Microsoft's Bing has launched a private preview release of two new Bing Maps APIs.
The Bing Maps Location Recognition API allow developers to identify the locations of users so that they can deliver new kinds of experiences and provide richer analytics.
By supplying a latitude and longitude, the Bing Maps Location Recognition API will return a list of entities that are located there. This information includes, where applicable, businesses, natural features such as beaches and lakes, the reverse geocoded address and the type of property (i.e. residential versus commercial).
The Bing Maps Autosuggest API, as the name suggests, allows developers to turn partial search queries into lists of suggested entities, including roads, addresses, places and businesses. The entities returned are based on the context of a user's location or the coordinates of a map a user is viewing.
Microsoft says that both APIs will be generally available this summer. Developers interested in participating in the preview program can find information about enrolling here.