14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft's Bing search engine has been around for a little while, yet the Redmond software company is already working hard on advertising the performance of its engine. Although most of the work has been aimed at the solution for PCs, it seems that some troupe movement in the mobile phone area has been spotted as well.
As many of you might already know, the company signed an exclusive five-year deal with mobile phone carrier Verizon Wireless, and we learn that Bing for mobile phones has been rolled out with the operator. The deal between the two was aimed at providing search and advertising services on handsets, and the Redmond company is using the opportunity to promote its new search engine as well.
While the rest of the wireless market in the US seems to be under Google and Yahoo's domination, Verizon subscribers are currently accessing Bing through the carrier's portal page. In addition, it seems that high-end browsers available with Verizon's handsets, like Opera, include the solution as their default engine, at least this is what Microsoft says.
At the same time, the software giant also adds that Bing “will be preloaded on the majority of Verizon feature and smartphones” later this year. According to Bloomberg, Microsoft’s GM for mobile media Charles Johnson stated recently that the company had to handle 19 million queries during the first 20 days as Verizon's default search engine, which would be 10 to 15 times the previous rate.
The software giant has made great advancements with its Bing engine in the mobile area, and while a mobile application is coming to users of its Windows Mobile operating system, any handset can access the mobile version of the search solution. Mobile browsers available with iPhone and Android phones can also access it, though no word on applications for the platforms has been said. At the same time, the apps for Blackberry and Sidekick will be re-branded to Bing in the near future.