Apple Opening Up to Bing

[Paul Daniel Ash]

Apple and Microsoft are in talks to open access to Bing search in iPhone OS 4, sources supposedly "close to the matter" are saying. The negotiations - which had been widely rumored back in January of this year - apparently don't involve Bing completely supplanting Google as the search method on iPhone OS device, but rather as an additional option. The report comes amid a swirl of rumors surrounding Apple reaching out to its historic enemy Microsoft in its war against Google.

Reports in TechCrunch and the Wall Street Journal over the past 24 hours have given differing accounts of the matter under discussion. TechCrunch's Michael Arrington had initially reported that Apple intended to drop Google entirely and use Bing for iPhone OS search, saying that his "sources close to Google were freely reporting this as fact." The Wall Street Journal's Kara Swisher flatly contradicted this on her BoomTown blog, saying that the long-term talks were about making Bing "a prominent option on the iPhone and not as a replacement of Google" (emphasis in the original). Arrington later updated his post, reporting that his "new sources are saying 'It’s more complicated than this' and not to expect Google search to be removed from the iPhone."

Talks between Microsoft and Apple were first reported earlier this year, and the story at that time was that Apple was interested in changing entirely from Google to Bing. TechCrunch's Arrington had previously communicated his sources' reports about "informal discussions with Apple" where the manufacturer "expressed dismay at the number of core iPhone apps that are powered by Google," further stating that "Search, [M]aps, YouTube, and other key popular apps are powered by Google." The phrase "powered by" is somewhat loaded: the apps do make use of open APIs provided by Google, but as AppleInsider notes, those apps were all developed by Apple.

Including Bing as a user-configurable option would allow Apple to be more independent of Google moving forward. It would also offer benefits to Microsoft, which is trying to get broader acceptance of its search engine. Last year, a study showed that 86% of smartphone users searched with Google and only 11% used Bing. But this all could be a mere holding action: persistent reports have indicated that Apple has a "skunkworks" at One Infinite Loop developing its own search engine to directly compete with Google.

[HKiller9123]

i hope there still a google option, i really hate bing

1st.

[whereswaldo]

U should be able to change to google, u can change it from google to yahoo in 3.x

[Evilsaint]

I'll prefer it to be changeable like it's now wonder wat source of searc engine can apple produce.

[lolcats1]

apple and Microsoft working together? don't know if Microsoft really needs apple.

either way, this will be interesting to watch

[klouud]

I want Safari on iPhone to work more like Safari on OSX. I also would love to be able to search the net from Spotlight on iPhone.

I guess this new info means that we may not get the Android version of Google Maps for the iPhone...

[Eagleye]

I've gotten so used to Google and I really like it. Ive tried bing and its just not as good. If they give the option, I think thats GREAT! but if Bing is the ONLY option, thats really gonna blow...

[Janaz]

Bing is probably the worst search engine ever...

[Nickaroni22]

If Apple hates Google so much, they'll side the Microsoft. Wow! The market I think has shifted to mobile devices, and Apple and Google are at the top. I think Apple needs some allies, since Google and Adobe are enemies. So why not Microsoft? How many times in history has people turned to there enemies for help?

[SquareWheel]

If Apple hates Google so much, they'll side the Microsoft. Wow! The market I think has shifted to mobile devices, and Apple and Google are at the top. I think Apple needs some allies, since Google and Adobe are enemies. So why not Microsoft? How many times in history has people turned to there enemies for help?

The enemy of my enemy is my friend, after all.

[Nickaroni22]

Keep you friends close, and your enemies closer!

[soulthoughts]

You can use spotlight to search the net. It's called Universal Search.

[awesomeSlayer]

Great...I hope Google is an option.

[i.Annie]

Lol Bing. The Bing app crashes a lot :/

[chinmay007]

ohhh no. Nothing micro- soft on my iPhone please. I

[CMOSlabs]

Quick fix,
Google

[wolverinemarky]

i rather have google i dont like bing all that much

[Happy Noodle Boy]

Guys this is just for the default spot. Google Chrome has Google, Yahoo, and Bing as its search options you don't see people going mad about it. Google and Yahoo will continue to be options on the iPhone as well. That said, Bing is pretty awesome. Their maps are so much better than Google.

[AjBlue]

If Apple hates Google so much, they'll side the Microsoft. Wow! The market I think has shifted to mobile devices, and Apple and Google are at the top. I think Apple needs some allies, since Google and Adobe are enemies. So why not Microsoft? How many times in history has people turned to there enemies for help?

see, nowadays, you can't blow anyone away in computers easily, the technology kind of plateaued and it went from skips and jumps to just slow walking. so many companies formally in computer market had all these people not really doing anything so instead they used them into bringing the technology of the computer to small devices such as cellphones. you can't get much more amazing than having pretty much a full working computer inside of a small cellphone. lots of innovations possible in the mobile device market. computers? not so much.

[i.Annie]

Apple should look to Japan I saw this video a few years ago and this flip phone had a finger print scanner. I know we have laptopa that do that but wouldnt it be cool on a cell phone like the iphone

This flip phone could also store a credit card and you can use your cell phone as a credit card. Nifty uselss features lol.

I still love Apple though, Google or not :P