RSSMicrosoft Rolls Out Windows Live Expo
By Ed Oswald | Published February 10, 2006, 12:15 AM
EXCLUSIVE Following three months of internal testing, Microsoft has announced that it is opening its classified listing service Windows Live Expo, formerly code-named "Fremont," to select businesses in the Seattle metropolitan area. The company says a nationwide beta will begin this spring, although it declined to elaborate as to how that would proceed.
Microsoft has marketed Windows Live Expo as a way for businesses to connect, and Windows Live Expo Product Unit Manager Garry Wiseman told BetaNews that it plans to allow Washington-based institutions and businesses, including the University of Washington, Safeco, Washington Mutual and Boeing access into the initial beta.
"We figured we'd try this and see what happens," Wiseman said. He explained that a small-scale beta launch is much easier to manage. Also, by first limiting it to businesses and institutions Microsoft hopes to see if its premise would work well in the real world, since employees have already built trust between one another and are located in the same general geographic area.
"If you'd do a traditional e-mail invite, there would be listings from all over the country," Wiseman added, saying it would do little to test the viability of the concept, and likely have no common bond between one another.
First previewed by BetaNews at CES 2006, Live Expo allows users to post items for sale or rent, or list events similar to the way Craigslist operates. Users would be able to modify their listings with a WYSIWYG editor and post images as well.
But that is where the similarities end with the popular classified listing site, according to Wiseman.
The service will integrate with other Windows Live services, including Live Local, allowing a user to narrow down searches and find items within a certain distance. Through Live Messenger, users would be able to discover new listings through "gleams" next to their buddies names. Spaces integration is also planned, with the capability to post one's own listings on their Space through an optional module.
To facilitate communication between buyer and seller, an option is provided that allows buyers to instant message the seller through MSN and Windows Live Messenger.
In the initial beta the seller would receive a dialog box asking whether or not they would accept messages; in the future an IM bot will handle the conversation allowing for complete anonymity and also identifying the message is regarding a Live Expo listing.
While Wiseman was skeptical of the need for such a feature at first, he said internal testing showed that many preferred the instantaneous communication of IM to communication via e-mail.
The company also said that an internal beta has been ongoing since November, and some 14,000 company employees used the service. The most popular items were tickets to concerts, and the most popular categories electronics and computers. Feedback was positive enough that the company felt confident it was ready for a public beta, a spokesperson told BetaNews.
Futhermore, Microsoft says Live Expo further differs from Craigslist in that the user has control over where, what, and whom he buys from. For example, the user could limit listings to just those in his address book or buddy list, to people within the same e-mail domain, or within a certain radius of his or her location.
"We're more local than Craiglist," he chided.
Unlike the leading classified listing site, Live Local is more based on whom the user wants to buy from rather than where the item is located, Wiseman explaned.
"We have social networking available today," he said, pointing to the company's Messenger product. "By tapping into this social network we can create a more trustworthy marketplace."
Dear sir/ma
We are mobile phones wholesalers,we have all brands and models of
gsm,tdma
and cdma phones for sale at very cheap prices.We also have all models
of
Nextel phones for sale also at very cheap price,also sles of
mp3,ipod,plasma
tv,dvd player,and others.We sell our products at very cheap and
reasonable
prices.We do ship all over the world.Do kindly contact us at vodafonesphone@hotmail.com,or call +2348023944336.if you are
interested in buying some phones from us,thank's and God bless.
HERE IS THE PRICE LIST.
