Windows Phone Mango’s App Search feature now on iPhone

First Microsoft creates and releases awesome apps for iOS devices like Bing for iPad, Photosynth ignoring its own mobile platform (Windows Phone) and now see what we have here? Microsoft brings a Windows Phone Mango feature to the iPhone. The Bing app for iPhone now gives you app suggestion just like in Windows Phone Mango. That is, Bing will now suggest you some iPhone apps which are relevant to your general search query.

For example, if you type in a movie name, say “X-Men: First Class”, the following search result page will suggest apps related to movies, which in this case would be IMDB and some more apps. And if the suggested app supports launch functionality, then you can simply tap it and the app will be launched. Some apps in App Store even support deep launching, like IMDB app. So, here, when you tap on IMDB it will not only launch the app but will directly open the “X-Men: First Class” movie page on it.

This is Bing’s attempt to help you find some magical iPhone apps that you never knew existed. The Bing app also lets you to do an explicit app search. So, you type in “Top iPhone apps” or “News Apps” – you get app search result page, tap the desired app to either launch or download it from App Store.

Although Bing app is available for all iOS devices, the new app search/suggestion feature only works on Bing for iPhone or on the Bing’s mobile site.

So, brining a Windows Phone Mango feature to a competing platform prior to the release of Mango update, what’s this all about? For now, we just assume that Microsoft is trying to lure iPhone users with these Metro-styled apps to get a Windows Phone that has everything in Metro Style. Or, Microsoft just wants to make Bing a gigantic search engine. Let us know, what you think at the comments section below.

Via: Cnet
Source: Bing Search Blog