IDG Contributor Network: Microsoft tries to make the Bing app for iOS and Android much more useful

What do people even use their smartphones for these days?

There’s the obvious -- making calls, texting, finding an Uber, and thumbing through Facebook feeds. After those activities, we almost always turn to search functions. Rather laboriously, we tap a movie theater name and city or we try to look up gas prices. It’s a portal to what is around us in the moment, but it’s cumbersome because we have to type so much text.

Just this week, Microsoft made a valiant attempt to improve how search works on your mobile by cutting out a few extra steps. A good example of this is related to food. On a smartphone, if you are not using it to text and call, you are likely trying to find a place to eat. In the new version, there is now a tab called Deals, which pops up coupons for places like Subway and Domino’s. It also shows deals for haircut places, Red Box, and even a truck rental. It removes some of the frustration.

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