Bing Mobile Updated For Android and iPhone…Windows Phone Left Waiting Again
I keep saying that they’ve learned their lesson and Microsoft is building an ecosystem…nope. Photosynth all over again. Anyway, let’s start with the news of what they did release. “Today’s update uses HTML5 to blend the mobile browse experience with the app experience so you get a consistent and fast mobile search experience whether you’re using m.bing.com from your browser or the Bing app.” Here are the improvements:
- Maps/List Split View: Provides a dynamic way to synchronize a list such as business listings and directions and a map in a single view making it easy to see the location of what you’re searching for. Also works for driving directions and transit.
- Deals: One-stop deal shopping and convenient mobile phone access for local deals from more than 100 deal providers across the US.
- Video Domain: launched last month on m.bing, the new video domain is now available on iPhone.
- Transit/Real-Time: the Android app now features transit routing/real-time transit and news– all features that were previously only available on m.bing.com.
To get the update, go to the Android Market (Android users on Verizon can go here) or iPhone App store to download the latest version.
“The new app is currently available for iPhone devices and select Android devices in the United States. We’re working to release the same consistent experience for RIM and Windows Phone 7 devices in the future, and will share more details as they become available.” Seriously, this again. I know that Bing is built into the core of WP7. I get the search button and all. I don’t get that other devices have a better Bing experiences than a Windows Phone though…so fix it. I want transit/real-time. I don’t even know what it means but I know I want it. And I’m the one likely to use Bing since I’m already hand-in-hand with Microsoft…So if you don’t want to push an OS update out then you need to make a way to update Bing outside of the OS like an app or make a separate app to fill in the gaps.
If anyone is looking for me I’ll be outside in the cold…with my Windows Phone.
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I couldn’t agree more.
This is getting ridiculous. I have said it before: Someone at Microsoft needs to walk down the hall and smack someone in the Bing office and remind them that they are part of the company. Ugh.
AFAIK, Bing is part of the operating system right, so I think that gets updated as soon as the OS is updated.
Ram, it is and that’s the rpoblem. Google had the same issue with Google Maps a long time ago. Their answer was to move maps to an ‘app’ so that they could update it without an OS update. I’m not sure why MS can’t do something similar.