development in global web based mapping technology with Google’s announcement that it has augmented Google Earth into Google Maps, creating a 3D rendering of certain locations when used with a supported browser.

This update to Google Maps, called Earth View, enables users to view 3D images of a number of the world’s most iconic places. In the UK, these include the Houses of Parliament in London, Stonehenge and even the Lake District.

Go to Google Maps and click the ‘New!’ link in the top right-hand corner and then enable “Aerial Imagery” and click on “save changes”. Then select one of the listed examples, sit back and enjoy!

Commenting on the Google’s Lat Long blog, Google Product Manager, Peter Birch, wrote:

"Earth View offers a true three-dimensional perspective, which lets you experience mountains in full detail, 3D buildings and first-person dives beneath the ocean. The motion is fluid, and you can see the world from any viewpoint".

Coming five years after Google Earth was launched, Earth View is available through the installation of a browser plug-in it originally issued in 2008, enabling dramatic detailing using the Google Earth fly-through interface.

The Grand Canyon, as viewed with Earth View in Google Maps.

San Francisco is one area where 3D perspective of an urban view is available in real detail.

(Credit: screenshots by Stephen Shankland/CNET)

Microsoft is currently working on its own 3D view of the world by enhancing its Bird’s Eye perspective in Bing Maps using the Silverlight plug-in.

Brian, Earthware’s Technical Director believes, “It is great to see these premium beta features make it into the consumer site offering some real competition to Bing’s 3D maps”.

Please feel free to contact Earthware if you are looking to explore how Google Maps, or any other web based interactive mapping, can help your business.

For the past thirty years or more, the travel industry has relied upon the trusty printed brochure to wet our appetites for holidays at home and abroad. We’ve become accustomed to the idea of thumbing through acres of paper and booking our escape to the sun based on fuzzy photographs and ‘artist’s impressions’. I wonder exactly how many holidaymakers have uttered those immortal words, “it didn’t look like that in the brochure?” during this time.

However, thanks to the massive advances made in web based mapping technology, this is all set to change. Applications such as Bing Maps World Tour, which uses Microsoft’s Silverlight technology and the Bing Maps mapping API, and the European Environment Agency’s Eye on the Earth website, which is built on the Windows Azure platform and Google Earth mapping are great examples of how the technology has revolutionised the way web users experience online mapping imagery. These mapping technologies have also paved the way for the travel sector to re-think how it can use the internet to present consumers with complete travel information in one place, e.g. embedded into an online travel map, to make finding and booking a holiday an enjoyable, easy experience.

Let’s take this one step further. Imagine popping into your local travel agent, or even sitting at home, and being able to interact with the screen to research and book your next holiday. The kind of technology that would enable you to do this was featured in the 2002 Hollywood movie, Minority Report. However, it’s no longer in the realm of science fiction thanks to the introduction of Microsoft Surface. Blend this technology with 3D street level mapping which is now available with Microsoft’s Streetside and Google’s Streetview and we’ve opened the door to a whole new perspective of what we can expect in the not too distant future.

95% of the UK road network has now been plotted in Google Streetview, an incredible logistical exercise on its own. You may even have seen one of the hundreds of specially rigged ‘Google Cars’ driving around capturing the imagery over the last 18 months but don’t worry, all faces and vehicle registrations have been disguised to comply with privacy laws!

This imagery means tourists and those holidaying at home can get an incredible amount of destination information, as well as being able to plan an itinerary based on the surrounding area and distances to attractions, for example, through just one application. Granted, you will only get an aerial or bird’s eye (if the mapping platform used is Microsoft’s Bing Maps) view of your holiday cottage if it’s down a private farm track (at the moment) but how about ‘walking’ around the nearest village or town? No problem.

For those of you who’d like to find out more about Bing Maps in particular, you can visit and join the Bing Maps User Group which was co-founded by Earthware’s Technical Director, Brian Norman. At one recent session, the group heard from Jim Lynn from BBC Vision, who presented “Adventures in Mapping” to give more of a taste of what we could see in the future.

Earthware’s development team is at the forefront of groundbreaking online mapping technology and new applications and is working in a number of industry sectors keen to embrace the power of interactive mapping technology to bring their business propositions to life through the internet.

