Too lazy to type? No problem, says Bing

LONDON - If you're too lazy, or busy, to manually enter a search query into a keyboard or even dial a number; Microsoft's new mobile Bing app have be the answer.

Bing has launched voice search
Bing has launched voice search

The newly-launched search engine has teamed up with Samsung in the US to launch a voice user interface that enables users to search the internet with Bing by speaking a search query.

The app also allows users to compose a text message and dial a contact by simply talking instead of typing. 

The innovation will be available on Samsung's 'Intrepid' phone, which hits US shelves on October 11, as part of Microsoft's new mobile operating system Windows 6.5.

The software giant claims it can take up to 20 strokes on the keyboard to search for a restaurant and more to compose a text message. A straightforward phone call can take six steps.

Microsoft said the new app is ideal for situations where a mobile phone user is laden with heavy shopping bags.

Dariusz Paczuski, senior director, mobile, at Microsoft, said: "We call these ‘multitasking scenarios' and they are more common than you think.  According to a recent study from Sanderson Studio, 40% of Smartphone usage occurs in multitasking scenarios where the user cannot offer their undivided attention to their phone."

Voice activated technology is already available in the UK - the Apple App store offers iPhone users a free Google search app, which records and types queries spoken into the device's speaker. However, the technology has not been extended to phone calls and texts on mobile phones.

Watch the video below for a demonstration of the Bing voice user interface:

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