Bing for Android Update Utilizes HTML5 [Video]
Video: Bing for Mobile Goes HTML5
While I’m not a huge fan of Bing, I felt the need to check it out after Microsoft spent some time highlighting the changes they’ve made to the experience. Their Android and iOS applications have been overhauled to make extensive use of HTML5 for several reasons.
Their aim is to create a unified experience for both platforms (and presumably more in the future, including their own Windows Phone 7) so that no matter which device you happen to be using the “Bing experience” will always remain the same.
HTML5 also gives them the ability to update their application and servers without the user needing to head to the Android market. We imagine the only time they’d need to issue an update is for a security patch, a bug fix or a new feature or two that ties into the OS.
The technology, HTML5, is great, but in this day and age I still prefer a native application. After using the new version of Bing, I could tell it wasn’t quite as “snappy” or “fluid” as some apps are when their UI elements are not being rendered in webview.
Even then, Bing’s new app was still friendly to touch and it’s exciting to see how HTML5 will help their service evolve in the near future. Find the application in the Android market here and check out the video highlighting all the new changes above or over at Microsoft’s site.