Redmond, Washington — In a novel move that challenges Google and Nokia — The Redmond software maker Microsoft on Tuesday unveiled that it is bringing new capabilities for its Bing app for Windows phones, including a redesigned home page and turn-by-turn navigation feature for driving directions that is powered by Microsoft’s Tellme unit, creating what the company calls an “amazingly lifelike voice experience.”
Microsoft has just delivered the latest release of its search app to its Bing search engine that has been updated for Windows Mobile 6.1 and above, and includes turn-by-turn driving directions with voice-guided navigation.
“Now when getting directions with Bing, you will see a new “Navigate” button. By selecting it, Bing will calculate your route, and guide you as you drive,” the company writes in a blog post. “You can select the fastest or shortest route, choose to avoid traffic and/or tolls, get a map or a list of directions, and see arrows and hear alerts to know which way to turn next.”
Now Windows 6.x phone owners can check for an update that is compatible with their smartphone or hit up their m.bing.com/download in your mobile browser to get the new features. Once you have downloaded the new version, simply install the app and you should see a new Navigate button, which will calculate your route and provide audio prompts as you head out on your journey.
Moreover to the voice-guided directions, the Bing home page has also been refurbished to give users faster access to common searches, such as movies and traffic.
This is for sure a great news for Windows Mobile phone owners, but a little disturbing for location-based services, such as TeleNav and VZ Navigator, which charge for such services. Also, regrettably, it seems like a vast majority of Verizon customers will miss out on the new app. The Bing Community blog states that only those on Sprint, T-Mobile, or AT&T with one of the following devices will be able to take advantage of the new features:
- HTC Fuze
- HTC Pure
- HTC HD2
- HTC Tilt 2
- HTC Touch Diamond 2
- HTC Touch HD
- HTC Touch Pro
- HTC Touch Pro 2
- Motorola Q9c
- Samsung Jack
- Samsung Omnia II
- Samsung Propel
- T-Mobile Dash 3G
Search Engine Land’s Greg Sterling want to know: “Will this feature come to the excellent Bing iPhone app?” According to Sterling: “Google has been holding back Navigation from the iPhone (my guess is to try and differentiate Android handsets).” In his opinion, “A free voice-guided navigation app as part of the Bing iPhone client would probably be widely used by iPhone owners and probably motivate Google quite quickly to bring out Navigation for the iPhone.”
Google on the whole dropped an a-bomb on the personal navigation device market when it rolled out free navigation on Google Maps, and Microsoft clearly needs to meet that standard if they want a competing edge against the search engine giant.
Watch the video after the jump!