Virtual Earth is the mapping technology that powers local.live.com, the latest local search and mapping site from Microsoft. Virtual Earth™ technology was built by the same team that created MapPoint® 2006 and the MapPoint Web service. It is implemented using a mix of both server-side and client-side technologies that include ASP.NET, asynchronous JavaScript, and JavaScript Object Notation (JSON).
You can build your own application or Web site that uses Virtual Earth mapping technologies by using the Virtual Earth map control, a JavaScript component that provides all the functionality you need to draw maps, search for locations, and get driving directions. In this article, I'll highlight some of the most salient features of the Virtual Earth APIs and show you how to build rich, powerful mapping and local search apps.
L'ho trovato quasi per caso, spulciando le novità su MSDN, ma sembra interessante. Maggiori informazioni qui: http://msdn.microsoft.com/msdnmag/issues/06/09/EarthlyDelights/default.aspx.