Mavromatic points out Microsoft’s beta release of their mobile search app — and it’s very impressive. Mapping (with Google-map-esque panning and zooming), driving directions which can be overlaid on said map, POI (points-of-interest) location search, and perhaps most impressively: ability to update location based on GPS and live traffic updates for certain cities (unfortunately not including Dallas). Apart from the traffic updates, I could get all of this previously by running Mapopolis, but that was a >$100 investment to get what this app provides for free.
The interface is very easy to work with, and the installation process was a breeze, tons easier than getting mobile Google maps to run… which is not entirely Google’s fault, but the efforts I had to go through for to get Google’s app running and the resulting user experience (including slow map downloads, inexplicable freezes, and having to install an alternate VM) made for a painful installation compared to this one — download, auto-install and run. The interface seems very snappy as well, even though I’m only using it on EDGE. I only used the Windows Mobile version on my T-Mobile MDA, but they also have a J2ME version which should give this app a pretty wide audience.
One thing to be aware of for those on pay-per-byte plans: The app is making multiple network calls (especially when scrolling a map), so you might need to manage your costs appropriately.
Download and install (for J2ME or Windows Mobile) by going to http://wls.live.com/ on your mobile device.
[...] I have to thank Austin for pointing me to this great app. This is a mobile version of Microsoft’s popular Live search. I’m not going to bother about functionality details since you can find all sorts of blogs discussing it. The main thing that I want to point out is that I was skeptical at first since I’ve downloaded a hundred different apps on my Cingular 8125 and have never been highly impressed. This time it was different. The pure usability of this product is amazing and there are some very rich effects that you don’t normally see from a mobile app. [...]