iPhone Atlas

(Credit: Microsoft)

Snigger as you will over Microsoft's decision to call Bing, its overhauled search engine, a "decision engine," but those giggles should dissolve when you start up Microsoft's brand-new Bing for iPhone (and iPod Touch). As a search app goes, Bing, which debuted Tuesday in the iTunes App Store, is the real thing.

The Bing app has a slew of expected features, including voice search, maps, directions, search suggestions, and location-awareness. That's no surprise. Besides these being features common to Bing.com and to the Bing application on other mobile platforms, they're also necessary to compete with Google Mobile App for iPhone.

Bing's stylish layout is a pleasant surprise, and one that adds up, screen by screen, to a cohesive search experience. Opening Bing, you see the image of the day as your background (this doesn't appear to be customizable,) with the search field and voice search button at the top of the app. A rounded, six-panel grid of buttons jumps you to Bing's image collection, movie listings, maps, directions, business look-up, and a news feed. A drop-down menu on the search bar lets you filter your searches in all those categories, save directions. The semitransparent navigation strip below has a Home button and back and forward arrows, plus a button to hide the button panel, and an icon that pops up settings to clear your search history, set your search filter, and so on.

Bing gives you directions for your car and for navigating on foot, but it doesn't yet include directions using public transit, as the Google Mobile App does. Bing, however, has a neat feature that lets you swipe a transparent ribbon to advance through each direction, which moves the satellite, hybrid, road, or shaded map along in turn. We like that tapping a search result on the map brings up a tag with ratings and with icons to call the business or launch into directions.

Another difference to keep in mind between Bing and its Google rival is that Bing smashes a map and search app into one, whereas Google's mapping program is also the iPhone's default map app. When you access maps from Google Mobile App, you'll wind up opening up the Maps app for the actual search.

The Bing app for iPhone still isn't complete. As far as we can tell so far, it lacks some of the extras of other mobile Bing apps, like the capability to lay down pushpins on the map and save locations, and the capability to view multiple locations on the map. The absent features in the iPhone app indicate the direction of Microsoft's plans for Bing's growth on iPhone.

While Bing's performance during our initial testing was good, individuals may notice fluctuations based on their data and Wi-Fi connections. There may be other areas where Bing might not match up: for instance, Google claims its iPhone app can detect British and Australian pronunciation in addition to U.S. and Canadian accents. Do our international friends notice parity with Bing's voice search?

Although Bing may not match every bell and whistle that Google Mobile App and Maps apps do combined, Bing 1.0 for iPhone does offer a viable alternative to Google's searching and mapping dominance.

On Apple's iPhone discussion boards, people are complaining about a bug in iPhone OS 3.1.2 that causes the iPhone to search for service at random times. According to the 3.1.2, Searching for Service thread on the forums, people are blaming the problem on the iPhone OS because users are seeing the same problem on AT&T in the U.S. and on Rogers Wireless and Telus in Canada.

According to the thread, there is no indication that the iPhone 3GS is affected, since so far the complaints focus on the iPhone 3G. Both new and replacement iPhone 3G units have suffered from the same problem.

The only fix for the problem so far is to reboot the iPhone.

Have you experienced this bug? What model iPhone were you using? Let us know in the comments.

Google made two significant enhancements to Google.com on mobile phones Wednesday.

The first, history sync, now makes it possible to carry over a record of your search queries when you switch between mobile and desktop versions of Google.com. Dubbed "Personalized Suggest," Google will now remember your searches and will add them into the list of search suggestions you see as you type into the search bar. The new feature saves you from browsing through your history to repeat a query.

Of course, you do have to be logged in to Google for this to work, and you've got to have Web History switched on. Enable it on a phone by selecting "save searches" in the Settings menu on Google.com. At launch, the feature is only available in the U.S. on Android, iPhone, and Palm WebOS phones.

Google Local on mobile.

(Credit: Google)

The second addition today similarly gets the mobile and desktop versions of Google.com talking to one another. Google has redesigned local search to make finding places of interest while on the mobile Google site much more finger-friendly. Click or tap "Local" on the mobile browser and you'll see a Start screen with categories you can browse to find restaurants and other businesses nearby, similar to what you can do on Google Maps. You'll need to have the My Location feature enabled.