Brand Model Unit Prices
MODELS: PRICE:
NOKIA N70--- US$190
NOKIA N90--- US$200
NOKIA N91--- US$210
NOKIA 3595--US$105
NOKIA 3620--US$145
NOKIA 6600--US$220
NOKIA 3650-- US$160
NOKIA 5100-- US$135
NOKIA 5210-- US$119
NOKIA 5510-- US$129
NOKIA 6090-- US$180
NOKIA 6250-- US$129
NOKIA 6310i-- US$105
NOKIA 6800-- US$185
NOKIA 7110-- US$109
NOKIA 7210 Turquoise-- US$109
NOKIA 7250-- US$175
NOKIA 7650-- US$140
NOKIA 8310-- US$85
NOKIA 8910 TITANIUM-- US$165
NOKIA 8850 SPECIAL EDITION-- US$165
NOKIA 8850 GOLD EDITION-- US$150
NOKIA 8910 Black-- US$165
NOKIA 9210 Communicator-- US$210
NOKIA 6170--US$268
NOKIA 6260--US$283
NOKIA 9210i Communicator-- US$210
NOKIA 8910i-- US$210
SONY ERICSSON P800--US$220
SONY ERICSSON P900--US$275
SONY ERICSSON T610-- US$129
SONY ERICSSON P700-- US$200
SONY ERICSSON Z100--US$301:00USD
SONY ERICSSON P910--US$400:00USD
SONY ERICSSON Z500--$204:00USD
SONY CMD-MZ5-- US$169
MOTOROLA MPX200--US$199
MOTOROLA I730--US$299
MOTOROLA V60G--$100
SAMSUNG SGH-A500-- US$139
SAMSUNG SGH-T500 Champagne-- US$129
SAMSUNG SGH-V200-- US$159
SAMSUNG SGH-T200-- US$149
SAMSUNG SGH-E715--US$175
SAMSUNG SGH-V206--US$105
panasonic TX310--$115
PANASONIC TG2593B--$159
PANASONIC GU87--US$130
PANASONICT X320--US$110
PANASONIC GD87-- US$149
PANASONIC TG2000B--$219
PANASONIC TG4000---$210
NEXTEL PHONES PRICES:
HERE ARE ALSO SOME NEXTEL PHONES PRICELIST:
NEXTEL
i90c -- 95USD
i95cl -- 130USD
i830--120USD
i860--137USD
i930--151USD
Apple 4 GB iPod Mini Blue M9802LL/A ........$40.00
Apple 4 GB iPod Mini Pink M9804LL/A ....... $40.00
Apple 4 GB iPod Mini Green M9806LL/A ...... $40.00
Apple 6 GB iPod Mini Blue M9803LL/A ....... $55.00
Apple Ipod Nano 2GB ....................... $75:00usd
Apple Ipod Nano 4GB ........................$90:00usd
Ipod video 30GB............................$140usd
Ipod video 60GB............................$195usd
Xbox 360 Platinum Bundle Console .........$210usd
Xbox 360 Core System .........$190usd
Do kindly reply back now,thank's and God bless.contact vodafonesphone@hotmail.com
Score: -1
|Thank you!
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|Sounds cool. Can't wait till they roll it out nationwide.
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|too much "LIVE" ....
i just hope they dont change the name from "windows vista" to "windows live"
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|You are right, it kind of reminds me of a couple of years ago when they where introducing all the .net stuff.
.net this .net that I was so confused back then was it a programming language and IDE or was it an OS version. I am so glad they cleared that up.
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|Windows XP = Windows .Net ;) (just joking)
So... is this Live Expo thing like Ebay? Thats what it seems to be to me.
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|Google Base.
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|Google Base is lame. I tried it and was very disappointed with the results. Even Craigslist is better than GB.
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|Never said it was good. Just what MS Expo should be compared to.
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|Sorry 'bout that. And I agree with you. It is more like Google base. I suppose this is in retaliation for eBay dropping MS's .NET services. Once they get this thing humming along, they could kick eBay's @ss.
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|Doubtful. eBay is already there. They have the name recognition behind it. Most Windows users hate Windows...(IME)...I would hazard to guess it won't be high on their list to trust transactions to by the same company that wrote their slow, buggy OS. (Yes, I know other OSes are buggier and slower...)
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|True, but I think most eBay users hate eBay (and PayPal) more than they hate MS. The discontent has been growing for years --especially after the PayPal acquisition; many small and medium sized sellers are fed up with eBay's continual fee hikes, double dipping via PayPal, and unfair freezing of PP acounts without warning or justification. It seems like eBay is positioning themselves to be more of a "scratch and dent" wholeseller for the big B&M chains (like Sears) at the expense of squeezing the little guys, who helped build them, out of business. The situation is pretty critical lately. Have you read eBay's message boards lately or PayPalsucks.com? Buyer's are also becoming increasingly disenchanted with eBay's lackadaisical attitude towards sellers of counterfeit goods and the hassle and expense involved in getting a refund from unscrupulous sellers. Customer hatred is a powerful motivator -- just ask any former customer of Quark why they jumped ship to Adobe's InDesign.
If MS hits the ground running when they launch Live Expo, if all the components are well-integrated, non-buggy, and fully fuctional, if they've got some kind of trustworthy payment system in place (perhaps by forming a strategic alliance with a multinational co like Citicorp or BofA), it's very possible they could take down eBay. They certainly have the wherewithal. Just imagine Live Expo being automatically installed on every new PC (and later MACs too) being sold. It wouldn't take long. I think social networking could have a lot more staying power than dealing with anonymous strangers on eBay or Amazon or other similar auction sites.
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|"True, but I think most eBay users hate eBay "
Er....
That wouldn't be my experience. While the many I know who use it on a daily if not hourly basis have had some complaints, they would definately not be jumping ship for Microsoft.
...At least eBay they can make money from.
Of course, most of them are either related or close friends of mine, so it could just be the circle in which I travel.
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