available today, according to the Google Mobile team. “Just search the Marketplace for ‘Google Search,’ download, pin to Start, and the power of Google Search is only a click away.”

“Search, download, pin to Start” — doesn’t that seem a little complicated just to load a search engine on your phone?

A distinguishing feature of Windows Phone 7 handsets is their three dedicated hardware buttons. The Windows logo goes home, the left-arrow button goes back, and the magnifying-glass “search” button opens up Microsoft’s search engine, Bing.

That button is permanently tied to Bing. There appears to be no way to change it. (An anti-trust violation? Not likely, unless WP7 corners the smartphone market.)

On the iPhone or Blackberry, or nearly every web browser on the desktop (with Google’s Chrome a notable exception), you can pick your default search engine. You can’t do that with Windows Phone 7. On the Microsoft smartphone, you get Microsoft search.

Now, Bing has a lot going for it; it works very well on WP7, and I think Microsoft is onto something by putting search front-and-center on smartphones. The hardware button is usefully contextual, too: If you’re in the Marketplace, it searches the Marketplace; if you’re in Outlook, it searches your inbox, etc. That’s handy, and exactly the kind of behavior you’d hope for.

But that doesn’t change the fact that hardwiring Bing makes Windows Phone 7 much more closed than most other smartphone platforms.

Considering the close ties between internet search, ad revenue and content-sharing with partners like Facebook, the fact that Microsoft is driving nearly all of its mobile search through Bing is no accident.

It’s a feature, but it’s also a problem.

See Also:

• Why Windows Phone 7 Will Make Android Look Chaotic
• Microsoft Announces First Windows Phone 7 Handsets
• Windows Phone 7 Hands-On With LG Quantum, Samsung Focus, HTC …
• Windows Phone 7 Is the Real Facebook Phone
• Samsung's Windows Phone 7 Packs Intuitive, Visual Punch
• Microsoft Blends Zune Media, Xbox Live Into New Phone OS
• Curious Ask: “Will Windows Phone 7 Have Apps For That?”
• Bing Friends Facebook
• Microsoft Adds OpenStreetMap Layer to Bing Maps
• Bing Will Add Video, Animation to Homepage
• Firefox 4 Adds Bing to List of Search Engines

Authors: Tim Carmody

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