mobileu.co.uk

Mobile Bing for Apple iPhone launched by Microsoft

Microsoft's Mobile Bing – the mobile version of its search application – has been launched for the Apple iPhone and iPod Touch. The mobile app is already available for the RIM Blackberry and Windows Mobile handsets.

Featuring an infinite images search, easily-navigated maps and an enhanced voice search in addition to traditional search, the new mobile app is free from Apple's App Store. An official Bing blog post explains that it can locate nearby restaurants, banks, theatres and other places of interest by category, and display walking or driving directions for users.

"Our investments in voice search [work] great for map locations as well as old-fashioned web search," it states. "Just say 'San Francisco weather' for a quick result, or even say a full address for a map or directions."

The blog continues by describing the app's "smooth mapping action": "Swipe through each step of the directions, and check out how fast the map pans and zooms … for times when you only have one hand free and can't pinch, there is a handy zoom-out button."

Mobile Bing enters a market currently dominated by Google, ahead of rival mobile search engines Yahoo! Mobile and Apple's Safari.