Turn-by-turn navigation added to Bing Maps

[Deeko]

Fired up the Bing app on my HD2 today (to get news headlines actually) and it prompted me to update. In the list of new features was "turn by turn navigation". Intruiged, I downloaded and installed the update. First things first - the app's UI is definitely a lot cleaner than it was before. I'm at work so I haven't actually been able to test out the navigation yet...but when you search for a destination, it now gives you the option to either get directions or navigate (similar to the prompt you get on Google Maps in Android). Pretty cool.

Seeing as Windows Mobile isn't exactly lighting up the sales floor these days, probably not a huge deal right now...but the larget implication here, I'm sure if they're adding it to the 6.x app, it will be in the Windows Phone 7 app too. So it will likely be getting free turn-by-turn navigation. Perhaps not trumping Android, but matching a feature that iPhone and WebOS lacks.

Hey BB crew - there is a Bing mobile app for Blackberry. Wanna give it a look and see if you got it too?

 

[Deeko]

Found a link:

http://www.bing.com/community/blogs...05/10/updated-bing-app-for-windows-phone.aspx

 

[Phobic9]

Looks and sounds pretty nice. Would like to hear some impressions from when you actually try it out. From the comments though it seems like VZW isn't having this at all since it links to VZW Navigator instead. Ouch.

 

[hanoverphist]

not available for my omnia. are any of the phones listed winmo 6.1 phones? the bing download didnt have anything like the screenshots in that link

 

[rudeguy]

Does it have customizable voices? I really wish Gmaps had this...

 

[Pliablemoose]

Sweet, my N1 goes on eBay, that was the one thing I couldn't do without...

 

[Deeko]

Tried it out a little bit at lunch....

Pros:
-Pretty natural sounding voice for a text-to-speech system
-Accurate directions, finds route fast
-Updates route quickly if you're off track
-Ability to set fastest vs shortest, avoid traffic, avoid tolls

Cons:
-No 3D maps. Just a 2D map that keeps you centered (and points which direction you're going)
-Probably to go along with the previous note, an overlay comes up about 0.5 miles from a turn to tell you which direction to turn. Sometimes it goes away before the turn, sometimes it doesn't. It would be nice to disable that.

All in all, not bad for free. I would use this before paying for Telenav or Copilot, definitely. Having had a Droid, I can say its better than Google Maps navigation in some ways (voice, route options), worse in some ways (3D maps)

Does it have customizable voices? I really wish Gmaps had this...

Not that I've found, but the voice is a bit more natural & less robotic than the one in Android.

Looks and sounds pretty nice. Would like to hear some impressions from when you actually try it out. From the comments though it seems like VZW isn't having this at all since it links to VZW Navigator instead. Ouch.

Yea, sucks for VZW...but there's probably a cab on XDA. Funny that they don't care about hurting Telenav's feelings on T-Mobile, Sprint, or AT&T...

not available for my omnia. are any of the phones listed winmo 6.1 phones? the bing download didnt have anything like the screenshots in that link

Kind of a weird assortment of phones listed on that site of what's supported. Not sure how they came up with that. The HTC Touch Pro has not been upgraded to 6.5 that I know of. Again, though, I'll bet if you look on XDA its there somewhere.

 

[CTrain]

I just installed it.
Its freakin great.
One thing I don't like is the visual of the maps.
Its so much uglier than google maps.
Oh and you can't pinch and zoom unlike Google maps on the HD2.

 

[Binky]

I'd try an android version of this....if it existed.

Hey M$, if you're listening, publish this on android with offline routing capability. You'd instantly leapfrog googlenav/googlemaps if it doesn't suck.

 

[Deeko]

I'd try an android version of this....if it existed.

Hey M$, if you're listening, publish this on android with offline routing capability. You'd instantly leapfrog googlenav/googlemaps if it doesn't suck.

An interesting conundrum.

If they went multiplatform with it, they'd raise Bing awareness. Strengthens the Bing brand. However, by keeping it Windows Mobile exclusive, they're strengthening the Windows Mobile brand.

They do have a Bing app for Blackberry and Symbian, although it hasn't gotten this update yet - similar to how Google Maps is multiplatform, but the turn-by-turn navigation is only on Android.

 

[MJinZ]

Looks and sounds pretty nice. Would like to hear some impressions from when you actually try it out. From the comments though it seems like VZW isn't having this at all since it links to VZW Navigator instead. Ouch.

I have Google Navigation on my VZW Droid, so it makes no difference to me.