Amazon Starting their Own Map API

Update: Nokia has confirmed that it has licensed its location platform for maps and geocoding to Amazon for its maps program.

Amazon has opened a new Maps API so Kindle Fire app developers can ditch Google Maps and instead integrateAmazon’s mapping tech.
“When we announced Kindle Fire HD, we also made the Amazon Maps API available to our developer community,” Amazon wrote in a blog post announcing the Maps API. “The Amazon Maps API makes it easy for you to integrate mapping functionality into apps that run on the all-new Kindle Fire and Kindle Fire HD. These new devices will also support location-based services through the android.location API.”
Amazon’s Maps API provides a migration path for developers using Google Maps for Android. It offers two major features:

• Interactive maps: Developers can embed a “Map View” in an app so users can pan and zoom across the globe. There is also an option for displaying current location, satellite view, and standard view.
• Custom overlays: Display locations of “businesses, landmarks, and other points of interest” with customized markers and pins.

Developers can apply now to get access to the beta release of Amazon’s Maps API.