Smooth zooming with an infinite number of zoom levels would be pretty cool. Unfortunately, traditional mapping software like this is based around multiple zoom levels that the user zooms in and out of.  Just look at all major mapping websites out there like Google Maps or Bing Maps or Yahoo Maps etc...  It all centers around the idea that each zoom level has it's own set of map tiles.  So if one were to make a map with a smooth zoom, then it would essentially have an infinite number of zoom levels and then would need an infinite number of tiles as well.  Until someone out there tackles this approach to maps we are going to have to leave this off the drawing board for now.

This is not something we have considered doing but we will look into it.

Are you suggesting something like a newly changed territory changes to a different color than red/blue/purple and then fades to the appropriate red/blue/purple color?

Chat rooms are most likely outside the scope of the project at the moment.  But being able to draw on the map and place icons (example: "TR Sunderer here") is definitely something we are planning.  The drawable maps will be completely protected in that the author can choose who he wants to see the maps as well as invite others to view/edit the map with him.

1. All Landing Pads have been marked on the map already.  You need to make sure that it's enabled in the sidebar and also they don't show up until you zoom in a certain amount.  We require you to zoom in to see them because if everything was visible at all zoom levels, it would simply be overwhelming and be too cluttered to be useful.  If you want an example of this problem, look no further than the PlanetSide 2 In-game minimap.

We will consider making the minimum and maximum zoom levels that layers are visible at customizable, but it's not in the immediate plans.

2. It is not possible to see where friendly (enemy) soliders or tanks are.  This is something I very much doubt SOE would ever add into the API.

Unfortunately SOE's API does not yet give us this information.  But if they do in the near future we will definitely add it in.

This actually isn't that difficult.  We were already planning something along these lines.  All we do is timestamp whenever a territory changes hands.  We were going to be putting in the sidebar (when you select a territory) when it was captured and how long it's been owned by that faction.  We will consider adding another data layer though.