Steve Clayton: Geek In Disguise recently posted some cool demos that were shown at the WorldWide Partner Conference this year.  When I watched the Windows Automotive demo all I could say is I sure wish my car could do that.

Here is a list of the demos as well as links to their websites for your convenience:

• Microsoft Surface [demo]
• Live Labs Photosynth (and SeaDragon) [demo]
• Windows Live for Windows Mobile [demo]
• Microsoft RoundTable [demo]
• Microsoft Dynamics Live CRM [demo]
• Microsoft Silverlight [demo]
• Windows Server 2008 [demo]
• Windows Automotive [demo]

I just read a blog titled Windows Live Search v2 released.  Since I’m always looking for better ways to find information and accomplish things on my Palm Treo 700w mobile phone I decided to check it out.  I took a few minutes to try it out and I must say that I’m quite impressed with it.  Regardless of whether or not you have tried the previous version, I would highly recommend checking out v2.

Here are a couple things I really like in the Windows Mobile 5 version of the application:

• It is fast!  I think this is due to the fact that it’s not entirely web based.  I’m not even on the Verizon Broadband speeds, out here in Amish country, and I was still impressed with the speed and responsiveness of it.
• Ease of use:  It is really easy to switch from one area of the application to another.  For example, you can quickly look up movies or movie theaters near a particular city and get the showtimes.  After that you can click on a link to get directions or save the movie theater to your contact list.  When you bring up the directions it shows you line by line what turns you need to take.  You can then click on a particular step in the directions to bring up that segment of the map.  After that you can either go back to the list of turns or scroll over to the next/previous step in the directions while staying in the map view.  What is amazing is how quick and seamless it is to switch between different levels of detail in the directions.  I tried out Google Mobile Maps awhile ago and I didn’t find it nearly as user friendly as Windows Live Search maps.
• Previous search memory:  I also like how it remembers the previous locations and search strings you have typed in.  This makes it really easy to make slight modifications to your search results which is a great timesaving feature.  I haven’t found a way to remove specific items from the lists yet though.

Windows Live Search v2 has the following menu options:  Categories, Map, Directions, Traffic, and Movies.  I was a little disappointed that news and weather weren’t included in the application.  However, you can still find that information (and more) by pointing your mobile browser to http://m.live.com.  Hopefully they will integrate some of those features into the application version of Mobile Search later.

Overall I love it so far and I don’t know how I survived without it.  I can’t wait to try it out more this week to get a better feel for it.

More Information:

• Windows Mobile Team Blog 
• To download and install it on your phone visit http://wls.live.com
• If your phone has a browser go to http://m.live.com to start searching
• CNET News.com Review
• myITforum.com