Microsoft has launched Bing for mobile to try and increase their market share of the mobile search market and this month highlights it to all users of Windows Mobile.
The Bing website advert introduces Bing for mobile as follows..
“Bing for mobile brings directions, interactive maps, traffic conditions, restaurant reviews, and even flight information to your fingertips! Ready to give it a try? Download it directly from your phone by visiting the Bing for mobile web site.”
When you visit the website you are presented with a single page of information.
The website highlights Bing for mobile using three specific headings
Get local
- Quickly find great local shops and restaurants, complete with ratings, reviews, hours, and directions.
- See movie show times and call to buy your ticket.
- Get the latest local weather forecasts.
- Shopping? Do a product search to see if you’re getting a fair price.
Map your way
- Get interactive maps with turn-by-turn driving directions.
- Help save time with maps that show current traffic conditions.
- On foot? Get point-to-point walking directions.2
Your mobile web
- Get quick, relevant answers to your questions about local listings, celebrities, and weather.
- Create a mobile dashboard with stocks, traffic, weather, and movies.
- Available for Windows Mobile, Sidekick, Blackberry/RIM and all other web-enabled phones.
- iPhone users: Get a version custom made for iPhones.
The big question is, will it out run Google and all the other providers who offer the same information ?
There are after all hundreds of local infomation websites in the UK alone, several different map services of which Google is probably one of the largest.
With so much attention now on the mobile marketplace, I think we’ll see plenty of investment by Micorsoft as they scramble to try and be the market leader.
With such a bad reputation amongst developers due to the problems with Internet Explorer that we have to deal with on a daily basis, can they win this race if the developers are using more app’s in their website and mobile projects from providers other than Microsoft ?
