Bing has updated its mobile app today, launching an HTML5 app that provides (more or less) the same experience across mobile platforms, whether on the native app or the website. The native apps for Android (for Verizon users here) and iOS now provide a new, Web-based HTML5 experience also available on m.bing.com.
The update adds a split view for maps and lists, making it easy to see the locations of search results. The Android version now features transit routing and real-time transit news, previously only available on Bing’s mobile site. The iPhone version gets Bing’s mobile Web video content, which launched on the Web version last month. The update also adds Bing Deals to the search experience, an interesting move that adds a revenue stream for Microsoft and a convenience for consumers.
The new app isn’t quite the same on all platforms, but the overall feel is unified. It’s fast, efficient and easy to use. Google’s having a bad day with it’s app-wrapped Gmail experience, and meanwhile Microsoft has a hit. Bing has been eating into Google’s search dominance this year.
Curiously, Microsoft’s update to its search app isn’t yet available for Windows Phone 7, but that’s the way the smartphone market is going, we guess.
The inclusion of Bing Deals is an interesting move from a business perspective. The Dealmap, which once partnered with Microsoft on Bing Deals, has since been bought by Google, and now Google is trying to close the deal on mobile search, local business listings and daily deals. Apple is also building Siri – its mobile voice assistant – to search Yelp for local businesses, bypassing both Google and Bing.
Today’s Bing update shows that all the major mobile platforms see the need to get ahead on connecting users to local businesses. Search is an ad-supported business, and mobile, location-based search is where all the value is.
Read more about the update on the Bing blog.
What do you think of the new Bing app?
