Microsoft just launched Bing a few weeks ago with lots of fanfare and media coverage. Already the service has gained market share, but it seems that Microsoft is ready to be in the mobile field as well. But, unlike the Internet site which received an extreme makeover, the mobile client might simply be a rebadging if these screenshots are true.
These screenshots come from an April-build of the Bing mobile app. (Kumo was the codename for Bing, btw) It should look familiar as, well, it’s basically Live Search. That’s not all bad though. Live Search isn’t a bad app. In fact it had voice search and location-based services a while before Google’s app did.
The real news here is that the app should be available in BREW and Sidekick devices when it launches shortly. Plus, Verizon is going to build the service directly into all its BREW-supported devices starting in November, which could be huge for the service.
Integrated search is a must for Bing mobile. Google has it on the browser-side, being the default search engine in Safari, Firefox, Chrome, and Opera. But if Microsoft can get more wireless providers and hardware manufacturers to include the Bing mobile app into the phone, the service might have a fighting chance in the mobile world.
Hopefully, the app will launch with a refreshed look too instead of this simple rebadging that we’re seeing now. Hopefully.
Seems like finally microsoft is all set to make a big dent in google’s territory!
The problem is that the mobile device that gets the most press and mindshare is iPhone. I don’t see a Bing iPhone app!
how would apple look if they refuse to accept a bing to the app store from MSFT? I don’t think apple want that kind of press.
Folks, can you guys do a self assessment and report to your readers on how many of your articles fall in these categories: microsoft/google/twitter/apple?
Then, it would also be nice to sort the articles about each company into positive, negative, and bashing.
I have the impression that most Microsoft articles here are rather in the third category while most Google and Apple articles are in the first. And yes, Yahoo articles seem also mostly to lie in the third category. But i guess there are not so many of them.
I would love if you could make me feel differently (of course with some facts).
Cheers,
Klaus.
I totally agree with Klaus.
The tech media in general, including this site, appear to have an affinity towards Apple and Google and are generally against Microsoft, which puts into question the reliance we place on their views. Apple in particular appears to have a free pass, no matter what they do. This is not an Apple v/s Microsoft comment, I happen to use products from both companies.
Quite dissapointing.
Regards
Shiraz
Toronto, Canada
The posts on the initial launch of Bing were very positive.
Thanks Luke – I still hold the opinion that there appears to be an obvious bias against Microsoft and that anything positive is still done grudgingly.
This debate can go on forever, suffice to say that the Tech Media in general does dis-service to it’s userbase if it continues with it’s biases
I think, Microsoft is carving its way slowly into the search Engine market! Good that it is rolling out its mobile search engine in the very start of its commercial career! Microsoft appears to be learning from Google’s mistakes…
Matt,
if you had ever pulled away from your iPhone long enough to actually *USE* Live Search Mobile on a Windows Mobile phone, you would no that Bing Mobile is *NOT* simply a rebranding. There appear to be several distinctly new features in there, including Favorite Locations, Media Search, and Travel searches.
On top of that, if you had ever tried Live Search, you would know Bing had as many new features as there were features that were in Live Search that no one knew about.
But that’s ok, we all know that you guys are too busy being Google & Apple’s unpaid PR machine (as evidenced by Bing’s lack of profile in the CrunchBase) to know these things.
What’s new? Nothing. A problem? Yes, for a company with those resources. Survival of the fittest…
I definitely like to see Bing in app.
Nat
http://www.loopcity.net/
Bing-Moble looks great cool ..i just downloaded it to try .