Recently in mobile search Category
Microsoft Live Search will be preinstalled as the default search engine on Verizon mobile phones.. Verizon Chief Executive Ivan Seidenberg said that the deal will be announced during Steve Ballmer's speech, at the Consumer Electronics Show, later today.
Users will be able to download a Live Search software package to their mobile phones that gives them the ability to check traffic, look at movie times and shop online.
Last fall, the Wall Street Journal reported that Microsoft would share ad revenue with Verizon and most likely guarantee payments to the Verizon of $550 million to $650 million over five years, or twice of what Google offered.
It was previously reported that Microsoft was negotiating to put its Windows Mobile operating system on more Verizon devices. The combined deals were estimate to totalt $1 billion for Verizon.
Citysearch has added a lot of new features mobile features to mobile Citysearch, including allowing uers to write reviews directly from mobile phones and a text-to-phone service to share business listings.
Mobile by Citysearch is the only mobile guide that tailors the local search experience based on the user's mobile device.Now, Citysearch users have multiple ways to search for and sort content based on their personal preferences. New navigation tools, and drop down fields on select phones allow people to narrow their searches based on various attributes or distance.
Users can text business listing information, including name, contact information, Citysearch star rating, and more to any mobile phone and save that information for future sharing.
Mobile by Citysearch has been ranked by Nielsen as one of the top ten most accessed Internet brands on the mobile web.(1) The new mobile platform retains well-known aspects of the site with easy browsing capabilities that allow users to search by name or category for restaurants and other businesses, read and write reviews and view merchant information. Consumers can also set a default search location and go from search to call with one click.
They are are working on another deal to place Windows Mobile on Verizon handset making the total deal worth about a billion bucks.
itsmy.com's community of over two million users will gain access to a variety of content via Taptu. Taptu's strength is entertainment search; helping users find and enjoy a wealth of mobile content such as videos, music, images and lots more
Starting today, consumers can access the Truveo Mobile Video Search beta site from RTSP-supported (Real Time Streaming Protocol) mobile phones by going to http://wap.aol.com/truveo. The new mobile video search site taps into Truveo's industry-leading index and makes it possible for consumers to search and browse through millions of videos on more than 300 websites whose content has been optimized for mobile devices.
Users can browse the most popular and top-ranked videos from the Web or search for videos by keyword. Search results can be easily sorted by popularity, ranking, or date to quickly find compelling content
BlackBerry smartphone users will be able to use Microsoft Live Search as their search engine of choice within the BlackBerry Browser as well as access Live Search on Mobile.BlackBerry.com. Live Search will leverage the wireless data optimization capabilities of the BlackBerry solution to deliver results quickly while users are on the go. BlackBerry smartphone customers will also be able to use Live Search to perform contextual, location-sensitive searches or look for nearby points of interest from inside BlackBerry Maps
Nokia's WidSets service has selected MobileSearch.net, to power WidSets Search for its millions of mobile users.
WidSets Search will allow users to find new widgets, providing a short
description and view of the widget for immediate download. In addition, WidSets
Search services will encompass several content and information channels,
including images, yellow pages, news, weather and more. Search results will be
provided by the mobile web, in order to enable the best possible experience for
optimized mobile internet navigation. WidSets Search has launched in
23half Inc., a pioneer of technologies that extend the functionality
of camera phones, announced the availability of Thrrum MMS Search to
Sprint wireless subscribers. A service already available to AT&T subscribers.
Thrrum MMS Search enables camera phone users to find and browse information related to their physical environment using the Picture Messaging service integrated into their phones. Users can capture a picture of any text with their camera phone and send the picture as a picture message to m@thrrum.com. Relevant search results are then sent to the users' phones. The Thrrum MMS Search service is presently in beta and is available free of charge to Sprint wireless subscribers in the United States.
Thrrum MMS Search brings together visual recognition technologies and information search in the context of camera phones. Based on technology first demonstrated by 23half in 2005 in the "nThrum" technology demonstrator, Thrrum MMS Search presents a unique approach to hyperlinking the physical world with related information. The MMS Search technology is protected by an extensive suite of patents pending worldwide.About 23half Inc.
Comment from Wireless and Mobile News:
We wonder how many pictures will be taken of Starbucks signs and Pizza boxes.....
Call Genie Inc, a provider of mobile local search
and advertising solutions that connect 'ready to transact' consumers
with local businesses, and Vlingo Corp., a leading provider of speech
recognition solutions, announced they have partnered to deliver a
comprehensive multi-modal mobile search platform that enables 'on the
go' consumers to access information anytime, anywhere.Together with Call Genie, vlingo lets mobile phone users say what they want, when they want, without limitations or scripted grammars. Consumers interfacing with Call Genie's CG Product Suite will be able to simply speak using natural language. For example, instead of the traditional "city, state" structure for 411, now a consumer can say, "I am looking for a coffee shop in Seattle near the University of Washington."
