Version 2 of Windows Live Search for Mobile (WLS) has been released. Read the announcement here which contains screenshots and in this case a picture really does tell a thousand words.
Here's the list of new features:
- Get movie times
- Search for restaurants and see ratings
- WLS will now cache onto your storage card if you have one installed (thank god, the biggest problem in v1 was it taking up all my storage space)
- Auto re-route of directions if you get lost (only works if you have GPS along for the ride)
Some other announcements:
- A beta of WLS is now available for Blackberry phones.
- Microsoft are also touting their mobile search portal at http://m.live.com. Search the web, images, news, local listings and instant answers (including from Encarta) right from your mobile phone. Its actually worth checking it out on a normal browser (i.e. not on a mobile device) as well, you might prefer it to your regular search engine.
If you want to know more about WLS then read my comparison of it with Google Maps for Mobile here. With this release Microsoft have nudged themselves ahead in the mobile search space, what can Google counter with (one would hope it will be something pretty good)?
Its also now plainly obvious why "Windows Live Search for Mobile" is so-called rather than "Windows Live Maps for Mobile".
-Jamie
UPDATE: See a video of this in action here.