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"MapQuest is true veteran of the Web. We\u2019re talking Web 1.0. It was providing driving directions long before Google Maps came to be. Back when RJ-45 connections were still a novelty for most users. Wi-Fi wasn\u2019t even a topic of discussion, let alone something Average Joe could get hold of.\nProblem is, the service seemed to remain in the past. Both the mapping properties of Google and Yahoo surpassed MapQuest handily, and later even Microsoft pushed forward its own featureful product, dubbed Live Search Maps, that likely led many stubborn MapQuest users to seriously think twice about their well-weathered pledges of allegiance. The whole market of younger fish seemed to move ahead, while MapQuest stood still (for the most part). Even after it was brought under the umbrella of AOL, it didn\u2019t show to be a market newsmaker.\nNow MapQuest seems to be making up for lost time. Or at least trying to. Following its recently debut of MapQuest versions 5 and 5.2 beta (the most current product), the AOL-owned company announced this morning that it has launched a series of six APIs meant to entice developers to look its way and give it a real shot - and perhaps bring it to its former glory. Strong emphasis put on perhaps.\nWe have to be honest here. It\u2019s highly unlikely that MapQuest can make marked inroads into the competitive mapping entities of Google or Yahoo. Even if these new APIs drive some developers to think about the brand once more, it will be a steep hill to climb before it can manage to really encroach on Google Maps. And most everyone knows why. Google Maps is, for all intents and purposes, huge. Comparably speaking, it\u2019s.... Well, there\u2019s no good use to doing a side-by-side now, let\u2019s just leave it at that.\nAnywho, still want to know more about announcement? No problem. Here are the deets on the APIs that come as part of MapQuest Platform: Free Edition:\n- MapQuest is giving developers greater flexibility and choice by enabling them to develop in a variety of programming languages and environments (even allowing for some mixing and matching): Java, C++, .NET, JavaScript, AS3 (Adobe ActionScript: Flash, Flex, AIR).\n- The company is also offering its newest API - FUJAX (Flash Under JavaScript and XML) - which, as you can intuit, allows developers to write in JavaScript yet leverage the power of Flash.\nPlus:\n- A rich mapping interface for creating rich Internet applications with MapQuest\u2019s JavaScript, AS3, or FUJAX APIs;\n- Simplified data management (access to simple tools to upload and manage location information to help keep websites accurate and relevant);\n- Aerial imagery and hybrid views;\n- Smart rollovers (rollover windows that adapt their size and positioning on the map based on the content placed in the window);\n- Smooth zoom (animated transitions between zoom levels);\n- Globe view;\n- \u201CFlickable\u201D maps (Maps that continue to pan based on speed and friction settings);\n- Advanced shape overlays (build apps that allow users to create and interact with a variety of overlays);\n- Advanced map marker features (I.e., \u201CDe-clutter mode,\u201D which can automatically move collided markers (POIs) to alternative positions on the map);\n- Unlimited maps (worldwide; static, tiled, or Flash);\n- Unlimited geo-coding (multi-line and single-line geocoding; real-time batch geocoding; reverse geocoding; postal code and town geocoding);\n- Unlimited routing (point-to-point; mult-point; optimized);"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://mashable.com/2008/03/09/mapquest-apis/>