Microsoft is always looking to take its latest search engine to the next level. They have been working hard on promoting the Bing platform of products at nearly every chance they get and today have announced they will be incorporating Bing into BBOS.
Steve Ballmer took the stage at BlackBerry World 2011 and announced that Bing will be the default search provider on all Blackberry devices and that Bing Maps will also be the default map service too. It should be noted that RIM did have its own branded map service but it was lagging far behind the competition.
BBOS will benefit from Microsoft's Bing platform by having Bing voice searches, street-level maps and panoramic photo stitching. This small, but important upgrade, will benefit both RIM and Microsoft. Microsoft will gain marketshare for its Bing related products, and RIM will get a shot in the arm of features that the platform desperately needs.
This shift for Blackberry is important to help it stay relevant and combat Google and Apple. Microsoft has its own platform, WP7, but compared to Android and iOS, they both feel as if they are the underdogs. Yes, RIM does have a massive footprint in the corporate world, but as of late, their marketshare has been falling, and hopefully with the help from Bing, RIM can help maintain its relevance.
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