I use the Live Search for mobile application to find local business and directions… it’s got maps, pushpins, text search, voice search, find a person, and GPS. Yeah, tons of mobile mapping applications do that.

The different thing about this application is special purpose searches, and in particular, the underappreciated “Collections”:

Here’s how Collections works. You create a collection of points on a map on the web, save it, then find & view the collection on your mobile device. Imagine your vacation: plan out beaches of interest (or restaurants of interest) at home, armed with 16 travel books, websites, and a PC mouse & keyboard… and you can be guided to those points when you’re on vacation by your phone.

You can also search for local collections created by others, although on a phone I think that’s more of a novelty.

The latest version I downloaded has a small, but really important usability improvement. In previous versions, there was self-glorifying banner:

Double-lame.

Worse than the duplication, the banner makes a vertical scrollbar appear, and if you’ve ever used scrollbars… well, I’ve dropped my phone with an overhand throwing motion when trying to use scrollbars.

Well, you’ll see above that the banner’s gone, and the scrollbar with it. Big deal, you say? Now my beloved Collections feature isn’t scrolled off the screen.

You can download this application for Blackberry or Windows Mobile directly to your phone at the Microsoft download site.

Everyone keeps saying the design of the Nintendo Revolution is based on the iPod. No. Where are the rounded corners on the Revolution? (There are next to none, except for ergonomics on the controller.) Does the Revolution have chrome? (No chrome.) Does the iPod have a routed logo? Visible seams between paneling?

The blue glow actually has a purpose. It’s actually an outward-flowing ion stream that keeps dust from settling in the slot, eliminating any need for blowing on cartridges.