After releasing an iPhone app for its Bing search engine last December, Microsoft announced an equivalent Android Bing app today for Verizon users.
But since Android is much more deeply integrated into Google's search and navigation offerings than the iPhone, the release of the Bing app honestly strikes me as curious. Who would actually use this thing? And is Microsoft doing anything with it to entice Android users to choose Bing over Google's myriad services?
At first glance, the answer to the last question would be a simple "no". The Android app is a dead ringer for its iPhone sibling: The main page features the Bing image of the day, and from there you have access to the app's various sections, like "Images", "Movies", and "Maps". Also like the iPhone app, the Bing image search is attractive and easy to use, and Microsoft has integrated voice search capabilities into pretty much every aspect of the app.
By bringing over the basic features of the Bing iPhone app to Android, Microsoft has managed to deliver a competent product. But, at least as it stands right now, there's little reason for an Android user ever to launch the Bing app. All of Google's search and navigation services are better, and it also has already integrated voice commands into the Android OS. The Bing Android app also appears to be missing some of the newer features of the iPhone app, including social search, and "visual scanning", Microsoft's take on the Google Goggles camera search feature.
Like Yahoo's simplistic Android search app, Microsoft most likely brought Bing to Android just to have a presence on Google's mobile platform. But aside from simply being on the Android Market, it doesn't seem like there's much it's going to accomplish with the app.
Microsoft is planning to bring the Bing app to other Android carriers later this year, according to TechFlash. It launched the app on Verizon first because of the carrier's existing mobile search deal with Bing.