The Search team has added instant answers for traffic and maps to Live Search. They work pretty much the way you would expect; if you are at MSN.com or Live.com and do a search for an address or place, you should get an inline interactive map as the first answer. Likewise for queries for traffic conditions. There are a few neat features such as automatic location detection, which Matthew Cheung, one of our Program Managers, describes below-

• Enter the word “Map” and Live Search will try to automatically determine your current city and show you a map of your surrounding area
• Similarly, the words “Traffic” or “Commute” will show you’re the current traffic conditions around your area if available.
• The map is fully interactive, pan, zoom, adjust, or even see aerial imagery. Hover over traffic incidents for details.
• The traffic condition on the traffic answer doesn’t automatically update as time goes by, as it is not meant to sit on your desktop for continuous use (or it won’t be instant will it?). If you want to keep an eye out for the latest traffic, download the Vista traffic gadget for your sidebar.

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