Not only that, in these environmentally conscious times, it’s comforting to know this technology could help the travel industry take a huge step forward in reducing the thousands of tons of paper it uses each year.

To find out more about using Silverlight or Windows Azure technologies or the Bing Maps or Google Maps online mapping to communicate your business, please contact us.

Bing Maps have just released their latest offering to web based digital mapping and it’s pretty impressive.

New features include tagged photos from Flickr which overlay the exact location on the Bing Maps Streetside imagery, putting a static image in context of it’s local surroundings enabling the user the to compare a location at different times of day as well as historically.

The transition of the imagery as you zoom in from space to the street side is seamless moving through road view, aerial view and then Bird’s Eye view before ‘landing’ you on the ground so you can walk  around the street. But it doesn’t stop there: Bing Maps are now starting to map the inside of buildings.

And, if you get bored of navigating around Earth (well just America so far), then look up to the sky and navigate your way through the planets and stars.

Seeing as Bing Maps is an interactive mapping experience, watch the man (well one of the men) behind these new features, Blaise Aguera y Arcas, and see for yourself what they can do. Our question is, will you be joining the (over)excited applauding by the end?

If you are interested in finding out more about online mapping and how you can use it please contact Earthware on 0845 642 9880 or email info@earthware.co.uk

We often get asked by our clients, and prospective clients, what areas of the UK are covered by Bird’s Eye imagery. Whilst we have a long list of place names this isn’t always helpful as what you really want is to see is the UK Bird’s Eye coverage plotted on a map.

Well we found one the other day that Microsoft have done and here it is (areas shaded yellow have Bird’s Eye):

The two other questions that we often get asked are “Will our area have Bird’s Eye View imagery soon?” or “Will new imagery be released in our area?”. As the imagery is provided by BLOM pictometry (I was lucky enough to have a tour of the hanger and see the planes and the cameras they use – very cool!) and where and when routes are flown depends on a number of often uncontrollable factors, I am not even sure that Microsoft know the answer to this. However, if you want to keep up to date then please see the monthly releases in the Bing Maps World Tour, a bespoke mapping solution which Earthware created for Microsoft, which clearly displays the details of all Microsoft’s monthly imagery releases (aerial imagery and Birds Eye views).

After months of biting their tongues, Bing have finally announced their latest additions to Bing Maps by releasing the beta version of Silverlight Bing Maps which features two new map modes (Streetside View and Enhanced Bird’s Eye) plus an Application Gallery and also Photosynth to name just a few.

The entire site is built in Silverlight (although the Bing Maps AJAX site is still available  if for some reason you don’t want to see the amazing new features). Features include:

Streetside: ground level, fully stitched together high res photographs giving a seamless 360 degree panorama.

Enhanced Bird’s Eye: In urban areas: Bing have used high resolution photography and stereo data to create 3D models of locations and placed them into the 2D interface of a webpage but with 3D aspect ratio from Silverlight 3. In non-urban areas: Bing have used their satellite imagery and aerial photos and re-projected the Earth to give a better perspective of the world.

Application Gallery: a catalogue of all the Bing Maps applications creating a simplified search and bookmarking function.

Photosynth: now fully integrated into the maps so you can fly in from space straight into your next door neighbours lounge(!) (but only if they have created a synth of course).

Simultaneous Multiple Searches: perform multiple searches within one map to discover all you can (tweets, blogs articles, local businesses, imagery etc)about a location without leaving the map.

Local Search Integration: Bing Local Search fully integrated into Bing Maps (the opposite has been available for a while).

Simplified Navigation: The navigation buttons have been moved to the bottom of the page and you can select Automatic (based on user feedback), Road, Aerial or Bird’s Eye or Streetside (our new friend ‘Blue Man’) views.

Integrated 1-Click Directions: if you know where you’re trying to get to, search for the location and select directions to get there approaching from the north, south, east or west.

Route Query Parsing: if you are planning to drive from, for example, Seattle to San Diego just enter “Seattle to San Diego” in the search box and get point to point driving directions.

Auto-Location Detection: when you load Bing Maps in Silverlight the site will automatically detect where you are located and centre the map to show your current position.

Weather: weather information has been embedded into the maps allowing you to view the latest weather conditions at your current location (using the auto-location detection) or for the location you are searching for.

