China rooting for Microsoft? Gets Bing on Moto phones

With Google’s threatened move out of China, Motorola was prompted to seek an alternative provider for web search and maps for it’s Android phones. Motorola has found that alternative in Bing, the ever-increasingly popular search engine owned by Microsoft. Motorola Android users in China might have an easy time forgetting that Android is a Google product.

There was this gem in the press release announcing the “alliance”:

“Motorola, Inc. (NYSE: MOT) today announced a global alliance with Microsoft Corp. (NYSE: MSFT) to deploy Bing services on Motorola devices powered by Android. This new offering, launching in China on smartphones in Q1, will provide consumers a choice when using search and map functions on their Android-based devices.”

Did you catch the word “global”? Interesting. Could we see this alliance bud in other regions of the world? Google isn’t always the most popular kid on the block around the globe, but then neither is Microsoft. Could Microsoft have been at the right place at the right time?

We suspect this alliance was behind Motorola’s statement about the possibility of using Windows Phone 7 in an upcoming device announced last month. Motorola needed a Google search alternative and Microsoft could use some more manufacturers using it’s mobile OS.

All this sounds like a good move for Motorola, primed to be the alternative to the alternative.

Read [PR Newswire] via [Engadget]

Image credit: Engadget