Microsoft rolls out Bing mobile updates for IOS and Android users

SEARCH ENGINE OPERATOR Microsoft has revealed major updates to its Bing mobile website, though Windows Phone 7 (WP7) users will have wait to see the benefits.

Microsoft said that its updates to Bing for mobile phones include "better and faster" image search, real-time transit and directions and use HTML5 to do so. The only problem is, the version of Internet Explorer bundled with WP7 doesn't support HTML5, so only Android and IOS smartphones can use the latest version of Bing mobile.

With this overhaul, Microsoft is trying to make Bing a portal for smartphone users, providing not just search but directions, weather updates, shopping tips, movie information and an application search facility. While Google tries to offer many of these features with various applications, Microsoft has decided to put it all in one place.

Putting a lot of functions in one location isn't necessarily a bad thing, however Microsoft's decision to use HTML5, which should be commended, is something of an embarrassment for the firm and its WP7 operating system. After all, it would be reasonable to expect that the latest updates to Bing mobile would be available to users of Microsoft's own operating system. Instead, the best Bing experience can be had only on smartphones that are not running WP7.

The shortcomings of Microsoft's Internet Explorer web browser on WP7 were shown yesterday when Microsoft suggested that web developers should use an 'if statement' to load CSS files that ensure websites display correctly on WP7 devices.

Microsoft has said that it will be releasing Internet Explorer 9 for WP7 later this year. Until then it recommends that users shouldn't worry, as "these updates will work great at that time". µ