Images: Bing Image Search has been integrated into Bing Maps giving you instant access to images of the location you are searching for.

Defined Regions Query Parsing: search for a neighbourhood within a city, for example, “San Diego Gaslamp,” and the map will centre on that neighbourhood and highlight the area on the map.

For a full list and description of the new features read Chris Pendleton’s blog or if you would rather watch a demo click here.

The Earthware team has been eagerly awaiting this latest offering from Bing Maps. The enhanced functionality is set to make displaying and searching for location based information much more simple. We know the Bing Maps team have been working very hard to develop this and we congratulate them on what they have achieved.

If you are interested in creating a map using Silverlight (or any other mapping API) to display your information then please drop us a line at info@earthware.co.uk.

UPDATED: As recommend by SoulSoltions in the comments I have marked each wish by whether it should be in the core control or in a separate toolkit (IMHO)

We have spent the last month working with the current Bing maps Silverlight CTP control (formally Virtual Earth) to create the new Bing Maps World Tour application which has been a really great experience. The current Silverlight control opens up a whole new world of possibilities when creating rich mapping solutions but as always we want MORE!

Here is our top 10 wish list for features and tweaks to be in the final map release in no particular order:

1.     Custom map view animations – include in core
Being able to quickly customise the speed and style of animation the map uses when navigating between map views would be great and allow developers and designers to add their own unique touch to their mapping projects.

2.     A basic pushpin & infobox control – include in toolkit

The Silverlight control team have deliberately left the creation of pushpins and popups to developers and designers as this gives us complete control and flexibility which is great and something missing from the current Ajax control. However, we can see some good reasons to have a basic pushpin and infobox offered by the final control release.

Firstly for new Silverlight developers coding a pushpin and infobox that works the same as the Ajax pushpin control is not a simple task so having a basic control they can style or build upon would allow people to get simple applications up and running faster.

Secondly for experienced developers being able to inherit from built-in controls will save a lot of repeated coding in different projects.

3.     Easy to style navigation controls – include in core
You can currently style the navigation controls, but getting access to this functionality is not straightforward (hopefully we will blog a tutorial on this soon). Being able to just apply a style or custom template as for normal Silverlight controls would be brilliant.

4.     Bird’s eye imagery – include in core

It goes without saying that Bird’s eye imagery is one of Bing maps greatest features, we hope it will make it into the first official release.

5.     Clustering – include in toolkit
Having a basic but extendable clustering solution would again help new and experienced developers quickly get applications online.

6.     Built in routing – include in toolkit
Although routing can currently be achieved quite simply using the examples from the interactive sdk, having this functionality built-in would save a lot of time and effort and again make it more open to new developers.

7.     Real time zoom level range data – include in core
The CTP release improves on the Ajax control by restricting zoom levels when the higher zoom levels are not available at a location. This is a great start but the data for this is not very detailed and you will still often get the dreaded camera icon appear.

Being able to get more detailed data, ideally in real time would be an excellent addition to the control ensuring we banish the camera icon forever! 

8.     Drawing controls – include in toolkit
Something that has often been requested for the ajax control is an officially supported set of drawing controls allowing polyline and polygon drawing as on bing.com. Having these available first in the Silverlight control would be great especially as it should be easier in Silverlight than it is in cross browser javascript. 

9.     KML / GeoRSS support – include in toolkit
The ability to quickly load a georss or kml file into the ajax control has been a massive help to new users and those of us wanting to quickly generate a map from existing content. Having this in the Silverlight control would encourage people to use the new control more as mashups would be quick to create.  

10.  Modular design
One issue with the ajax control has been that you need to download all the control code even if you don’t want to use all the features in your project. With the current Bing Maps Silverlight control dll coming in at 489kb it would be good to be able to optionally include features by having different dll’s for separate parts of the control. Another option would be to support assembly caching for the Silverlight map control similar to that in Silverlight 3 for the core framework dlls.

It was actually pretty difficult to come up with 10 sensible wishes as the current control has so many great features already. It would be great to see these all release but I have no doubt they are not all, if any, on the release list. Hopefully those that don’t make it might become part of the new direction that the codeplex project DeepEarth is taking, by creating a collection of reusable map controls in Silverlight.

We would love to hear comments about your own suggested features to see what the community as a whole want to see developed, so please add your comments below.