05/24: New Version of Windows Live Local
Posted by Patrick
From the press release:
Microsoft Corp. today announced the third release of Windows Live™ Local, the company’s online local search and mapping service that gives people the ability to quickly find maps, directions and local search information that is layered on top of rich, immersive aerial photography. Added functionality includes real-time traffic flow and incident reporting, new social networking tools that enable users to save and share their favorite local experiences, and productivity enhancements from extending the Windows Live Local experience into Microsoft® Office Outlook® and Windows Live Messenger. The service is also expanding its beta release to the U.K. and a limited version to Canada. Windows Live Local is available at http://local.live.com. ...
New Sharing Capabilities
The following new capabilities in the online service enable the seamless sharing of localized knowledge:
• Real-time traffic flow. Customizable driving directions are now even more useful with the addition of real-time traffic flow and incident reporting provided by Traffic.com. This functionality will be available only in the U.S. release.
• Collections. Social networking functionality allows customers to create lists of favorite landmarks and locations, attach personal photos and save them to a Scratchpad. Collections can be saved, recalled later, “permalinked,” and shared with friends and community in e-mail or through their MSN® Spaces blog.
• Integration with Windows Live Messenger. Sharing maps and location information from within Windows Live Messenger chats is easier. Users begin a sharing session from the Actions menu. People sharing a chat session can see and interact with the same Windows Live Local map and benefit from a shared mapping and local search experience.
Integration With Microsoft Office Outlook
Also being released today is Windows Live Local Add-in for Microsoft Office Outlook. This add-in introduces Windows Live Local mapping capabilities to the Outlook Calendar, enabling Outlook users to find and print maps and directions to meeting locations from within Outlook. It also allows them to better manage their travel schedule by extending meeting times to accommodate travel time and automatically send links with mapping information about meeting locations to other people within Outlook Calendar requests. This add-in is available for users of Outlook running on Windows® XP and Outlook 2003 and can be downloaded free of charge from http://outlook.local.live.com.
New Sharing Capabilities
The following new capabilities in the online service enable the seamless sharing of localized knowledge:
• Real-time traffic flow. Customizable driving directions are now even more useful with the addition of real-time traffic flow and incident reporting provided by Traffic.com. This functionality will be available only in the U.S. release.
• Collections. Social networking functionality allows customers to create lists of favorite landmarks and locations, attach personal photos and save them to a Scratchpad. Collections can be saved, recalled later, “permalinked,” and shared with friends and community in e-mail or through their MSN® Spaces blog.
• Integration with Windows Live Messenger. Sharing maps and location information from within Windows Live Messenger chats is easier. Users begin a sharing session from the Actions menu. People sharing a chat session can see and interact with the same Windows Live Local map and benefit from a shared mapping and local search experience.
Integration With Microsoft Office Outlook
Also being released today is Windows Live Local Add-in for Microsoft Office Outlook. This add-in introduces Windows Live Local mapping capabilities to the Outlook Calendar, enabling Outlook users to find and print maps and directions to meeting locations from within Outlook. It also allows them to better manage their travel schedule by extending meeting times to accommodate travel time and automatically send links with mapping information about meeting locations to other people within Outlook Calendar requests. This add-in is available for users of Outlook running on Windows® XP and Outlook 2003 and can be downloaded free of charge from http://outlook.local.live.com.
