Google Data

One of my favourite new features added to the Maps API this year is the Elevation service in the Maps API v3. This was in part because I enjoyed playing with the launch demo far too much, but mostly because the service opened up opportunities for genuinely new and interesting applications that were not previously possible.

For this reason I am delighted to announce that we have now also added the Elevation service to the Maps API for Flash, providing our ActionScript developers with the same opportunities. And just for completeness, and to distract me yet further, we have ported the elevation profile demo to 100% Flash, with an added 3D twist (mouse over the profile graph to see it).

The Elevation service allows you to obtain elevation for individual points, or sample elevation at equally spaced intervals along a path, such as that generated by the Directions service. To get started using the new Elevation service, check out the documentation in the Maps API for Flash Developer Guide.

In addition to Elevation we have also added the MaxZoom service to Flash. This allows you to determine the highest zoom level at which Satellite imagery is available at a given location. One other change to note is that the we have also introduced the sensor parameter in the Maps API for Flash, which is mandatory for any application built against v1.19 of the Maps API for Flash or later.

For assistance using these new features, or to discuss any other aspect of using the Maps API for Flash, be sure to join the Google Maps API for Flash Google Group.

Posted by Thor Mitchell, Maps API Product Manager