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.
Delete a recent location Simple, yet effective. Click the label showing your current location to display the list of recent locations, scroll to the item you want to delete, press
Menu, and then press
Delete.
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
Written by livesearch on May 15th, 2008 with no comments.
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Along with the release of our new search experience, we'd like to give some background into the design team and process that went into all the changes you see. You might not immediately think of design as being a critical part of a search product, but we think it is, and we have a growing team of designers, researchers, and developers who believe it, too. We have a growing, pro-design community here at Microsoft as well (only fitting to plug Microsoft Design).
Simple and powerful. Human. Fast. These were our guiding principles for this latest version of Live Search.
Here's the nickel tour:
- Simple and powerful is about getting just enough, having information and tools when you need them, and revealing functionality without being overwhelmed.
- Being human reminds us that all good products speak to people and we should always design for them.
- Being fast has particular relevance to search where so much depends on rolling up the world of information to support people's countless other activities and passions.
We wove these principles into our work on Live Search in a process that started with user research, customer feedback, and a myriad of other sources for data and learning. All disciplines got involved in sketching as a shared way to develop our ideas. With informed iteration, sketches turned into the interactions, layouts, and visual designs that fed directly into user testing, giving us a unique opportunity as designers and researchers to make truly "user-centered" decisions.
Here are some of the biggest changes you'll notice that resulted from our product design process:
Search box near results The new Live Search header and search box is slimmed down from a heavy piece of UI into sleeker, simpler elements. Bringing the search box into alignment with the results and into the body moves it closer to where users are looking and flattens out the visual bumps between it and the results.
Room to breathe on the page Something else you'll see on a large screen (lucky you!) is our centered, fixed-width page, allowing for a more thoughtful, predictable experience as richer search content and wider screens become the norm.
Crisp, clean type We've also made changes to our color and typography. Our decision to use Arial and the new color palette was based not only on our desire to improve readability and consistency, but also on rounds of testing to find the right combination.
Intuitive video search For our new video search experience, the team focused on activities and behaviors that make video search different. We focused on simplicity — cutting irrelevant pixels and text — and power — investing in enhanced preview for video — both of which contribute to the overall simple, yet powerful experience.
Health results integrated from many sources You'll see in health search that we've created a way for users to pull together health information from many different sources, digestible all in one place.
Ultimately, we think we've taken a step forward with this new product that we think will improve the overall Live Search experience. As with any design, it will evolve along with our design team, and we'll tell you more as we go. We welcome hearing your thoughts, too.
Evan Malahy, Designer, Live Search
Written by livesearch on May 6th, 2008 with no comments.
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We've introduced our "Renaissance" release of Live Search QnA Beta. Our re-birth signifies the beginning of a new set of features that we'll continue to grow.
We had three goals for this release:
- Focus on the QnA experience for new users.
- Encourage users to discover content and functionality in new ways.
- Highlight and award higher quality content by featuring members who are Top Contributors in given areas of expertise.
Find out more about what we've done at the QnA team blog. And remember to submit your own questions and answers to our Live Search QnA beta.
Heather Friedland, Lead Program Manager, Live Search QnA
Written by livesearch on May 1st, 2008 with no comments.
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Just when you thought we'd stop at Celebrities, we now bring you (drum roll, please) Musicians!
xRankTM provides much more than just a way to track search trends — it's much more than that — it's a social commentary. With xRankTM Musicians we bring you the "mob's view" on what's shaking up the music industry.
Sure, you've got Top 40s, billboard charts, and album sales, but what's more socially relevant than what you and your peers are searching for? Ever heard of Jay-Z, the rapper? If you have, then on the scale ranging from "I live in a bubble" to "I'm in the know" you're in good shape. If you haven't, you may want to brush up on your pop culture prowess. No worries — xRankTM is here to help.
Our boy Jay-Z got married to Beyoncé recently. His search popularity soared and xRankTM caught it — can't say the same for your local station's top 40 list.
Here are some other events that illustrate the "xRankTM effect":
- Unfortunate deaths — Charlton Heston passes away, RIP
- Pregnancy rumors — Jessica Alba unveils her baby bump
- And when they are no longer rumors — Jennifer Lopez unveils the twins
- Sex tape scandals — Kim Kardashian (promoters and publicists are really milking this phenom, post-Paris)
The list goes on.
By now, you're probably bookmarking xRankTM and making it a part of your daily coffee routine. But for those of you who are unaffected by celebs and musicians and pop culture in general, we'll have some more people xRankTM features that I am really excited about. Stay tuned!
Andy Lam, Program Manager, Live Search
Written by livesearch on May 1st, 2008 with no comments.
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I'm relaying the following article on behalf of my colleague Shanen Boettcher, General Manager of Windows Product Management for the enterprise. During Virtualization Briefing Day in January, Shanen posted to give you background on what we're doing to make it simpler and easier to introduce and get the most out of virtualization of Windows in enterprise environments. He's back again today with an update on virtualization, as well as other components that illustrate our commitment to improving the optimized desktop.
