Windows Live services hit a key milestone as Microsoft unveiled the improved Live Search and Live.com in 47 markets worldwide. Both the Live.com portal and Live Search service were used as beta for almost a year. Now, the final availability of Live Local Search in the U.K. and the U.S. are confirmed. Microsoft also announced that Live Search will now power the Web search capability on MSN, the company’s media and entertainment portal, attracting more than 465 million unique users worldwide per month.
In the Asia-Pacific region, beta tags have been removed from Live Search and Live.com in 11 markets including Japan, Korea, India, Taiwan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, and Hong Kong SAR which also includes Australia and New-Zealand respectively.
By using Live.com as their personal search home page, customers can harness the power of Live Search to find, customize and track news, images, video, RSS feeds and blogs across the Web. Live Local Search will offer increased availability of bird’s-eye imagery, improved mobile integration and functionality, and other user interface improvements and customisation tools.
According to company sources, extensive feedback and ongoing testing of each beta service has led to marked improvements in the user interface and the overall customer experience. These Windows Live milestones represent the first of several more to come this fall.
But this breakthrough achievement is only the beginning as Christopher Payne, corporate vice president of Live Search at Microsoft points out, "We now have the base to weave search through our services in ways that bring value to customers. This is just the beginning. We look forward to continued investment in search to deliver services that bring new levels of control and personalization to the Web experience." |
