Sprint, Microsoft team up on location-based mobile search

Starting on Tuesday, when Sprint Nextel customers use the search bar in their phone browsers, the results will automatically incorporate the users’ location. Some customers will also be able to use voice commands to conduct searches.

The capabilities are an extension of a relationship that Microsoft and Sprint formed late last year that initially involved including Microsoft’s Live Search in the browser on Sprint phones.

Microsoft is now adding automatic location detection to search results so that users won’t have to input their zip codes in their phones before getting local search results. Search results will include results from the Web, the phone, and local information such as maps.

Most recent Sprint phones include location-finding capabilities.

In addition, users of five of Sprint’s high-end phones will be able to download a client that will let them use voice commands to conduct searches. Once they have the application, users press the talk button on the phone to speak a search term. If the search is for a local business, for example, the results will include directions, the ability to press a button to call the business, and the option to send directions to the place to a friend via text message.

Sprint users of the Samsung a900, Samsung a920, Motorola Razr, Sanyo 840, and LG 550 phones will be able to download the voice search client. The application is based on technology from Tellme, the speech recognition company that Microsoft bought earlier this year.

The services are not exclusive, so they could become available via other operators in the future, said Phil Holden, director of mobile services at Microsoft.

While other similar services are available to mobile users, this location-based search offering is more apt to be used because it comes built into the phones, Holden said.

Earlier this year, Ask.com came out with an applications that phone users could download and use to combine search with location information. In August, Nuance Communications began offering a service for BlackBerry users that lets users search and get driving directions using voice commands.

Microsoft rival Google offers a mobile service that automatically combines maps searches with a user’s location. It’s available for download on certain phones with location capabilities.

Microsoft earns revenue from such offerings in two ways, Holden said. Microsoft shares in the revenue stream from the data services offered by operators and also from advertising, he said. The software giant hopes that it will be able to deliver more targeted advertising along with services like these that offer local search results.