Bing's Mobile Interface Gets a Fresh Coat of Paint
Microsoft just updated Bing's mobile interface. The new interface features tabs and is optimized for high-resolution touch-screen devices like the iPhone or Microsoft's own Zune HD. The earlier version of Bing Mobile worked reasonably well, but the interface was rather generic. The new version, on the other hand, makes good use of the iPhone's touch screen when searching for movies, for example. Bing now shows a list of movie posters that you can scroll through with a sideways swipe.
New Features: NFL Updates & Flight Search
The Bing team also added a few new features to the generic mobile search. Users can now search for NFL teams and players and get real-time updates about games, stats and scores while a game is on. This feature is only available in the U.S.
In addition, Bing has implemented a flight search feature. You can now type in the airline code and flight number and Bing will return the latest gate information and departure and arrival times.
But Will Anybody Use It?
The new mobile interface for the iPhone and similar devices looks a lot better than the earlier version and is also more usable. Given that users can only switch between Google and Yahoo as their default search providers on the iPhone, however, it's questionable how many iPhone users will actually use Bing's mobile search.
Share
Facebook
Comments
Subscribe to comments for this post OR Subscribe to comments for all ReadWriteWeb posts
I had a go, thought I would look up some driving directions. usability reminded me of completing a wizard in Windows 95, like they left it to a random engineer to put together before release.
I have a HTC Hero (Android) and the homepage is set to Bing :) But, I can't see the new homepage yet.
Wow! Yet more "US-only" services from Bing! Who'd have guessed it!!! (Heavy sarcasm intended).Why do you continually disregard the rest of the world? Why do we matter so little to the Bing team?
Kinda sucks. Scrolling the tabs - not smooth. Cluttery.
Nice to see the attempt. Speaking of which, when we gonna see the ol rww decked mobile. I only come here now to leave comments from my iPod ( which is slightly painful FYI )
I think that saying Bing got a fresh coat of paint would be a total understatement. I would say Bing got a complete overhaul! I also think it turned out fairly well.
For the iPhone, check out:
bingGo - Bing™ Mobile Search Client
There is a review for this app at:
http://www.ithinkdiff.com/search-bing-on-your-iphoneipod-touch-using-binggo/