The Windows Phone 8 SDK continues to deliver.

We already know in Windows Phone 8 Nokia Maps will be replacing Bing Maps, which the SDK describes as â€œfeatures beautiful cartography, more complete and accurate map data, a new 3-D mode, and hardware-accelerated rendering for smooth performance.â€

The above pictures from the documentation shows the various modes available to developers, including:

Road : displays the normal, default 2-D map.

Aerial : displays an aerial photographic map.

Hybrid : displays an aerial view of the map overlaid with roads and labels.

Terrain : displays physical relief images for displaying elevation and water features such as mountains and rivers.

Developers will also be able to load landmarks, which are 3D renders of major landmarks, and also pedestrian features such as stairs for walking maps.