theregoesdave

Last week, Microsoft released a substantial upgrade to their Live Search for Windows Mobile service by offering location-aware search. Now you can use Windows Live search with any built in or bluetooth GPS unit to give context to your Windows live searches.

Here are just a few ways that you can use it:

• Perform a search for restaurants or locations near you.
• Get turn by turn directions to those results
• Integrates with Microsoft Virtual Earth and allows you to see your locations
• See the location of any of your contacts and get directions to their home or office

The contacts integration is perhaps the most innovative feature that I see on here, but they’re also very innovative in integrating third party GPS into their search product. Google Maps for Mobile has a search component, but that’s embedded in a mapping product so I guess it’s a slightly different approach. Jack Cook has an excellent story about how he used the new Windows Live Search for Windows Mobile on a recent trip.

So let’s say that you’re not a mobile location junkie and don’t have a bluetooth GPS receiver laying around? You could use Navizon to determine your approximate location via cell tower triangluation or wifi and their ‘virtual COM port GPS’ to tell Windows Live your location. While you’re at it, you can also transmit your location to Fire Eagle and syndicate it on other services from there.

Get the latest version of Windows Live and check out the screenshots after the jump.

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