Bing is Microsoft’s latest version of a search engine released in June. Have you tried it yet? Battling the mighty Google in this market will certainly be a challenge. However, the early review is that this search engine is every bit as good as what we have become used too with our tried and trusted Google search. Moreover, the mapping function is also very good and provides a similar experience to that we are accustomed too with Google. But, will “just as good” be good enough to change folk’s habits. Nobody says “just Bing it”…yet.
Along with the release of bing.com, Microsoft also optimized the website for mobile devices. And, recently, it also rolled out the Bing app for the iPhone the comes with the same functionality that you get from the website. It allows you to search by the following categories: websites, images, movies, maps, businesses, news or directions.
There is also a speech function available, it works pretty well. But some users have reported crash while using this feature. Microsoft is now working on that to fix the issue. At the mean time, you may try out the workaround as listed in Bing’s blog.
One of the neat things about Bing, that sets it aside from the Google site, is that on Bing there is a new picture posted everyday with different trivia squares included giving information about the picture. This functionality is also available on the iPhone app that makes the interface more stylish. Bing app also comes with a built-in browser to let you access the search result right within the app.
You can set your search settings to “off”, “moderate” or “strict”, allowing you to filter your results based on sexually or explicit material. All worked pretty good as advertised. You can set your units to “metric” or “imperial” and your screen rotation to “on” or “off”. Screen rotation is helpful (needed) when viewing the maps.
There is really nothing new here. This app works as advertised and is very functional. Except for the speech search, which I hope, they fix in the next version. I have the speech-to-text function in a few other apps and it is very handy not having to type in what you want searched for. But from my experience, the Google mobile app performs better in this area. Hopefully Microsoft can get it right as it will really set their iPhone search app apart from the Google iPhone app, in terms of search.
Personally, I will still stick with Google and its mobile app. The Google app still has way more functionality as it allows the user to access almost all of the other Google products. Not to mention that the Google search is the default search for the iPhone. However, if you’re a fan of Bing, you will be a fan of this app as it replicates the Bing website experience. Even if you’re not a fan, I recommend you give it a try and test out an alternative search engine.
Bing for iPhone is now available on App Store for free. For now, it’s for U.S. customers only. Hopefully, Microsoft will rollout the app to other countries soon. To download, you can click this direct iTunes link.
As always, we love to hear your experience about the app. What do you think about Bing? Will you switch from Google to Bing as your default search engine? Remember to leave us comment and share your thought.
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