Microsoft and RIM announced today that they have struck a deal that will see all BlackBerry smartphones running Microsoft Live Search.
The deal’s specifics weren’t released, but Microsoft’s ability to bring Live Search to the BlackBerry is a major development in the mobile space and is a direct challenge to Google, which is currently providing the iPhone with its search and will feature Google Search in upcoming Android-based devices.
The next battleground for search will be mobile, and Microsoft can gain a foothold by striking presumably lucrative deals with device manufacturers to feature its search over others. (Much like Internet Explorer comes as the default browser on many PCs). Even though the iPhone is selling extremely well, it’s still trailing the BlackBerry and if Windows Mobile devices are added to the equation, Microsoft now has significant mobile search market share to use as a platform for its mobile advertising endeavors.
Live Search will be rolled out in BlackBerry phones by the end of this year.
Microsoft is a RIM competitor with Windows Mobile. Seems like a strange deal unless Microsoft threw a bunch of cash their way. Otherwise, you’d think RIM would have turned to Yahoo for search.
It really is a strange combination, it just goes to show how worried both MS and BB are about how the iPhone and Android will progress over the next while.
http://www.whatUrunning.com
live search is not very good. most people will just change the default to an engine that they are familiar with. this will not help microsoft. a better search product combined with custom strategic niche offerings on a vertical location network would better satisfy users and businesses. Customization, Personalization, Location, Distribution, Network. In the future consumers wont use search engines, they will use Location Based Vertical Locator Engines that specialize in helping you find the items or service you want based on location. Mobile Solved.
MyLocator
have you used it recently.. it’s gotten really good for me and i use it instead of google now!
1) Quit responding to the very first comment of every post in order to show near the top.
2) Your comment’s time stamp shows that your statements are just regurgitated from the comments below (eg. no original insight)
3) Search is not a bunch of different URLs with ‘locator’ appended to them. It is ONE URL where you search for any term. You are a DOMAIN SQUATTER (and a bad one at that).
P.S. “Locator engines” are not links on a page. You need to stop spamming your link farms.
That settles it. I’m ditching my BB for an iPhone. No way do I want to run Microsoft software on my mobile device.
This is a huge win for MS.
I think at this time MS needed some sort of big deal in search and maybe this is it.
Microsoft needs to ratchet up queries. This will definitely help since the BB Pearl (8100) is one of the most widely used smartphones out there right now.
Pretty sure MS would have to pay RIMM for the privilege and with the new BB handsets coming out over the next 9-12 months the deal might just pay off for ‘em.
Ummm, I’m glad I don’t have a blackberry. It would be faster to go to the library than to find something through live search.
Does any one see any acquisition of Blackberry by Microsoft ?
No. And, Blackberry is a product, RIM is the company.
Wait, Live search is a website, which means it is accessed via the browser?
So, it will be the default search engine right?
Just to be sure, Live Search isn’t an application, correct?
This will mean very little, since many ppl will just go to google on their own, imo.
defaults are powerful – both ms and google know this.
Sure end users can change it. It is not like google forcing you to use its search on your PC now. “Default” search engine is the keyword here.
Live search is a mobile application as well as a web site
http://livesear.../blackberry.htm
You’ll certainly be able to to use a different search engine by opening a browser, but who would go through the trouble if it’s an icon on the Blackberry start screen. It’ll probably get speech recognition as well like the Windows Mobile version. http://livesear...dows_mobile.htm
Losers in search partnering with the losers in mobile platforms. They’ve lost the consumer mindshare. This is a prayer to hold onto their enterprise clients.
Just an opinion.
Wonder how big Microsoft’s bribe was. Bad move for RIMM if this makes it hard to use Google. BB users are smart enough to know live search sucks balls.
I doubt Microsoft’s bribe to RIMM was larger than Google’s bribe to Dell to ship Google search as the default engine on new Dell computers.
