Nokia has reached an agreement with Microsoft to integrate Live Search capabilities into its Mobile Search platform, enabling consumers access to Live Search from Nseries and other compatible Nokia S60 devices.
“Adding the advanced searching capabilities of Microsoft’s Live Search to our Mobile Search platform provides our customers with unique and powerful new ways to search the internet on their multimedia computers and many other compatible Nokia mobile devices,” commented Ralph Eric Kunz, vice president, Multimedia Experiences. “The Mobile Search platform is dedicated towards creating a user experience that is easy to access and optimally integrated into other functions of the device.”
“We are pleased to provide advanced Live Search services to enhance the search experience on Nokia’s S60 handsets,” said John DeVitis, product unit manager of Live Search for mobile at Microsoft Corp. “Live Search offers consumers unprecedented control and personalisation giving them easy access to searching the web plus targeted instant information from their mobile devices.”
The Mobile Search application is expected to be available in select markets in the standard sales packs of the Nokia N80 Internet Edition, Nokia N73, Nokia N93, Nokia N70, Nokia N71, Nokia 6630, Nokia 6680, and Nokia 6681, it is also offered as a free download for select Nokia S60 devices from www.nokia.com/mobilesearch.
Operators and handset manufacturers have, in the past 12-18 months, signed a series of search agreements with Google, Yahoo and others, as search becomes one of the focal points of exposing content services and applications to users.
Nokia’s tie-up with Microsoft is also a further sign that the two companies, who used to be at daggers drawn over the mobile market, are feeling secure enough to work together on certain applications. It’s also evidence that Microsoft is willing to exploit multiple platforms for its software.