There's also a category for viewing the points of interest that you starred as favorites on a Google Map. Starring essentially bookmarks the location's Google Place page. Bookmarking isn't anything new, but the browsable layout is relatively new to Google, which generally favors bare links to graphical enhancements. This treatment has the mobile Google site looking like a mobile hot-spot-finding app you might find in an on-phone app store. We have to say, it's a nice change.

The rejiggered Local Search kicks off in the U.S. and China, with support for more regions in the works.

Bing's Top iPhone Apps gallery offers a unique way to browse and search apps. But only 500 of them.

There's a new way to search for iPhone apps, and it comes from the unlikeliest of sources: Microsoft.

The new Bing Visual Search engine, announced yesterday, includes a special gallery section that spotlights iPhone apps.

The Silverlight-powered collection definitely lives up to its "visual search" name, relying solely on oversize application icons. When you mouse over one, its name appears in the search field with a brief description below: developer, price, category, rank, and release date.

A click of that same icon produces Bing's standard Web-search results. What you don't get anywhere is a link to the app's App Store page. That's kind of a bummer.

On the other hand, Bing's search filters are really cool. You can look at the full collection of apps (about 500 altogether), the top 10 freebies, the top 10 paid, the newest, the most expensive, and so on.

Within each of those views, you can sort the listings by popularity, price, release date, and name. (Say, Apple: Why can't iTunes do that?)

Meanwhile, Bing also lets you narrow the search by category, price, and even publisher. So, for example, if you want to quickly cull the photography apps from any given batch, just click Category and choose Photography from the fly-out menu.

Bing's presentation is very slick, with icons that drop out and fly around as you modify your search preferences. It's really a fun way to browse and search.

However, with just 500 apps on display, you're getting only a fraction of what's available in the App Store. Granted, these are the "top apps," not the whole library, but it's a little frustrating when you drill into the Business category and find only two items.

In any case, it's interesting to see Microsoft putting any kind of spotlight on the iPhone. And it would be more interesting still if this gallery ramped up to, say, 5,000 apps. Then it would be more than just a fun diversion; it would have some bona fide practical value.

How about it, Redmond?

(Credit: CNET)

I recently heard about a trick for iPhone 3GS owners who have the latest version of the Yelp app. Yelp, as you probably know, lets you search for restaurants or other services and read user-written ratings and reviews. I've noticed that the Yelp app particularly comes in handy when I'm on vacation: it lets me find out right away what the locals think about a particular restaurant without having to find out for myself. But a hidden feature in Yelp for iPhone 3GS owners has been revealed recently that adds a whole new dimension to Yelp ratings.

Make sure you download the latest version of Yelp (free) to try it out. Start up Yelp, then shake your iPhone a few times until a blue dialog box appears. This will unlock a button in the top right of the Yelp interface called The Monocle. Touch the button and you should be looking through your iPhone camera lens, but now you will be able to see restaurants, theaters, stores, and more with their ratings displayed on the actual location. This means that if you were in a busy area with restaurants and shops, you could look through The Monocle to get ratings for each place you're looking at in what they call augmented reality.

I had seen a demonstration of augmented reality on a jailbroken iPhone some time ago, but this is the first iPhone app in the iTunes Store to use augmented reality. Like I mentioned before, this will only work for those with the iPhone 3GS because The Monocle is using the compass (not available for iPhone 3G) along with GPS data to figure out which direction your pointing so it can display the correct reviews. If you get a chance, check it out and let me know what you think in the comments.

This week's apps include a useful tool to browse Craigslist and a fun new first-person shooter game.

Brief summaries and photos make searches more efficient.

(Credit: Screenshot by Jason Parker/CNET)

CraigsPro (99 cents) lets you browse Craigslist with numerous features for searching and viewing listings and even posting your own listings. If you need to do a quick search, use the search bar at the top of the interface to search all listings. But for more-refined searches, you can adjust several post-type specific attributes by going into the Options screen. CraigsPro has buttons across the bottom to store favorites, sort listings by category, and search listings by city (you can add or remove cities to widen or narrow your searches). There also is a post tab where you can choose the category, write your post, and immediately attach pictures from your iPhone camera or select images from your iPhone photo library.

In some ways, CraigsPro is better than browsing listings on the actual Web site. Search result lists show up with photos and the first few lines of each posting so it makes finding what you want much easier without having to open up each listing. The Favorites tab is especially useful when you're apartment hunting, for example, because you have all of your chosen locations handy on one page when you're out visiting apartments--no need to write anything down. Overall, if you want a better way to search or post to Craigslist on your iPhone, CraigsPro has plenty to offer, with several added features to make finding what you want easier.

