14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft has just announced the immediate availability of a new feature for Indian Windows Phone users, Bing Venue Maps. During a press event for the Indian media, where the Redmond-based company demoed some of its services, Microsoft announced the launch of Office 365 Personal for individual users.
Microsoft wishes to tap into the Indian market with its wide range of consumer services and Bing is one of the major features used in India by Windows Phone handset owners. The addition of new features for the location service makes sense, which is why we expect Bing to get even better in India.
Here is what Chakrapani Gollapali, country general manager, Consumer Channels Group, had to say about the launch of the new services in India, “today’s consumers are seeking a more optimized experience across their phone, tablet and PC and the combined power of Microsoft devices and services provides the best experience they can have today across all these.
We at Microsoft are working hard to deliver unmatched immersive experiences to the next 25 million consumers, powered by our first and third-party devices and our capabilities in the consumer cloud space.”
With Windows Phone platform on the rise, now is a good time for Microsoft to bring new services that would complement its mobile platform. The addition of Venue Maps in Bing services makes perfect sense in light of the new changes on the Indian market.
Thanks to the new feature, Windows Phone users in India will be able to easily navigate malls across the country via Bing. Microsoft points out that the service can now display interior and exterior maps as a layer on top of Bing Maps, complete with store names and precise location data.
The Redmond-based company has also confirmed that Bing Venue Maps now covers around 120 malls and 3 airports (Bengaluru, Mumbai and Delhi).
But this is not all, as developers claim that additional features have been added to Bing Search on Windows Phone handsets, so users searching for local destinations on their devices will automatically be provided with directions on how to reach a certain point, with an option for audio drive directions.
As WMPoweruser points out, this is the second major update that the location services in India provided by either Nokia or Microsoft receive over the last year.
Back in June, the HERE Maps application for Windows Phone devices got the indoor mapping data for a handful of Indian cities.