Gotta Bing, Gotta Bing!
loricunningham
I'm always looking for new ways to utilize my Tilt2 smartphone. The LosetheLaptop.com contest has been great because it helps me to focus on new ways to make my Tilt2 phone indispensable. And had I not been in this contest, I would only be utilizing a fraction of my phone's potential.
When I was at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) back in January, I spent a great deal of time in the Microsoft booth. One of the areas of technology they were promoting was BING, Microsoft's answer to Google. I was very impressed with some of the things you could do with BING. So last week when I saw that I could get a mobile version free from the Microsoft Windows Mobile Store, I downloaded it.
Fortunately, a week later I was going on a road trip to Las Vegas with my husband and some friends. A perfect time to check out BING - four hours of desert driving - what else would I do? I loaded up my BING app and checked out their Directions area. I found that BING offers directions and navigation, with optional voice instruction. You can allow BING to locate where you are so when inputting directions, you only need to enter the "end" location. BING also provides free traffic conditions and automatically avoids poor traffic areas if you select that option.
I spoke the destination, "Las Vegas" into BING and botta BING, botta BING, it showed me that we had 2 1/2 hours left until we arrived at our destination. As we traveled, I had an up-to-date status as to how many miles and hours it would take for us to arrive. It was like traveling on an airplane and looking at the screen to see how much longer until you land. What a great tool for a backseat driver!
I used voice option that allows you to speak your destination into your phone. The BING voice recognition is pretty accurate - as long as there isn't a lot of background noise. This is a great feature - it allows you to point-to-point directions while on the run - you don't need to pull over to type in the address.
And it gets better. You have the option to get directions for driving or for walking. This feature is great - epsecially when you're traveling. Say you want to go to a restaurant and it's somewhat close to your hotel. Just put the address in BING and choose the Walk option and you receive the distance and directions or a map view of how to get there.
BING is completely free - there is no software or subscription fees for the GPS, navigation, or traffic updates. BING has other great features too like search for local stores or restaurants - complete with ratings, directions, and phone numbers, local movie showtimes, weather updates, etc. I still need to check them out. I will get back to you if I find some other neat nuggets. In the meantime, download BING for yourself - you've just gotta BING!
In my next article, I will feature how I used Google's free 411 text messaging service while driving the streets of Las Vegas to find a well-known pawn shop.
Lori writes about making technology simple for busy moms and can be found at WellConnectedMom.com. She also writes about technology for the home at theWellConnectedHome.com. Follow Lori on Twitter @wellconnectdmom and @wellconnctdhome.
July 20, 9:45 am