Windows Mobile Search Gets Updated
The Live Search team has published a significant update to their Live Search Mobile client application which leverages Microsoft Virtual Earth quite heavily. You can usually just get it by auto update on your phone but if you are running Windows Mobile (WinMo) , go to m.live.com and you can get it there. There is actually two products: mobile.live.com and live search mobile. Yes, I know this is awkward sounding, but they do different things. The list below combines the two feature set. The new release of Live Search Mobile has some exciting features including Walking Directions, Collection import and Bird’s Eye photography! Location is so critical for mobile applications and Virtual Earth being a core piece of our mobile product only further justifies that it should be a core piece of yours.
Live Search Pictures
Live Mobile Pictures
Mobile offerings from Microsoft Live Search and Live Mobile:
Local Search = Find local businesses, restaurants, and shops that are nearby. Quickly see ratings and reviews to see what others have said. Click to see additional info such as storefront photos and detail reviews.
Movie Showtime = Find opening movies and show times in your area. Read movie description including cast, plot summary, critic ratings and genre
Share Locale with SMS = Send place of interest (business, restaurant, movie theater) with address to friend via SMS. Clicking on link in SMS brings up location on map at m.live.com
Cheapest Gas Price = View nearby gas stations to find the cheapest gas. After locating, get driving directions there
Locate me = no more fumbling around with your phone trying to enter your exact location. Location detection helps you automatically find your location even if you’re not on a GPS-enabled phone. This pretty much just gets city information. I haven’t gotten it to drill down to the street level yet
Birds eye view – View area of interest from an aerial view for a 3D-like perspective.
Voice Input – Quickly enter text by using voice input rather than dealing with your mobile keypad. Voice input can be used to enter in search queries or specify location. This works relatively well
Query Projection = Save time from typing full queries with predictive query suggestions. Enter a few letters and see a populated list of predicted or previously entered queries. This does really work for me
Product Search Instant Answer – Search and compare products on the go – detailed product descriptions, customer reviews, price and brand filter, find local retailers
xRank Instant Answer = Stay current on your celebrity, musician, or politician of choice with pictures, news headlines, and bio snippets
Mapping and Traffic Instant Answer = Quickly find map and traffic info about your location at the top of your search results. This snippet will show up on the m.live.com homepage when you return in the future.
Movies Instant Answer = Find opening movies and show times in your area. Read movie description including cast, plot summary, critic ratings and genre
Weather Instant Answer = See the local 5-day forecast for your city of choice.
Stock Instant Answer = Buy, hold, or sell? See how your favorite stocks and the market performed. See the local 5-day forecast for your city of choice
Walking Directions = Find step-by-step directions for walking from point A-to-B.
Adaptive rendering = No more awkward web pages on your mobile phone. See PC-formatted web pages automatically rendered to display properly on your mobile phone. mobile search is light years ahead of the competition on this for WinMo Products.
Mobile Web Crawler = Displays mobile-formatted websites, marked with a mobile phone symbol, informs users that this site has been customized to display mobile phones
Find local = businesses, restaurants, and shops that are nearby. Quickly see ratings and reviews to see what others have said. Click the phone icon to call the business to find additional details.