This week at the Microsoft Management Summit (MMS) in Las Vegas, we've talked about Microsoft's role in improving the optimized desktop and emphasized Microsoft's commitment to virtualization. I want to tell you about some news coming out of the show today, which includes details on the product roadmaps for specific tools within the Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack (MDOP) for Software Assurance.
The combination of MDOP and Windows Vista gives customers the tools they need to support more flexible work environments for their users, while making it easier and more efficient to manage and maintain their networks. This is the concept we refer to as the optimized desktop, and many of our customers have the tools to realize the benefits today. We're responding to the enthusiasm our customers have shown for these products by continuing to improve upon them and roll out new updates in real time. Following are the updates you'll be seeing in the most immediate future:
Microsoft Application Virtualization 4.5: Microsoft Application Virtualization 4.5 Release Candidate 1 is scheduled for June 2008 and will be made available to customers on Microsoft Connect. As customers begin to take advantage of the benefits of virtualization, we've seen a growing interest in Microsoft Application Virtualization. Over 7,000 customers have already downloaded the beta.
Asset Inventory Service (AIS) 1.5: AIS 1.5 is scheduled to be released to the web in Q3 2008. AIS 1.5 will add license reconciliation, System Center Configuration Manager integration and scalability enhancements.
Advanced Group Policy Management (AGPM) 3.0: AGPM 3.0 will be available for all customers in Q3 2008. AGPM 3.0 will provide Windows Vista SP1 and Windows Server 2008 support (x86 and x64), globalization, more flexible security, enhanced reporting and an enhanced UI.
We also announced today that for very first time we will be extending MDOP to languages beyond English. We plan to release localized versions of Diagnostics and Recovery Toolset (DaRT) 6.0 and Desktop Error Monitoring (DEM) 3.0 SP1 in ten languages in Q3 2008. AGPM and Microsoft Application Virtualization 4.5 will follow toward the end of 2008. Based on direct customer feedback from the international community, we plan to localize MDOP into the ten following languages:
- Chinese Simplified
- Chinese Traditional
- German
- French
- Italian
- Japanese
- Korean
- Brazilian Portuguese
- Russian
- Spanish
As a follow up on our Virtualization Briefing Day announcement regarding Microsoft and Citrix's expanded alliance, I wanted to tell you about some progress we're making toward a joint VDI solution that will be available for production usage later this year. This turn-key offering combines the brokering and user experience components of Citrix XenDesktop, with the Microsoft hardware virtualization, application virtualization and virtualization management technologies. Citrix XenDesktop has the capability to create Windows Vista images for specific users from a shared base image and significantly reduces the TCO of this solution relative to today's static deployments.
In separate but related news during Day 2 of MMS, Microsoft announced System Center Configuration Manager 2007 Service Pack 1 (SP1) and System Center Configuration Manager 2007 R2. System Center Configuration Manager 2007 is a solution that comprehensively assesses, deploys and updates servers, clients, and devices - across physical, virtual, distributed and mobile environments. System Center Configuration Manager 2007 SP1, which will be available May 27th, will provide further support for Windows Vista SP1 and Windows Server 2008. Additionally, System Center Configuration Manager 2007 SP1 provides deeper management of the hardware. There is a new, attached service-based connection for System Center Configuration Manager 2007 SP1 that ensures accurate insight to the network landscape including support for Microsoft Application Virtualization applications.
The System Center Configuration Manager 2007 R2 release natively integrates Microsoft Application Virtualization distribution and streaming technology into the Configuration Manager infrastructure to work even better with Application Virtualization within MDOP. System Center Configuration Manager 2007 R2 will be available to customers in Q3 CY2008.
You may recall that earlier this month, Chris Flores announced the Microsoft Desktop Optimization (MDOP) Pack 2008 - a set of tools designed to make it easier for IT Pros to deploy and manage Windows Vista in their organizations. This, along with many of the solutions we're talking at MMS about today - provides IT Pros with an excellent set of tools for their IT environment and their Windows PCs.
For more information on news coming out of MMS this week, check out the Virtual Press Room.
-- Shanen
Written by Chris Flores on April 30th, 2008 with no comments.
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With the recent update of the Product Search experience (http://search.live.com/products/), users can both research and find deals on products within Live Search. We've incorporated feedback from our users during the beta cycle and revamped the user experience, so now users can search and refine products by user opinions, brand, category, and price ranges. In addition, users can sort results by best user, expert rating, and price. Try it out, and send us your feedback!
Here are highlights of our product search experience:
- One stop to research product details and find good prices You see an image and description for each product, reviews from other users, prices to help you find good deals, and spec sheets for many products.
- Feature-based refinements See which products are reviewed positively or negatively for the features that interest you. View product features such as screen size, battery life, ease of use, and portability.
- Sorting Sort product results by user ratings, expert ratings, and price.
- Filtering Filter product results by specific brands, categories, and price ranges.
- Richer product details Read expert reviews and a spec sheet describing the product.
In the example below, you can view both positive and negative feedback on the Garmin Nuvi 360 GPS receiver. You can click Ease of Use above the green bar to read actual user comments specifically about Ease of Use. This makes it really easy to parse long user reviews to find exactly what you're looking for. Learn more about summarizing user reviews in our previous post here.
