Microsoft announced its new Clearflow technology. Clearflow will allow for web-based driving directions that can create a route designed to avoid traffic. That's great. That's fantastic.
Here's my problem - It's accessed through their live.com website. If you select Maps and then Traffic, a map of the U.S. will pop up with icons over the 72 cities currently supported. Very cool. But where's the mobile support?
On my BlackBerry, which handles the web pretty darned well, I couldn't pull up the traffic options. I tried it with my browser emulation set to BlackBerry, Pocket IE and even regular Microsoft IE and none of them would display the traffic options. The first 2 displayed the incredibly neutered mobile version of the live.com site and the last one displayed a fuller, albeit format-challenged, site that still didn't have the traffic option.
I think that being able to see traffic on a map or have it factored in when you get a set of directions is great. Needing to access it from a computer as opposed to a mobile device neuters it. Sure, I can pull up my directions and print them out before I go, but that isn't the same. Traffic changes far too quickly for that to be effective.
Here's your route, determined to be the fastest based on traffic...from 20 minutes ago when you were getting ready to leave the house.
See the problem? I'm not out to bash MS or anything, but at the same time, I'm not going to get excited about Clearflow until there's mobile compatibility. And I won't be really excited if the only compatibility is for Pocket IE and no other browsers.
Unless MS wants to send me a free HTC Touch. Then I'll get over it. Totally.
Details at Reuters.
1 Comments
Leave a comment