Microsoft wants to put Live Search inside cars

Stephen Withers
Wednesday, 30 July 2008 13:28

Business IT - Technology

Microsoft's been working hard to get its software inside more cars and trucks for some time, and now it's bringing the 'software plus services' mantra to bear with Microsoft Live Search for Devices.

The first of what company officials say will be many new services for its automotive platforms, Live Search for Devices allows navigation applications to extract location-aware points of interest from White Pages (residential) or Yellow Pages (commercial) online phone books.

So a user could, for example, search for nearby coffee shops and then receive turn-by-turn instructions to get to their choice.

Exactly how the in-car system will connect to the Internet does not seem to be specified. One possibility is a Bluetooth or USB link to the driver's mobile phone (tough luck if you own an iPhone, which is notorious for the lack of an officially supported and approved 'tethering' capability); another is the inclusion of a cellular modem as part of the in-car electronics.

Initially, Live Search for Devices only supports the US (English and Spanish), Canada (English and French) and France, but the software has been designed to support a much wider range of locales.

Live Search for Devices first appeared as part of Windows Embedded NavReady, which is a version of Windows CE intended for personal navigation devices.

Microsoft already provides software used by Ford and Fiat, as well as in navigation systems from certain Japanese manufacturers.

Read on for news of a change at the top of Microsoft's automotive business unit.