The combined solution will provide Call Genie's customers with increased automation rates for directory assistance and local search inquiries. This is expected to provide a broader and better consumer experience as well as allow Call Genie's customers to reduce operational costs by decreasing reliance on operator call handling. The end result of this solution is a more comprehensive and high quality consumer experience as well as complete multi-modal (voice and data) access to information through Call Genie's CG Product Suite.
Call Genie will continue to support Nuance and other voice platforms through its open voice XML interface capabilities.
Tellme,
a Microsoft subsidiary,
announced the addition of local 'on-the-go' information to its voice portal for
mobile phones. Now instead of typing in a request or scrolling through menus to
find information, people can simply hold down the 'talk' button, say a keyword
and see the results on the phone's screen. Tellme is initially available on
BlackBerry phones and will roll out on future versions of Helio phones."Tellme believes in the power of voice to transform how people use devices," said Mike McCue, founder and general manager of Tellme. "Tellme delivers an end-to-end experience. As opposed to Web-search services, Tellme focuses on specific tasks where the request leads to a specific answer -- like a movie show time, weather info or driving directions."
Mobile users surfing for information while on-the-go no longer need to type their location or starting point, Tellme uses global positioning system (GPS) technology to deliver local information right to the phone's screen. For example:
- Business Finder: Say the name of a business or business category, such as "coffee" or "hardware" and see the Live Search results with the business address, driving directions, an option to call the business or share the listing with a friend.
- Movies: Say the name of a movie theater and see theaters closest to you, movie show times, driving directions to the theater and the ability to buy tickets powered by Fandango, the nation's leading moviegoer destination.
- Traffic: Say "traffic" and get a map with traffic conditions on major local routes, all using Live Search Virtual Earth.
- Weather: Say "weather" and see a five-day forecast for your local area or say a different city to see weather for any other U.S. city.
- Maps: Say "map" and, using GPS and Live Search Maps, see a map of the local area or say a new city and the map is automatically updated.
- Driving Directions: Say "driving directions" and speak or type a destination to see step-by-step directions from your current starting location.
Building on its leadership in voice services, history with 411 business search and 1-800-555-TELL voice access to content, Tellme provides the information people want when they are on-the-go. In the year ahead, the types of things people can use Tellme's service for will expand to include more mobile content and communication services.
Evolution Robotics Inc., in partnership with Bandai Networks Co. Ltd, Japan’s
leading mobile content provider, announced that KDDI Corporation
is including the “ER Search” visual search engine on its new Spring 2008 “au™”
line of camera phones, and has made it available for download for any
KDDI customer with a prior “au”camera phone. This launch marks a dramatic expansion in the market for
mobile visual search, which will enable millions of consumers in Japan
alone to do online searches by taking pictures of everyday objects with
their camera phone.
The deployment of this technology in the mass market also opens up an entirely new range of categories of services for mobile marketing, which is already projected to grow to $24 Billion worldwide by 2013. (Source: ABI Research)
ER Search is a mobile search engine operated by Bandai Networks and powered by Evolution Robotics’ ViPR visual pattern recognition system. It works essentially like using a traditional search engine, but without having to type any text or go through complicated menus. Instead, users simply snap a picture of something they’re interested in and immediately get back relevant content, all in the palm of the hands.
A free trial PC version of ViPR is available through Evolution Robotics.
Today, Yahoo! Inc. unveiled Yahoo! oneSearch 2.0. Key enhancements will allow users to initiate searches faster using text or voice. Yahoo! also plans to provide greater relevance through richer, more detailed search results by opening up Yahoo! oneSearch to publishers to integrate content, simplify search input with Search Assist and voice-enabled search, and make search instantly accessible on the idle screen of many phones.
"With the launch of Yahoo! oneSearch in 2007, we revolutionized mobile search by re-creating search specifically for the mobile phone, focusing on answers, not just Web links. In just over a year, we signed 29 partnerships with carriers across the globe, covering more than 600 million consumers under contract," said Marco Boerries, executive vice president, Connected Life, Yahoo! "With Yahoo! oneSearch 2.0, we are fundamentally changing the way consumers use the Internet on their mobile phones."
Opera today made Googlethe default search engine in Opera’s mobile Web browsers. Now anyone using Opera Mobile or Opera Mini can access Google’s powerful mobile search directly from the browser start page, meaning they’ll be able to quickly and easily get the information they need, whenever and wherever they need it.
Google has been the default search option on Opera’s desktop browser for seven years. This new mobile collaboration covers all global territories except Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States, and includes all of Opera’s standard mobile Web browsers.
“Google and Opera have established a valuable relationship over the years and we look forward to continued collaboration on mobile products,” said Jon von Tetzchner, CEO, Opera. “With 2008 poised to be the year the mobile Web goes mainstream, Google and Opera are extending this collaboration to give our users immediate access to the quality and convenience of Google’s search results. We’re excited to extend this productive relationship and we
Google has seen 50 times more searches on iPhones than any other mobile handset.
