Redmond, Washington — Thanks to a new app, Microsoft has just unleashed a series of enhancements to its Bing Maps, which now boasts a shiny new interface that is a lot more streamlined than the previous one and aimed at improving readability and aesthetics that gives you a noticeably easier access to the service’s various functionality.
In addition to the visual renovation, it has also added a series of user-created applications with a rather innovative purpose — the most functional of which is a taxi fare calculator.
So far, the visual redesigns are only available in the Silverlight version of the Maps tool. However, users who do not have the Silverlight plug-in will continue to see the standard version of the site.
The new application employs cool colors, which Bing states creates a more visually engaging backdrop, helping content “pop” on the map, and delivers clear distinguishes for pushpins, labels, and traffic overlays.
Furthermore, there are new labels with bigger fonts for major streets. This excludes the need for bolding, and less attractive glows while allowing users to quickly find locations in a relevant format, Bing says.
The latest upgraded interface also provides improved world-wide coverage. There is enhanced road and street statistics across Central and Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Oceania, and Asia.
According to Microsoft, the Silverlight restyle is conceived around the way rods and cones work in the human eye. Some of the changes include:
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Better contrast between the “cool” colors of the maps and the “warm” colors of overlays.
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A tweaked color for roads (gray with a slightly blue tinge) which offers the best possible contrast with the red, yellow and green used for traffic overlays.
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A crisper font, with larger roads now being labeled in larger-sized lettering.
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A revamp of the display style so that it works as well as possible for people with color blindness.
The Redmond, Wash., software giant is also running a contest named King of Bing Maps which challenges developers to come up with creative uses for the data in Bing. The popular Taxi Fare Calculator was developed by Ricky Brundritt as a submission to the King of Bing Maps competition.
The app is available at the Bing Maps website right now. To utilize the Taxi Fare Calculator, you will have to click on the “map apps” button which is located around the bottom of your screen, and from there select the Taxi Fare Calculator. The app incorporates standard driving direction tools with available information for taxi rates (whether the market rate or a regulated tariff) in more than 40 global cities.
From the verified cities that are on the list, the rate calculations certainly seem accurate, though the people of Manchester in the United Kingdom may be surprised to learn they have adopted the Euro. Just pick a region (results are best within a major metropolitan area, such as New York or London) and type in two addresses. The app gives the shortest route and a fare estimate based on normal rates for cabs in the area. The pick-up charge, time charges and by-the-mile costs are all factored in where applicable.
The applications auto update feature is quite pleasant too, as you will now have a service that is much easier on the eyes. For instance, you can find a new zooming algorithm which allows you to focus on the important information better, as well as new color schemes that drive your attention to the critical areas of the screen.
Currently the app only includes a computation for waiting time, though it is not hard to envisage it being attached with live traffic info to give a more accurate estimate. The app also seems a leading candidate for inclusion in the iPhone edition of Bing.
Interestingly, the Bing blog already lists a few other candidates in addition to Taxi Fare Calculator, including World of Football, Random Location, Ricky’s Data Viewer, Apo-AT, Festivals de Theatre, GeoSalesTax and Microsoft Regional Directors. You can use some of the candidates in Bing Maps right now.
This newly released application should prove valuable to users who want to save some cash by comparing routes or who need to ensure they have the money on hand for a trip they intend to take.