Geo-coding and mapping specialists Shoothill have unveiled their powerful new custom-built Postcode API facility, GeoLiath.
GeoLiath is a free service made available to web developers who need to turn UK postcodes into geo-coded locations, whether for personal, educational or commercial use.
The service uses the latest Ordinance Survey Code-Point data to provide locations in high-accuracy WGS84 Latitude/Longitude co-ordinates which can be used simply and effectively across popular mapping APIs like Google and Bing.
Until recently, this data was only available to developers who purchased a licence for its use, but following a recent announcement as part of the government’s new ‘Making Public Data Public’ initiative, OS OpenData now allows users to view and develop selected datasets without restriction.
GeoLiath collates this data in one simple, easy-to-use system which puts UK postcodes at developers’ fingertips, whether they’re developing a web application that needs to pinpoint postcodes on a map or an application that searches for the nearest services to a user’s location, such as jobs, hotels or hospitals.
This lightweight service is designed to be used from both in-browser client-side scripting languages like Javascript, and from all other programming languages that can access the internet and process XML.
“We’re very pleased that the government has released some of its intellectual property in this way, as it opens up exciting opportunities for companies such as ours,” says Rod Plummer, Managing Director of Shoothill.
“GeoLiath represents the first in a series of applications that we’ll be releasing over the coming months.”
To use GeoLiath, developers simply log onto http://api.shoothill.com/postcode/ and sign up for their free API key using their name and a valid email address. Shoothill will then email them back with their API and they can then enter up to 120 location requests per hour.
If more locations per hour are required, Shoothill offer a paid-for version which upgrades their API key to allow more requests through.
Try it out for yourself – visit http://api.shoothill.com/postcode/ or check out what else Shoothill are doing at www.shoothill.com
Notes to Editors
Shoothill are a geo-mapping and data visualisation specialist based in Shrewsbury, Shropshire.
Certified to Microsoft Gold Partner level, they work with various Microsoft software applications from Bing Maps to Silverlight and PhotoSynth to create bespoke solutions for a diverse range of clients.
More information can be found on Shoothill’s website at www.shoothill.com
For all media enquiries about Shoothill, as well as quotes, images and demo’s, please contact Lara Page, Marketing Manager, on Lara.Page@Shoothill.com or call 0845 421 0396.
Tags: Bing Maps, GeoLiath, Postcode API