The more you get hit, the more the screen turns red. Get to cover or take them out fast.

(Credit: Screenshot by Jason Parker/CNET)

Though the iPhone touch screen will never be as easy to use as a keyboard or console controller, Modern Combat: Sandstorm manages to make the controls fairly easy to use. Autoaim (found in the options) helped a lot to offset the less-than-optimal controls in the beginning, but after spending some time with the game I was able to turn it off for a more realistic experience. Along with the great gameplay, Modern Combat: Sandstorm has great audio, with explosive-sounding guns, and good voice acting in-game and during cut scenes. Overall, if you've been waiting for a good first-person shooter to come to the iPhone, Modern Combat: Sandstorm is an excellent choice with exciting gameplay, challenging missions, and a control scheme that's fairly easy to get used to.

What's your favorite iPhone app? Have you tried the augmented reality Easter egg in Yelp for iPhone 3GS? Have you used a better Craigslist app? Are you excited to see more complicated games like Modern Combat: Sandstorm on the iPhone? Let me know in the comments!

Yes, yes. "Arvale: Journey of Illusion" was exactly what I was looking for...

(Credit: Eric Franklin/CNET)

Ever had trouble finding a particular app at the iPhone App Store? Who hasn't? A couple weeks ago I spent like 10 minutes trying to find a game a friend had just shown me. That may have had more to do with me being intoxicated and less about the App Store's search functionality, though.

Still, things may be improving. According to AppleInsider, Apple is now asking iPhone developers to enter 255 comma-separated characters as keywords to iTunes Connect to be used for search in the App Store for the iPhone and iPod touch.

iTunes Connect is the application that developers use to upload and submit their iPhone and iPod Touch apps to Apple.

Definitely a welcome change, and it can only improve sales, so I'm sure most developers will be taking advantage of it. I would not be surprised to see some developers exploit this, though, by entering popular keywords for apps that are completely unrelated just for the chance of added exposure.

Spotlight search: Handy addition or forgotten feature?

Spotlight search, one of the high-profile features introduced with OS 3.0 last month, lets you search contacts, appointments, music, mail, and more without first loading their respective apps.

In other words, it's a time-saver. In theory.

Confession time: I haven't touched Spotlight once since installing OS 3.0 on my 3G. On a few occasions I've flicked past my apps and landed on the search screen, invariably prompting the same reaction: "Huh. Forgot that was there."

I have used Mail's new in-box search, which frequently proves invaluable. But Spotlight strikes me as a backward approach. Maybe it's me; I'm accustomed to running apps first and looking for data second. That's how I do things on the desktop, so it feels natural to do likewise on my iPhone. Old dog, old tricks.

What about you? Do you think Spotlight is the greatest addition since copy and paste, or does it sit, forgotten and unused, to the left of your apps? Cast your vote below!

We have been exploring iPhone OS 3.0 for nearly a month and continue to discover new features, so when we recently stumbled across a productivity boosting MobileMe news post about searching your MobileMe Mail on an iPhone or iPod Touch, we had to share.

According to Apple, iPhone OS 3.0 gives your iPhone and iPod Touch the ability to search messages stored on the MobileMe cloud (server). The process works like this:

• Select your in-box or another folder belonging to your MobileMe account.
• Flick scroll to the top of the screen to reveal the search field.
• Tap the status bar at the top to reveal the search field.
• Enter the text you want to search for (i.e. AT).
• Tap the From, To, Subject or all to search those particular areas

Search From field for AT
(Credit: David Martin)

The search will then reveal the messages that match locally on your iPhone or iPod Touch. If you then tap "Continue Search on Server," your iPhone will reveal any remaining messages stored in the MobileMe cloud.


No results found on MobileMe
(Credit: David Martin)

Have you discovered other interesting features in iPhone OS 3.0? Share your discoveries or your favorites with everyone by leaving a comment.

Google recently scored big points with improvements to its image search interface on the iPhone and iPod Touch.

Before last week, Google's image search on the iPhone platform left much to be desired. Now, the completely redesigned Web site presents you with a grid of 20 images, nicely laid out, with easy to view thumbnails--rather than just a few haphazard images.

Additionally, Google has added filters to image search, including: faces, clip art, line drawings, and photo content. The SafeSearch setting features three levels of content filtering: Strict, Moderate, and Off. (The search defaults to Moderate unless you specify otherwise.)