Microsoft has kicked off a new challenge designed to test the familiarity of users with New York and its mapping, search and location platform. According to the Redmond company, no less than two $100 MasterCard gift cards are up for grabs for participants in the Bing Maps Challenge. Users need only answer a few questions from Microsoft, in order to get a chance at winning one of the prizes offered by the software giant.

“Can you find it with Bing Maps? Use Bing Maps to navigate New York City and answer four questions. If you’re spot-on, you’ll be entered to win a $100 gift card,” reads a message welcoming participants to the competition. The contest is only opened to residents of the United States, Microsoft informed.

“Think you’re savvy enough to navigate Bing Maps faster than anyone else? Answer 4 questions and you’ll be in the running to win a $100 gift card courtesy of the Bing Maps team. Take the Bing Maps Challenge now,” revealed Chris Pendleton, the Bing Maps technical evangelist for Microsoft.

While it might sound simple, the actual challenge implies that users know either New York, the Central Park area, or their way around Bing Maps. Fortunately enough, while travelling to the Big Apple might not be an option for some, navigating the streets of the city in Bing Maps could not be a simpler task. Microsoft even offers a few tutorials designed to educate users on how to leverage Bing Maps in order to have a winning chance at the prizes offered.

“This Sweepstakes starts at 3:00 p.m. Pacific Time (PT) on January 19, 2010, and ends at 11:59 p.m. PT on February 19, 2010 (“Entry Period”),” Microsoft notes. “Enter online by visiting the web site for the Sweepstakes at BingMapsChallenge.com and completing the “Challenge” using the free service Bing maps within 5 minutes. You must correctly answer each of the four (4) “Challenge” questions within the time limit and provide all required registration information to receive an entry. You may take the “Challenge” quiz as many times as necessary to answer all questions correctly within the time limit and enter the Sweepstakes.”