Filed under: Internet, Web services, Microsoft
Microsoft updates Live Search maps, announces Live Search 411
The other day Goog 411 graduated from Google Labs. So while Gmail is still in beta, the much younger service that lets you get phone numbers and directions on your phone is 100% officially launched. So what does Microsoft do? They announce Live Search 411.
Right now if you dial 1-800-CALL-411 you get a "coming soon" message. But if history teaches us anything, when Live Search 411 launches it will work almost exactly the same way as Goog 411.
Microsoft is also announcing/confirming a small boatload (perhaps a kayak or a canoe) of new features for the desktop versions of Live Search:
- Improved driving directions with dynamic rerouting based on traffic, and landmark clues to let you know if you've gone too far
- Improved 3D imagery coverage. Now Live Search Maps has bird's-eye 3D imagery for 80 percent of the US.
- User generated content is incorporated into Live Search local results
- Virtual Earth updates including multipoint trip routing, enhanced geocoding, and map control support for Safari 2.0
- An updated version of Live Search for Windows Mobile 5.0/6 will be available today with support for voice input and GPS
- Live Search for Blackberry beta
So, just how good at time waster games are you? Think you've got the stuff? Well, The World's Hardest Game 2.0 doesn't think you do.
Yes, amazingly, it's possible to have a sequel to a game called "The World's Hardest Game". It doesn't seem logically possible, since if the first one was actually the world's hardest, how could another one come along and share the moniker? It made me doubt the name in the first place. That is, until I tried the game.
The mechanics of the game are very simple. You are a small red square, ...
