MS unveils new version of Live Search Maps

BANGALORE, INDIA: Microsoft India today delivered the next release of Live Search Maps which offers multi point routing ability to enable Indians to plan multi-city road trips in a single search query. With this expanded version of Live Search Maps, users can now also search for directions based on common points of interest and landmarks and also access detailed street maps for top 17 cities and highway road network covering 48,000 cities and towns.

These key features have been developed by the Live Search & Incubations for Emerging Markets team at Microsoft India Development Centre (MSIDC) based in Hyderabad. The latest version of Live Search Maps is available today through the computer or mobile and can be accessed at http://maps.live.co.in/ and http://m.live.co.in.

BANGALORE, INDIA: Microsoft India today delivered the next release of Live Search Maps which offers multi point routing ability to enable Indians to plan multi-city road trips in a single search query. With this expanded version of Live Search Maps, users can now also search for directions based on common points of interest and landmarks and also access detailed street maps for top 17 cities and highway road network covering 48,000 cities and towns.

These key features have been developed by the Live Search & Incubations for Emerging Markets team at Microsoft India Development Centre (MSIDC) based in Hyderabad. The latest version of Live Search Maps is available today through the computer or mobile and can be accessed at http://maps.live.co.in/ and http://m.live.co.in.

"Our focus is on constantly providing innovative and unique services that meet evolving needs of users on the PC and Mobile, and the release of this version of Live Search Maps India within three months of the first launch in November 2008 is testament to this,” said Ravi Datanwala, Group Manager – Live Search, Consumer and Online, Microsoft India. “The new features have been incorporated basis a deep understanding of what Indians are looking for when searching for directions and maps, and we are sure our users will see value in them,” he added.

To enable increased innovation on the Live Search Maps platform, Microsoft has opened the APIs for Indian enterprise and developer communities to encourage development of custom mapping applications using Microsoft’s Virtual Earth. Announcing the first of these partnerships, Microsoft India and the Hyderabad Police Department launched a joint initiative called “Know Your Police Station” which offers citizens a very intuitive way to find services such as the nearest police station. Live Search Maps have been integrated on the Hyderabad Police website www.hyderabadpolice.gov.in to help the community locate nearest police stations easily and also get driving directions.

"The innovative features of the new release have been developed by my team at the Microsoft India Development Center in Hyderabad. In addition to landmark based directions, Multi-point Routing, and increased coverage to 17 cities, we have enabled access to the Virtual Earth platform via APIs to the developer community, thereby encouraging developers and enterprises to build innovative solutions that leverage the power of the platform and our rich Indian data. One example of this is the citizen service we have developed in partnership with the Hyderabad police," said Gurpreet S. Pall, General Manager – Live Search and MSN Technologies, Microsoft India Development Centre (MSIDC).

Speaking on the partnership with Microsoft, B Prasada Rao, Commissioner, Hyderabad Police, said: “Continually providing citizens with services that are relevant and easy to use is a huge focus for Hyderabad Police and our partnership with Microsoft to create this unique Live Maps based application, is an important step in this direction. With the launch of the application, Know Your Police Station, citizens can now access information on Police Stations across Hyderabad in an intuitive and interactive manner. We look forward to a long term engagement with Microsoft to ensure that we are constantly providing citizen services that are essential and easy to use."

The engagement with the Hyderabad Police is the first leg of the partnership with Microsoft. Over the coming months, the application will incorporate several more services, including plotting all important landmarks such as State and Central Government offices, e-seva centers, government hospitals and fire stations on Live Maps India. In the future, visitors to the Hyderabad police website will also have access to real time updates and images on traffic conditions in the city.