Bing Maps Adds OpenStreetMap

OpenStreetMap (OSM) is the latest layer for Bing Maps and the newest Bing Map App in the gallery. OSM maps are loaded as a new map style option, following a concept similar to that of Wikipedia, but for maps and other geographic facts, not limited to streets and roads. A community of map lovers and developers gather location data across the globe from a variety of sources such as recordings from GPS devices, free satellite imagery, or simply from knowing an area very well, perhaps because they live there.

This information then gets uploaded to OpenStreetMap's central database from where it can be further modified, corrected and enriched by anyone who notices missing facts or errors about the area.

Users can still perform searches atop of the OSM map layer. Once the OSM Maps are rendered, users will find the OSM map option listed in the map types so if you switch to Bird's Eye or some other native Bing map types, you can easily return to the OSM map style. Of note, Bing is using the Mapnik map style from OSM (one of the many map styles available to open source users) to create our OSM map type. People love the details you see?

The OSM data is taken as is and are pumping it through Windows Azure CDN. This means, pure OSM data coming down at fast speeds from the massive Windows Azure infrastructure built out to support globally distributed applications... like Bing Maps.