Recently, some users began experiencing a brand new Bing experience on their Windows Phone 8 devices. Now, Microsoft has officially announced a set of upgrades for the Bing Search experience in Windows Phone 8, making this a bit easier than before.
In the past, Windows Phone 8’s search results displayed four categories. You had Web, Local, Media, and Shopping. Microsoft has now condensed these categories to Web, Images, and Video. The Images category now displays larger image previews instead of the small grid we are so unfortunately used to seeing. Videos are now arranged in a two-column format.
Microsoft made this change to help consolidate and streamline the view to reduce confusion and help users find what they are looking for with ease. On top of that, Microsoft added more information to the first page of search results so the user doesn’t have to do much more work to find what they need.
“The update also brings richer results for popular websites. For example, say you search for “Delta Airlines.” Bing shows delta.com as the top result, but also provides links to Flight Status, SkyMiles, Track Flight, Flight Schedules, and other popular destinations within the site, saving some taps,” Microsoft explains.
The update features 10 Instant Answers, which provides traffic, flight status, exchange rates, word definitions, translations, and more. “For example, search for “Define Awesome” to get the dictionary definition right there on the search results page. Or “USD JPY” to find out how the US Dollar is doing against the Yen,” Microsoft explains.
While some users may already be experiecing this new upgrade, Microsoft is rolling out this ‘set of upgrades’ in the coming weeks. Additional markets will come soon after.
Further reading: Bing, Windows Phone