. . . or google’s bribes to Apple and Firefox
This is called “business development”, since you two-bit wantrepreneurs have no fucking clue.
Deals with other companies are not called “bribery”. I suppose Apple “bribed” AT&T too?
Man, am I the only one that thinks TC comments have gone completely down hill? Between the shitty blogs that spam their links with retarded comments, to the total self promoters that comment on every article no matter how irrelevant to their industry.
I don’t mind a shameless plug on a post of a competitor or complimentary business, but every Eff-ing post? Fuck you to all the people that do this!!!
i was literally just using my blackberry, wishing that google search was built into the browser so i didnt have to load a web page prior to searching for something. looks like RIM has been thinking about this too. Unfortunately, they couldn’t strike a deal with google, but I guess it’s better than nothing.
http://livesear.../blackberry.htm
Google has their own application for BlackBerry. It uses the BB browser, but ties together all Google services like Live does with their app. The Google App is faster, and frankly, I just don’t want MS stuff on my BB. I passed on WinMo for a reason.
http://www.goog...blackberry/app/
Hmm. What horrid news.
I absolutely love my Blackberry, and wouldn’t touch Live Search with a barge pole.
I’m surprised Google didn’t jump at this. Live has good search, I won’t deny that.
(Sidenote, check out my link if you get a chance, I’m trying to start a socially responsible web startup and am extremely close)
Not too surprising. Two companies on the verge of going down just trying to feed off one another.
Typical stupid Microsoft. Can’t build a decent product so they have to force themselves upon users by buying market share. Think of MS products– Windows, Office, .Net platform, Silverlight, Explorer, SQL Server, Windows Server, XBox, Visual Studio, Exchange Server — they are all crappy, me-too products with marginal and dwindling market share. I can’t think of a single successful person who uses any Microsoft’s products. That’s what I like about Tech Crunch. It’s for *real* tech people, not Microsoft loser fan-boys. Sorry Microsoft, your bullying days are over. You would have to hold a gun to my head to get me to use Live Search (I have never tried it, but I already know it sucks).
you make me laugh! … No really you do!
let me guess. you must live in the bay area. all MS haters
This is a strange turn of events, b/c in OS 4.5.37 (loaded on my curve to allow HTML emails) the first page (about:start) includes a search box with google as the default (the other values in the drop down being Wikipedia and Dictionary.com)
being a bb user, this is terrible. Live search is probably the worst search on the web and now microsoft can poorly index the mobile web. no thanks. now if only i can talk verizon into letting me out of my contract.
Look guys, the world is changing and competition is different. Its about mass collaboration and Microsoft and RIM both understand that if you wanna survive, you gotta play side by side. Just like Google did with Yahoo…fended off Microsoft and then sent their biggest competitor’s stock (Yahoo) plummeting.
Great strategy and it worked. Now Rim is with Microsoft and who knows what kind of partnerships are gonna form from that – look out!
I am finally a private beta tester!
(www.equedia.com) really neat site…
Is this going to hurt RIM? Statistics say that people usually search with Google. If you can’t search with Google on a Blackberry you might perceive it as a lower quality device. Clearly RIM took the money (hopefully) and the risk.
hopefully BB has a delete application option
BB does have a delete option. You can remove anything that you like from it, and if they change that option for the Live thing I will stick with the BB that I have until my contract is up and then move to iPhone.
This Live thing isn’t going to work out perfectly for MS or RIM. Verizon has search deals with Yahoo right at the moment and they are in talks with Google. Sprint uses MS, but I doubt they pass on their own revenue deal to allow RIM to get paid. AT&T uses Yahoo except for the iPhone, which uses Google by default.
That to me says that this application will be easily removable by the user, but may be removed by the carrier. I’m not too sure how this really benefits MS or RIM. I don’t think one carrier that has their own search deal will let this one pass through.
Look guys, it still doesnt really matter…you can still go to Google.com on your berry browser like I do right now…it still loads up fast….great thing about this market is that we still have a choice…