Technology / Mobile phone
Bing to power search, map on Blackberry smartphones
05 May 2011 at 00:08hrs | Views
Microsoft announced on Tuesday that its Bing search engine will become the default search and mapping application on Blackberry phones.
BlackBerry commands a 14.8% share of worldwide smartphone sales, making it the fifth most popular device manufacturer after Nokia, Samsung, LG, and Apple. The consumer BlackBerry Internet Service is available in 91 countries worldwide on over 500 mobile service operators using various mobile technologies.
Microsoft Chief Executive Officer Steve Ballmer announced the partnership with Research in Motion (RIM), which makes Blackberry phones, at the Blackberry World Conference in Orlando, Florida, according to a Microsoft blog post.
Ballmer said Microsoft would invest uniquely in the Blackberry platform in addition to its own Windows Phone platform.
"Bing will be deeply integrated at the BlackBerry OS (operating system) level," Ballmer said.
Central to the collaboration, Blackberry devices will use Bing as the preferred search provider in the browser, and Bing will be the default search and map application for new devices presented to mobile operators, both in the United States and internationally, said Microsoft's Bing team in the blog post.
Meanwhile, Bing is also shipping as the default search experience and map application for the newly released Blackberry Playbook, a RIM tablet computer which made market debut on April 19.
On Tuesday's Blackberry conference, Ballmer called Google's Android ecosystem "chaos" and the Apple iOS "limited" before he hailed Windows Phone 7 and Blackberry. Microsoft and RIM are both competing with Apple, which makes the iPhone and iPad, and Google, which makes the Android operating system for smartphones and tablets in the booming mobile device market.
BlackBerry commands a 14.8% share of worldwide smartphone sales, making it the fifth most popular device manufacturer after Nokia, Samsung, LG, and Apple. The consumer BlackBerry Internet Service is available in 91 countries worldwide on over 500 mobile service operators using various mobile technologies.
Microsoft Chief Executive Officer Steve Ballmer announced the partnership with Research in Motion (RIM), which makes Blackberry phones, at the Blackberry World Conference in Orlando, Florida, according to a Microsoft blog post.
Ballmer said Microsoft would invest uniquely in the Blackberry platform in addition to its own Windows Phone platform.
Central to the collaboration, Blackberry devices will use Bing as the preferred search provider in the browser, and Bing will be the default search and map application for new devices presented to mobile operators, both in the United States and internationally, said Microsoft's Bing team in the blog post.
Meanwhile, Bing is also shipping as the default search experience and map application for the newly released Blackberry Playbook, a RIM tablet computer which made market debut on April 19.
On Tuesday's Blackberry conference, Ballmer called Google's Android ecosystem "chaos" and the Apple iOS "limited" before he hailed Windows Phone 7 and Blackberry. Microsoft and RIM are both competing with Apple, which makes the iPhone and iPad, and Google, which makes the Android operating system for smartphones and tablets in the booming mobile device market.
Source - Xinhua
