Wifi Revolution

Microsoft (News - Alert) has been busy lately rolling out new wireless-related services and initiatives. Earlier this week the company announced its plans to help MetroFi with the Portland, Oregon WiFi network project.

 

Now, Microsoft also is announcing an alliance with mobile phone company Sprint (News - Alert) to offer its Windows Live Search on wireless phones.

 

Sprint is offering Windows Live Search on its mobile phones to provide customers with a way “to conveniently search location-based content from the Internet, such as nearby stores and restaurants, as well as Sprint's catalog of ring tones, games, screen savers and related services,” the company said Thursday.

 

In a statement, Sprint Chief Marketing Officer Mark Schweitzer said that the two companies share a vision to help customers more easily access information while on the go.

 

“By adding Windows Live Search for mobile to Sprint devices, customers now carry with them a depth of relevant local search information, in addition to quick and easy access to their favorite Sprint content,” Schweitzer said.

 

A key element of the new service is the ability to assign particular keywords or phrases with specific, relevant online content—a method of making searches on a mobile device easier and faster.

 

For example, Sprint said, a user who searches for “sports,” can use that term to search all of Sprint’s contents relating to that topic, including ringtones, wallpaper, applications, and local information such as business listings.

 

“In recent years the search box has fundamentally changed the way people interact with the Internet, but we have only just begun to scratch the surface for what search and live Internet services can do in the mobile space,” commented Steve Berkowitz, senior vice president of Microsoft’s Online Services Group, in a statement.

 

Berkowitz continued: "Today's announcement is a positive step forward in enhancing the mobile search experience for consumers and advertisers alike, by putting locally relevant information in the hands of consumers.”

 

Windows Live Search on mobile devices doesn’t just have potential value to subscribers, an InfoWorld report noted Thursday. It also is a way for Microsoft to offer targeted advertising opportunities to local businesses.

 

Those businesses now have a new tool for displaying ads on mobile search pages viewed by regional customers. The could be an incentive for companies to redirect some of their advertising dollars from Google (News - Alert) ads to Windows Live Search initiatives.

 

Of course, Google is wise to the potential for revenue from mobile services, InfoWorld added. Earlier this month Google launched Gmail Mobile, a portable version of its popular e-mail service. The service is available free to Sprint data customers.

 

And, this week, “Google expanded a program that provides mobile devices with search results and text-based ads,” the InfoWorld report noted.

 

The Windows Live Search service is available immediately to Sprint PCS Vision and Sprint Power Vision subscribers using data-capable phones.

 

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