14 DAY TRIAL // On Friday, Redmond-based software giant Microsoft officially announced the availability of an updated flavors of its Bing applications for Windows Phone 8.1 devices, providing users with some appealing new features.
According to Microsoft, the app iterations are already available for download through its official storefront, and will also be loaded by default on new Windows Phone handsets.
However, as mentioned above, the updates are available only for Windows Phone 8.1 devices at the moment. This makes perfect sense, since the company is getting ready to upgrade all Windows Phone 8 handsets out there to the new platform version.
“The app updates are available only to users on Windows Phone 8.1 which is currently in developer preview. It will be available to existing users running compatible hardware and on the next wave of Windows Phone devices in the coming months,” a post on Microsoft’s Bing Blog reads.
The main enhancement included in this broad set of updates is a Single Sign On feature, which is one of the most requested improvements for them.
“Based on your feedback, we have made it less cumbersome to log-in and personalize your apps. Now you can enter your Microsoft credentials once, and choose to connect to each Bing App,” the company explains.
However, there are also a series of specific enhancements that many of the mobile applications have received. For example, The Bing Food & Drink app has received three new features as part of the update, and Bing Travel and Bing News offer new functionality as well.
Following the update, the Bing Food & Drink app will provide users with easy access to cooking videos, an enhancement added to the software in partnership with world’s leading online cooking school, Rouxbe Cooking School.
Moreover, the app will offer users insights, recipes and culinary tips coming from world-renowned chefs including Tom Colicchio, Wolfgang Puck, Daniel Boulud, Jacques Pepin, Joel Robuchon, Marcus Samuelsson, and Vikas Khanna.
Additionally, the app sports a Source Hub, which enables users to select a source for their favorite recipes and articles, from top culinary publishers like AllRecipes, Epicurious, Saveur and food bloggers like Food 52.
The new flavor of the Bing Travel application will provide users with the possibility to easily track your flight arrival and destination time, courtesy of real-time data feeds.
Additionally, the Bing News application will allow users access to health, politics, sports, business (and more) posts from the New York Times Blogs. A warning on offensive language or objectionable content in articles coming from select content partners has been added to the new release as well.