Microsoft launches mobile Bing portal in China

Microsoft is ramping up promotion of its Bing search engine with the introduction of a new mobile portal targeting the massive Chinese market. The portal offers Chinese consumers mobile client downloads for Bing and Windows Live Messenger services as well as instructions on using additional Microsoft mobile services like Hotmail--according to the software giant, mobile subscribers can search Bing for local information such as maps, restaurant locations and weather forecasts. Microsoft "will continue to strengthen and expand the service scope of its mobile Internet products," the firm said in a statement.

PCWorld notes that while Bing now attracts about 9 percent of online searches in the U.S., Microsoft has done little to promote the service in China, where search is dominated by local giant Baidu. Google is a distant second.

For more on Bing's Chinese launch:
- read this PCWorld article

Related articles:
Microsoft launches Zune HD
Microsoft terminating Musiwave operator deals