What's New at MP2K Magazine - 11/7/2002   Welcome to another edition of the MP2K Magazine Update. MP2K Magazine brings you the latest news and information about Microsoft MapPoint and related Microsoft geography products and includes programming articles, tutorials, and more features. We are eagerly awaiting the full feature list of MapPoint .NET V3.0 - the first major upgrade after the production release V2.0. See a preview below.   This week's contents   - news   - articles   - extras   advertisement   MapBridge is a powerful, easy-to-use addition to MapPoint® that provides mapping and reporting on current Census variables from within MapPoint. MapBridge enhances MapPoint’s analysis capabilities and outputs directly to Excel and PowerPoint. For More information click here.     News   MapPoint .NET V3 to be released soon According to the MapPoint .NET newsgroup, the public release of MapPoint .NET version 3.0 is expected in the first week of November. A preview of the feature list was recently made available to MP2KMag.   Microsoft Announces Intention to Acquire Vicinity Microsoft will fold Vicinity into the MapPoint Business Unit in a deal valued at $96 million - a 33% to 49% premium to Vicinity's recent market valuations. The merger is expected to be completed before March 2003.   Mobile GPS Online Releases NavStar 2002 Mobile GPS Online, a mobile GPS products and services firm located in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, has released an Advanced GPS Vehicle Navigation System based on Microsoft MapPoint Technology – NavStar 2002.   Online mapmakers: Popular, prolific, not perfect A recent article in USA Today reviews several on-line mapping sites including MSN MapPoint, MapBlast, MapQuest, and Yahoo! Maps.   Java Sample Application for MapPoint .NET Developers building Location based applications with the Java programming language now have a feature rich MapPoint .NET sample application to get them started.   Articles   XML Web Services, GIS, and Location Technologies An article written by Steve Lombardi, a MapPoint technical product manager, explains XML web services and Microsoft .NET as well as MapPoint .NET    MapPoint 2003 EULA Fleet Applications FAQ The MapPoint Team recently distributed this Frequently Asked Questions List to their partners regarding the new fleet applications provision to appear in the MapPoint 2003 EULA.   Extras   Chicago Sister Cities Map This map shows Chicago's sister cities around the globe, demonstrating how MapPoint can be used to take a small publically available dataset to create a visual map. View the map and learn more about how it was created by clicking here.   Link To MP2K Magazine Place a link to www.mp2kmag.com on your personal or company web site for a chance to win a free full license of MapPoint 2002. Three copies of the book MapPoint 2002 For Dummies will also be awarded. Let us know after you've placed the link by sending an e-mail here.   Additional Coverage Areas The first ever MP2KMag reader poll asked readers to vote for the next coverage area for MapPoint. So far the votes are highly slanted towards South America and not Asia as I might have suspected, it may be because a majority of our readers are in North America. Haven't voted yet? Make your voice heard - vote!   MapPoint Training and Consulting Need MapPoint training, help researching a vexing programming problem, or an immediate answer to your question? MP2K's crack staff are now available to service your needs. For more information click here.   Finally, consider writing for us. A description of a recent solution or project you've worked on, an innovative code sample, a tutorial, anything is welcome and will be reviewed and edited for publication. Join the ranks of the MP2K Authors. Archives of the MP2K Update are available on-line here. Contact Jane Elliott for advertising and sponsorship opportunities. Eric Frost ___________________________________________________ To request this newsletter in text-only format, send an email here. To un-subscribe from this newsletter send a blank email here. To subscribe to this newsletter from the web site, look for the red "Update Me!" box.