Palm Pre Touch Phone » Bing

Bing mobile search works great on webOS (video)

Robert Werlinger — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 20:13:21 +0000

It's been awhile since I've used Bing mobile search, primarily because of Google's integration into universal search. I fired Bing up earlier today after that long hiatus, and I have to say that I'm rather impressed with what Microsoft has done with the mobile implementation of its search engine.

It's clear that it isn't yet 100% optimized for webOS as the on-screen navigation buttons can sometimes obscure navigation links and the maps portion is somewhat broken, but there's still a lot to like. I enjoy the simpler results page in Bing - Google's has become rather bloated in my opinion, and I find myself rarely using most of the stuff they've added over the last few months - and I enjoy what I feel is a superior image search implementation, and the Local, Movies, and Weather sections all seem to be on par with Google's offering. I dig Bing, but I'm not 100% sure if I'm ready to make the switch. Yet.

Speaking of making the switch, adding Bing to Universal Search can be a bit of a challenge unless you're a Verizon Pre or Pixi user, in which case you got the ability to change your default search provider back when 1.4.1 hit. The rest of us have to add providers to Universal Search by way of Homebrew and patching (the patch enabling you to configure search providers in Universal Search is easily found in Preware).

Catch the video of Bing action after the break.

Universal Search – Homebrew add-ons

Adam Marks — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 23:39:01 +0000

As we discussed in prior tips, Universal search is an extremely powerful tool that lets you search for your Contacts, Applications, the web and Google Maps from anywhere on your phone and in a matter of seconds. For those Homebrewers out there, there are also a wide-range of patches that are available to further enhance Universal Search. After the break, we will dive into some of the more popular Universal Search patches that are available to you via webOS Quick Install or Preware.

Review: YPmobile

Derek Kessler — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 13:21:25 +0000

When Palm and AT&T are touting the coolness of YPmobile on the new AT&T Palm Pre Plus and Pixi Plus, we’ve came to realize that it’s the exact same app you can already find in the App Catalog. In fact, we’re disappointed in ourselves for skipping over the app so many times, simply because of the name that conjured up images of super-thick books full of phone numbers and really bad ads on thin yellow paper. The free YPmobile app for webOS couldn’t be further from the yellow-paged days of yore, and that’s a good thing.

webOS 1.4 Brings Bing to Verizon Pre and Pixi Phones

Robert Werlinger — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 16:23:57 +0000

Verizon Pre Plus and Pixi Plus owners are reporting that 1.4 brought with it (along with the already documented additions and enhancements) the ability to change the default Web search engine for the browser and for Universal Search. Once this option is changed in the Browser preferences menu, Google is replaced with the proper Bing logo in Universal Search. We've only been hearing these reports from Verizon users so far - inexplicitly, everyone else has Google as the only option in the default search engine field.

While the rest of us non-Verizon customers wait for the official ability to switch our default search providers, do keep in mind that there are a number of patches and tweaks available through Preware and webOS Quick Install that will allow you to modify what search providers are available through Universal Search.

Thanks to Alex for the tip!

Irony Alert: Pre featured in Bing’s new Visual Search

Derek Kessler — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 13:23:24 +0000

Yesterday Microsoft launched the latest expansion of their Bing search service, an image search system called Bing Visual Search. Unlike Google Image Search, where you have to know what you’re looking for, Bing Visual Search also presents you with pre-sorted options, like new cars or US politicians or cell phones. Each option comes with a tile depicting a typical result, like the BMW M3, President Barack Obama, or the Palm Pre. Wait, the Palm Pre is the cell phone icon on Microsoft’s new search engine? Wow. We’ve preserved the irony-laced screenshot after the break.

To be fair, it's entirely possible - likely, even - that these images are automatically generated by a mysterious and powerful algorithm, but if we're not ones to hold back from occasionally poking fun at our friends.

[via: Blorge.com]

Thanks to kyanite for the tip!