BlackBerry going Bing
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer made a surprise appearance at BlackBerry World on Tuesday, announcing what appears to be a ‘deep’ partnership between Microsoft and BlackBerry maker Research in Motion (RIM).
This is an interesting move by Microsoft who not only have their own platform in Windows Phone, but also recently announced a partnership with phone giant Nokia.
Ballmer announced that Microsoft’s Bing search and maps services would become the default across all BlackBerry devices, as it already is on the PlayBook.
“Effective today Bing will become the preferred search and maps application for BlackBerry,” Ballmer said.
This won’t just be a superficial ‘setting-level thing’ either, according to Ballmer. “Bing will be deeply integrated on the BlackBerry operating system level,” he said.
Demonstrating some of the features Microsoft have planned for BlackBerry devices, Blaise Aguera y Arcas, distinguished engineer for Bing at Microsoft, showed how they envision Bing services being available from the main screen of a BlackBerry device.
Aguera showed how Microsoft believes search is more than just results on a page, and rather about completing a task. After searching for a restaurant, for instance, you should be offered the option of booking a table.
Microsoft also showed off a daily deals service which has become an increasingly competitive space.
This won’t be the last we’ll see of Microsoft in BlackBerry’s plans, however. “We’ll be back,” Ballmer promised RIM co-CEO Mike Lazaridis as he exited the stage.
BlackBerry going Bing << Comments and views
Jan Vermeulen is a guest of RIM South Africa at BlackBerry World. Follow Jan (@exxor) and/or MyBroadband (@mybroadband) for live updates from the event (Wi-Fi permitting).
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