Verizon's exclusivity on Bing for Android ends

What does Bing now have in common with Skype? It joins the list of apps that were once exclusive to mobile carrier Verizon, and now aren't.

Earlier today, Microsoft announced that its Bing search application is now available to all Android users through Google's Android market, a move that ends the exclusivity Verizon has had on it since the end of August.

The app is no different from the one that came before it, except that it no longer matters what carrier you're on. Android users who want to grab the app can just do a search for Bing, or scan the QR code below.

As Andy Chu, a member of Microsoft's Bing for Mobile team, explained in a blog post, this move is not the end of Verizon's Bing distribution. The carrier is pre-installing Microsoft's mobile search software on Samsung's Continuum and Motorola's Citrus phones in place of Google's own search, which can still be downloaded from the Android Marketplace by users.


Read more: http://news.cnet.com/8301-10805_3-20022607-75.html#ixzz151qfIW1p