Microsoft announced on Thursday a new Bing Maps iOS SDK.

The new SDK provides developers with a set of Objective C classes to developer iPhone and iPad applications within Xcode. The SDK also includes documentation and several sample projects to kick start development. Bing’s iOS map control supports Bing’s road, aerial and hybrid aerial map styles and allows developers to add pushpins to maps and access a users location via GPS.

“In keeping with our focus on performance across the Bing Maps platform, we have separated the Bing Maps Controls from the Bing Maps services to lighten the load,” says Microsoft’s Bing Maps team. The separation allows developers to use the Bing Maps iOS control in conjunction with the Bing Maps RESET service (Geocoding and Routing) to build fully featured map apps.

Microsoft’s Bing Maps iOS SDK also allows developers to integrate Bing Maps into their existing applications at no extra cost. “We think you will find that the terms of use are less restrictive than what you find with the Apple Map Kit, with no sacrifice in functionality,” says Microsoft. The new Bing Maps iOS SDK is available immediately at Microsoft’s download site.