At the bottom of your Nokia Lumia 710, Nokia Lumia 800 and Nokia Lumia 900 you’ll find the search icon – represented by a magnifying glass. This opens up a large range of searching options and the Bing homepage that features a new interesting image every day.
Of course, the usual way to search is to type your keywords into the search bar. Alternatively, try using your voice to search for something. Press the microphone icon and say what you want to look for. Bing will use Microsoft Tellme to understand what you’ve just said and deliver you a list of results.
Normal web searching aside, the really interesting features of search is the ability to use the phone’s camera to interact with items around you.
Here’s a QR code. Have you scanned it?
Vision can scan 2D barcodes, QR codes, Microsoft Tags, book covers, CD covers and DVD covers. In reality, this means that if you’re in store and see a DVD that you want to buy, scan it first using vision. Within seconds you’ll see customer reviews and if you can find it cheaper anywhere else so you know if you’re being ripped-off, or not.
There’s also a handy scan text option in here, too. With this you can scan the text on a piece of paper and copy it into an email, or somewhere similar. You could also use this as a translation tool that turns the text that your camera is looking at into 30 different languages. This could prove very useful when travelling abroad where languages are often a communication barrier.
If there’s a tune playing in the background and you’d love to know the artist or track name, music search will listen to that song and provide you with the results. You can then download that song, or other songs on the same album right to your phone from Zune Marketplace.
If you’re searching for something local to you, local scout uses your GPS to find out where you are and provide you with lots of relevant information. From places to eat and drink, things to see and do or places to shop.
NEWS JUST IN [17 Feb]: We’ve learned today that Bing, in March, will introduce Image Matching for Newspapers. This means you’ll be able to find a digital version of a print magazine or newspaper article, just by selecting Bing Vision from your Nokia Lumia smartphone and aiming the camera at the article.
This will give you global access to content from over 3,000 publications.
These excellent features are all built-in by default on all Nokia Lumia smartphones, so there’s no need to download any additional apps.
Have you tried any of them out yet on your Nokia Lumia 710, Nokia Lumia 800 and Nokia Lumia 900? Let us know, in the comments section below.
