In our last release of Live Search for Windows Mobile we snuck in a little feature that allows users to send feedback directly to the engineering team. Since then, we've received tons of messages from users, many of which have been requests for new functionality. So what's the moral of the story? Ask, and you shall receive. Here's the list of some of the cool stuff we've built in response to user feedback.
Weather By far the most often-requested feature: get current weather conditions and a four-day forecast by clicking the Weather icon.
Web search Search the Web, news, images, and more just by clicking the Web icon.
Increased traffic coverage Piggy-backing on great work done by Live Search Maps, view up-to-the-minute traffic info for more cities, like Dallas, Indianapolis, and Baltimore.
Bluetooth headset support Now you can use the speech recognition feature with your Bluetooth headset (available on select devices).
Map a contact Open up a contact, press Menu, and then press Show On Map to view the contact on a map.
These were the most common asks, but there were also a lot of requests for custom, personalized content. And since the customer is always right, we’ve built a way for you to access the content you care about when you’re on the go.
Collections Looking for pubs that offer WiFi in Seattle? Want to find a dog park in San Francisco? We can help! Search community-generated content such as Virtual Earth Collections and Google KML and find what you're looking for.
And we’re still listening. Send us more feedback at lsmobile@microsoft.com.
Gary Voronel, Program Manager, Live Search for mobile
PingBack from http://readerszone.com/mobile-phones/improved-live-search-for-windows-mobile.html
This is fantastic. I am amazed by this applications usefulness time and time again. Thank you.
The Collections feature looks remarkably robust, but I'm unable to find any kinds of examples or instructions. Also, for some reason, all the default (and very useful) collections disappeared with no warning.
Thanks again!
I have downloaded the client (I already had it installed), but don't see the new features - I am running a WM5 device - have the new features been enabled? Am I missing something here?
This is unrelated to mobile search but related to Live Search. Why are Google's results so much more accurate than Live Search's? I tried querying Live Search Blog on both Live Search and Google. Google's first link was accurate while Live Search didn't even seem to present the correct link. Is this something that can be fixed or is Microsoft just way too far behind in terms of algorithms?
Bryan, the latest features require .NET Compact Framework 2. To get the latest features, try the following steps:
1. Download and install .NET CF2 from this site: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=aea55f2f-07b5-4a8c-8a44-b4e1b196d5c0&DisplayLang=en. (Note: this is a desktop installer, not over-the-air.)
2. Install the Windows Mobile 6 version of Live Search. To go this, go to wls.live.com from your phone, then scroll down the page and click the "all versions" link. Then, click the Windows Mobile 6 download link.
Either way, please let us know how it went by sending mail to lsmobile@microsoft.com.
You can keep adding features that some people have mailed about. But is that for the majority or only for the die hard users? I think it would be better to focus on existing features / services and make those the best out there. That is how you create an unique user experience that people like to use. Not by copying features that already exist.
Dont't you people even think about shutting down the servers with the bird's eye view imagery. And I mean it like forever, no matter what happens, conflicts, terrorist threats, III World War etc :-)
I like those images. It is to expensive and time consuming to travel to all the places I want to. And some times I would just travel to those places just to get a "picture" of them.
Now my curiosity is being satisfied and I rarely travel to a new place without scouting and planning the road ahead ,whenever possible of course.
Great work.
PS:
I would love to see your response to Google "street view" feature. And I know what I would love to see. I'm imagining travelling around New York City through interactive 3d videos (not still pictures) where I can plot my tour and see what the travel might look like before doing it. I can pan around the video ( Immersive Media ), pause it, and even adding placemarks to it. I don't know how the stiching of the videos would be done nor the final result, but I guess you might have the answer.
Cheers,
Ricardo Cunha from Portugal
Although this post is not about bird's eye view in live maps I have asked that question myself as well; how do you prevent that this information is used for bad means? I couldn't believe my eyes when I could zoom in and rotate angles at one of the most important airports in the world. You could see everything and even from multiple angles.
These are some really amazing and useful features! I especially like the Increased traffic coverage feature:)
What about social netowrking applications?