"We thought it was a mistake and made our engineers check the logs again," Vic Gundotra, head of Google's mobile operations told the Financial Times at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.
Nokia and Google announced that Google’s popular search engine will be integrated with the Nokia Search application. The integration will begin in select markets with the Nokia N96, Nokia N78, Nokia 6210 Navigator and Nokia 6220 classic. Google search will be extended to additional Nokia handset models in the future. Ultimately, Nokia will make Google search available to its customers in over 100 countries around the world, serving mobile owners speaking more than 40 languages.
Nokia Search, now with Google, offers fast and easy access to web information from the handset. In addition, Nokia Search also makes it possible for users to search content on their device and use local search engines for a complete search experience. Nokia Search is available on many devices and provides direct access with one click from the active standby screen, saving users time and steps in their searching. Once users have found the information they are seeking, Nokia Search enables users to act on that information by engaging device assets such as maps, messaging or the browser with just one click.
“Providing choices for our consumers is an important driver in Nokia’s Internet service strategy,” said Ilkka Raiskinen, vice-president, software and services at Nokia. “This integration allows our consumers the ability to use the innovative search technologies, which have made Google almost synonymous with Internet search.
Yahoo! has agreed to enter into a new strategic partnership with T-Mobile to bring Yahoo!’s mobile services to millions of consumers in T-Mobile’s European footprint. This agreement sets the stage for Yahoo! oneSearch to become the exclusive mobile search service for T-Mobile customers beginning at the end of March, 2008.
Yahoo! oneSearch quickly and easily delivers relevant results and instant answers to search queries, removing the need for consumers to navigate through a sea of PC Web links. oneSearch provides consumers with access to news, financial information, weather conditions, photos, Web images, and Web and Mobile Web sites.
The two companies also plan to work together to bring additional Yahoo! services including Flickr, Yahoo! Messenger, Yahoo! Mail, Yahoo! Weather and Yahoo! Finance to T-Mobile customers.
Wireless broadband provider, Clearwire Corporation announced it is teaming with Google to deliver the Google Apps communication suite to Clearwire customers. Clearwire will begin migrating its current customers to Gmail and Google Calendar in the first half of this year. In addition, Clearwire customers will also have access to Google Talk. Clearwire will also use AdSense for Search to provide Google search capabilities on future Clearwire portal applications.
For Macworld, Google announced new improvements to the integrated Google experience on iPhone. Google streamlined the interface even further, making the applications faster and improving their usability.
Some of the improvements announced Include:
- Improved UI: The applications look and feel slicker, and they are easier to activate, navigate and use via a touch-screen.
- Customization of default tabs.
- Speedier Gmail: New emails will automatically show up so there’s no need to manually refresh inboxes. And the new auto-complete feature for contacts makes composing emails faster than ever.
- Speedier Calendar: With our new month view, users can glance at an entire month of appointments.
- iGoogle: Now Google users can access their iGoogle gadgets on the iPhone. Everything they’ve customized on their iGoogle homepage including weather, stocks, and news feeds now appear on their iPhones.
Alltel Wireless Launches AAA Mobile(R) Navigation and Search Tool
Powered by Networks In Motion, GPS Application Offers AAA TourBook(R) Guide Travel Information, Navigation, Roadside Assistance on Mobile Phone
Alltel Wireless, and AAA, announced AAA Mobile is now available for download through Alltel’s Axcess Shop. The GPS application enables Alltel customers, including both AAA members and non-members, to find AAA Approved points of interest and other locations as well as quickly access AAA member roadside assistance from their GPS-enabled Alltel phones.
The AAA Mobile application, available for $9.99 per month or $2.99 per day, allows subscribers to receive visual and audible directions to destinations in the U.S. by using their Alltel Wireless phones. Additionally, AAA Mobile lets subscribers perform a variety of functions which include:
- Locating AAA Approved points of interest (POIs), including Diamond Rated hotels and restaurants.
- Searching more than 100,000 locations that offer AAA member savings.
- Reviewing detailed AAA descriptions for POIs on their phones.
- Accessing a map showing a destination on the mobile phone screen.
- Adding locations as favorites for quick recall in the future.
Samsung,, and Google Inc. announced a global cooperation to enable mobile phone users worldwide with quick and easy access to Google products and services - directly from their Samsung mobile phones.
Beginning in early 2007, selected Samsung phones will be provided with a range of Google products and services aimed to create a more dynamic user experience, including:
- Googlesearch: Samsung handsets will include a Googleicon in the application menu, providing users with one-click access to Google search.
- Google Maps for mobile: Also featured on Samsung handsets will be Google Maps for mobile, an application that enables users to view maps and satellite imagery, find local businesses, and get driving directions when they’re on the go.
- Gmail: Gmail for mobile devices, a new application that brings more speed, convenience, and functionality to the mobile Gmail experience, will also be available on Samsung handsets.
