Will Bing in Mango have Picture and Shazam-like music search?

April 23, 2011 | By Surur

imagesearch Besides Search Extras we have not heard much about what’s new in Bing in the next version of Windows Phone 7.

However eagle-eyed reader Yonas managed to catch this video by Ars Technica which was meant to show Search Extras, but which also reveal the presence of 3 new icons on the normally taskbar-less Bing home page.

The microphone is pretty easy to decipher – clearly like now this is for voice search.

The other two icons are a bit more enigmatic. My personal theory is that the eye icon is for a Google Goggles-like camera-based search, where a user could search just by taking a photo of something. The second one, the music note, may be a Shazam-like music search based on microphone input.

Do our readers have any better suggestions? Let us know below.

Thanks Yonas for the tip.

Update: LiveSide notes Microsoft does have an image search feature called Bing Vision (on the iPhone of course) which would fit the bill and is of course ripe for coming to Windows Phone 7.

See a video demo (around the 3 min mark) after the break.

About Surur

Site Admin and Windows Phone enthusiast, he has been using Windows Mobile devices since before they were called PocketPC’s. He is currently sporting a HTC 7 Trophy.

Tagged bing, bing vision, windows phone 7

FremyCompany

Nice catch.
Lennard

This is interesting to say the least.looking forward to what's new. I think I'm going to be getting a different WP7 phone when mango comes out. i feel as though i will have to wait for nokia's 2nd iteration because their rush to market can't yield any good designed hardware (hoping I'm wrong tho). Mango is looking sweeter and sweeter everytime i see all its different features come up.

Sent from my Windows Phone 7
aluthgedara

the other two icons, eye and mic, is method of input. i would assume it would an input method or output, narrator.
http://twitter.com/WaterEarthFire @WaterEarthFire

Google Goggles (Picture) and Shazam (Music) searches built into Bing on WP7 is pretty sweet.
http://www.facebook.com/MichaelJacob Mj Dijamco

any word on universal search and/or access of third party apps on the search button? It kinda seems to me that the search button is a wasted button on every third party apps, which for example on the office, I would love to search docs using the search button, and it should be naturally implemented that way.
Rahel Kareem

I think the music search takes the user to shazam app if installed otherwise its gonna take you to the marketplace to install it

ojojoj

seriously doubt that. why would they do that?

Oyster

These are OK – WE NEED turn-by-turn navigation. Voice navigation should have been implemented like yesterday.
Pedro

Maybe, But at this stage:
- Still no Image search in Bing
- Still no Video search in Bing
- Still no local search in Bing for European customers
- Bing Map, that sucks for European customers.

So Microsoft should rather work on the above and improve what is NOT working.

Shazam works perfectly. Thanks. Why would I need another program?

ojojoj

u dont see image search in the vid?

Pedro

Yes, but the question is:
Do we need to wait more than one year to get Bing searching for images ???

After WP7 launch Google released the Google Search app for WP7, which includes image search.
Microsoft and Bing = more than 1 year to implement this feature
Google = 1 month only.

ojojoj

that google app isnt an app, its a frame for their website. youre a joke. you can go to bing.com and get the same effect in ie

yonas

Image search at least is coming in mango, and I have hope they do st about the maps here in Europe using Nokia technology.
Oh and you can enable local search by setting your phones region to US, works everywhere.

http://twitter.com/MistaWet @MistaWet

The more I see Mango, the more I realize MS is more concerned about the quality of the app experience than having the most apps. I don't know what's more exciting, the apps themselves or how they work and look in the OS.

jabtano

That is why WP7 down the road is going to capture more of the market. In fact it's the sleeper thats soon going to be waking up.

I can't wait to get a Nokia running Mango.