The MSN Mobile team dropped two excellent betas last week. The first was http://mobile.spaces.msn.com/ which is mentioned in Mike Torres's post on the Mobile Spaces (Beta) where we learn

you can:

1. Create a space from a mobile device.  Pocket PCs, Palms, and most popular mobile phones are supported.  Just browse over to http://mobile.spaces.msn.com from your mobile device (or go to http://spaces.msn.com and you will be redirected to the mobile version)
   
2. See a list of your contacts' recently updated spaces.  This feature is really useful for a mobile device and great for catching up with people!  Just "click" on a contact to get to their space and start exploring.
   
3. Add blog entries, view your archives, email a link to your space, and even change your settings - all from your itty bitty mobile device.
   
4. Read and add new comments (my favorite feature!)  You are now able to stay on top of discussions from wherever you happen to be - in school, on a bus, in a meeting, or in line at Starbucks.

The second beta is http://mobile.msn.com/search/ which brings local search to your mobile device. This is mentioned in the blog post Get Local Search with Maps and Directions on your phone!  from the MSN Search blog where we learn

So what does it do? You can search for a restaurant, store, school, dentist, museum – basically, anything listed in the Yellow Pages and White Pages. Just enter your search term (i.e. "coffee" or "Victrola" ) and location (zip code, city/state or full street address) and hit the Search button. Your recently used locations are even stored and easily accessible the next time you use the service. We’ll return the first handful of results, including name, address, distance from your current location and phone number – which you can dial by clicking!  Select the result name and you’ll see a page with more detail, including a color map. Select "get directions" and we’ll provide turn-by-turn driving directions between your starting location and result address (both editable). All of these features have been specially designed to work on your phone, requiring minimal interaction and optimized for speed and ease of use.

The MSN Mobile crewis definitely shipping some good stuff. Props go out to Michael Smuga and the rest of the gang.