Instant answers In addition to the Product Search update, we've improved Product instant answers in web search for broader product queries like GPS, digital cameras, plasma tv, where your intent is research. The instant answer provides guides (we now have a larger selection) and user and expert reviews.
Try different product searches in web search and give us your feedback by clicking Is this Useful?
More to come We're excited to bring you these new Product search features, and we have a lot more planned in the coming months. In the meantime, try out a few searches like gps systems, mp3 players, and cell phones, and let us know what you think by using the Feedback link!
The Live Product Search team
Written by livesearch on April 30th, 2008 with no comments.
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We've just released the latest updates to our browser-based mobile search at m.live.com. One of our major efforts was to bring the power of product search to the convenience of a mobile phone. Think about how much time people spend shopping in brick-and-mortar stores — without the ability to do the product research they're accustomed to from their PCs.
We took the great product search features from Live Search and made them easy to use on your mobile phone.
You'll see a list of popular products, user ratings, and price comparisons from online stores.
You can also research products by reading a detailed overview or consumer reviews.
We even include feature ratings that are created by extracting the key elements of user reviews from across the Web.
Now the next time a consumer electronics device catches your eye in a store, you'll be able to get the detailed rundown on its performance, read the consensus wisdom of the Web, compare it with similar products, and even make sure it's being offered for a good price — all before you make that impulse buy. Now you can spend wisely, wherever you are.
Another of our favorite features this release was developed specifically for our friends abroad — those in the United Kingdom and Japan. Searching for nearby businesses is one of the most popular and most valued types of mobile search today. But most existing browser-based search services require the user to first type in their location — easy if you're always in the same place, but a chore when you're out and about, and a real challenge if you don't know exactly where you are.
With this new feature, users can simply click Find my Location, and their location will be set based on their proximity to cellular towers. Then they can get the most relevant nearby results for all their searches.
Let us know what you think! You can send feedback to lsmbfeed@microsoft.com.
The Live Search Mobile team
Written by livesearch on April 28th, 2008 with no comments.
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You wanted it, and now you have it. We've incorporated RSS feeds into the browse and search results experience. Subscribe and stay up to date with stories from all categories or for specific searches that you perform. We appreciate all the feedback that you've given us. We take it all seriously and do our best to respond.
Try us out (http://news.live.com/), and keep the feedback coming!
The News Search team
Written by livesearch on April 24th, 2008 with no comments.
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Those of you who search for stuff related to celebrities in your spare time raise your hands.
C'mon now, don't be sheepish about it — we know the numbers, and we know you do it because we do it, too. Here's a thought. What if we could rank who you and all other Live Searchers like to search for?
And then there was born a child unlike its siblings, a Live Search feature whose sole purpose was to be — gasp — FUN?! Check it out here.
Here are a few of the key things I want to point out:
- The xRankTM list that is based on search volume. Honest, we're not making this up... I don't even like Lil Wayne that much.
- A list for what we call "Top Movers" — celebs that are making strides up the ranks.
- Recent news articles on buzz-worthy celebs.
- A historical xRankTM graph that tracks popularity over time (my personal fave).
- Links to Images, Video, Biography, plus Albums and Movies.
- Related Celebrity thumbnails that link to other xRankTM pages.
Everyone's xRankTM is updated several times a day to make sure we're up to speed. Check in often!
This is still in beta, with more improvements to come. What we have now serves its purpose, but we're all about "souping" this baby up with more features. Let us know what you think we can do to improve, especially if there is someone you think we missed.
Try it out now and lose yourself for a while.
Andy Lam, Program Manager, Live Search
Written by livesearch on April 24th, 2008 with no comments.
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We're excited about the progress we've made with Windows Vista Service Pack 1. On March 18th, Windows Vista SP1 was made available for customers who chose to manually download and install it from the Microsoft Download Center or Windows Update in English, French, German, Spanish, and Japanese. Last week, we made the remaining languages available - giving WU users the ability to download and install Windows Vista Service Pack in any of 36 supported languages.
Today, we're happy to announce that we are beginning automatic distribution of SP1 in English, French, German, Spanish, and Japanese.
So what does this mean? Over the next few months Microsoft will automatically distribute Windows Vista SP1 to PCs that have automatic updates turned on (Learn how to turn on automatic updating) and running English, French, German, Spanish, or Japanese via Windows Update. Automatic distribution will only occur, according to user settings, on PCs ready for SP1. After Windows Vista SP1 downloads, WU will let you know that "new updates are available." You'll then be asked to make a few clicks before the installation of SP1 will begin.
While we're beginning automatic distribution today, you might not see it right away since the distribution process is very gradual. As I called out on April 7th, we'll be distributing the service pack slowly so that we can help Windows users have a good experience.
As I posted above, we made the remaining languages of SP1 available for manual install on the Microsoft Download Center and Windows Update last week. We'd like to let those of you running one of those languages that we'll plan to start automatic distribution of those languages sometime in mid-May.
We hope you enjoy the many improvements that have been made in Windows Vista Service Pack 1 and are excited to start automatic distribution so more of you can begin experiencing the benefits.
Written by Chris Flores on April 23rd, 2008 with no comments.
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