Microsoft refines Live Search client for Windows Mobile

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Oct. 16, 2007

Microsoft has announced some new tweaks to the Windows Mobile client for its search engine, Live Search. The improvements to "Windows Live Search for Windows Mobile" include voice input and GPS compatibility, and are downloadable now, according to the company.

Making the client something of a work in progress, these new features are in addition to those already announced in July and detailed further below. Microsoft says that the Windows Mobile version of Live Search now accepts voice input, and on GPS-enabled phones can use GPS data to provide location-aware local search. Live Search also now includes details such as gas prices and hours of operation for businesses.

According to Microsoft, visualization and 3-D capabilities reportedly have also been improved. For example, coverage of bird's-eye and 3-D imagery has been increased to cover 80 percent of the U.S. population, and nearly 200 complete cities are available in 3-D.

The company adds that core improvements have been made to the underlying Virtual Earth platform. Touted updates in version 6.0 of Virtual Earth include:

Multipoint trip routing
Enhanced geocoding that combines results for multiple geocoders
Rooftop geocoding, which provides more precise geocoding results
Newly released MapCruncher beta, making it easier to publish maps overlaid in an application using the Virtual Earth map control

The features already announced in July for Windows Live Search for Windows Mobile (depicted above), according to Microsoft, included:

Movie showtimes -- a listing of local movies, based on proximity, that even includes thumbnails of movie posters; also includes movie ratings and directions to the theater
Enhanced local data -- improved restaurant listings, now providing star ratings and consumer reviews; .inks provide a quick way to call any restaurant or get directions
Better maps -- hybrid maps, in addition to the existing street maps and aerial views; performance can be improved by caching data to a memory card
Directions -- support for internal or external GPS devices and improved turn-by-turn navigation; client device also receives traffic data from Traffic.com

The updated application works on Windows Mobile 2003 (SE), Windows Mobile 5, and Windows Mobile 6. It can be downloaded for free by pointing a phone's web browser at wls.live.com. An FAQ is available here.

In addition to the Windows Mobile client for Live Search client, clients are also downloadable for J2ME (Java) phones and for Blackberry (beta). Unsupported phones, such as the iPhone, can use the service via their Web browsers, at m.live.com.

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