Microsoft and IDV Launch New Piracy Watch App!

[Thagarr]

[imgleft]http://lh4.ggpht.com/_cQOyQjTP3GY/SzdzfGWk3nI/AAAAAAAAAIg/CePEMJs6IBk/real-pirates.gif[/imgleft]Microsoft continues to up the anti in it's ongoing running battle with Google for internet dominance. Microsoft's Bing Maps, in partnership with IDV Solutions, a new Bing Maps app called Piracy Watch! I haven't had a whole lot of time to play with it yet, but it does look quite impressive and very informative! Each reported incident is displayed on a scrollable and zoom-able worldwide map with a skull and crossbones icon. When you hover over the icon, a little informational box pops up and gives you the barest detail. Clicking on the link in the pop-up box further expands the box to reveal even more details about the reported incident. Because it is a Microsoft app, it uses Silverlight instead of Flash or Java. From Softpedia :

Bing Maps Piracy Watch Reveals Incidents Worldwide
The app was created by IDV Solutions

A new Bing Maps application is designed to offer an overall perspective over piracy incidents worldwide. Bing Maps Piracy Watch allows users to get an overview of pirate attacks around the world, but also additional information on specific cases. Built on top of Microsoft’s mapping, location and search platform, the app uses a combination of visual data, with pushpins illustrating the specific location of an attack, but it is also set up to deliver additional
details related to each incident, through a popup box.

“Users have the ability to click any of the pushpins to get more information about the respective incident – specifically, the date of the incident, the type of ship that was victimized, the aggressor, and a short description of the incident which includes the location of the incident. The left panel provides additional ways to sort the data – by date, victim type or aggressor type,” Chris Pendleton, the Bing Maps technical evangelist for Microsoft, revealed.

You can read the full article on Softpedia HERE! You can find the Bing Piracy Watch Map HERE, and you can take a look at IDV Solutions demo app HERE!