Microsoft's Bing Android App now available -- if you're on Verizon

Bing for Android

Microsoft unveiled its Bing search app for Android today. But if you want to get in on the action, you're going to have to have a Verizon phone, as it's exclusive to the carrier's section of the Android Market. (Place your bets  on how quickly it leaks out, though.)

The app features a daily featured image, just like Bing on the desktop. And you can swipe through seven days' worth of images. There's an endless scrolling search, and you can swipe through image previews straight to the host site. Microsoft's own voice search works with Android's speech-to-text function, and you can use Bing Maps to find your way around, too.

Is the app a threat to Google's native services on Android? We'll have to see, though it's doubtful, just because of the integration factor. and then there's the issue of it only being available on Verizon, for now, anyway. [Bing]

Phil Nickinson