Just saw a tweet by Doc Searls (who likes the Birds Eye View) saying that the Bing Map Server  was “temporarily unavailable”, so we checked and found a new interface:

The navigation bars look to be simplified, and “Get Directions” is featured prominently on the www.bing.com/maps page.  At the bottom, a simplified set of icons offers up a range of choices:

From left to right, after the Welcome page, are Directions, “My Places” (this was called Collections, and yes your collections are still accessible), Share, Print, and Traffic.  Here’s a closer look at My Places:

Under “Explore”, user contributions can be sorted on (left to right in the icons): Items with pictures, Items with 3d Buildings, Items with MapCruncher Layers, and Items with Photosynths.

No mention in the Bing Maps blog as of yet, we’ll keep you posted as we get more information.