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MapQuest is true veteran of the Web. We're talking Web 1.0. It was providing driving directions long before Google Maps came to be. Back when RJ-45 connections were still a novelty for most users. Wi-Fi wasn't even a topic of discussion, let alone something Average Joe could get hold of.

Problem is, the service seemed to remain in the past. Both the mapping properties of Google and Yahoo surpassed MapQuest handily, and later even Microsoft pushed forward its own featureful product, dubbed Live Search Maps, that likely led many stubborn MapQuest users to seriously think twice about their well-weathered pledges of allegiance. The whole market of younger fish seemed to move ahead, while MapQuest stood still (for the most part). Even after it was brought under the umbrella of AOL, it didn't show to be a market newsmaker.

Now MapQuest seems to be making up for lost time. Or at least trying to. Following its recently debut of MapQuest versions 5 and 5.2 beta (the most current product), the AOL-owned company announced this morning that it has launched a series of six APIs meant to entice developers to look its way and give it a real shot - and perhaps bring it to its former glory. Strong emphasis put on perhaps. (more…)

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