Live Search - Top Mobile Apps Revisited 2007

App: Live Search

Company: Sprint Nextel/Microsoft

Year it was a top mobile app: 2007

Why it was a Top Mobile App: Microsoft bolstered its alliance with Sprint by unveiling an enhanced version of the operator's Live Search service, touted as the industry's first location-aware mobile search to deliver voice search with visual results. With traditional mobile search functions like local listings and maps as well as built-in GPS, the whole enterprise seemed like it was a winner in the search field. Click here for more.

Its current status: Throughout 2008 and into 2009, many Microsoft products that had the "Live" branding on them were discontinued. Microsoft rebranded Live Search with the formal introduction of Bing on June 3, 2009. Advertised as a "decision engine" and not a search engine, Bing has several new features, including content sectioning of results, a left-side navigation pane, image search with a continuous scrolling images results page, instant answers for things like sports scores and stock quotes, and local info for items like traffic and restaurant reviews. According to comScore, in September Bing had a 9.4 percent share of the U.S. Internet search market.