Bing Offers Free Turn-By-Turn Navigation on Windows Mobile Phones

May 13, 2010 By Jonathan Ping 9 Comments
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This only helps a few people so far, but I know there are a lot of Sprint SERO users like myself who are still using Windows Mobile phones. Microsoft’s Bing Mobile application now offers free turn-by-turn navigation on WinMo 6.x OS, similar to Google Maps on Android OS. If you don’t have GPS, it uses cell phone triangulation. Sprint, AT&T, and T-mobile look to be covered, but on Verizon phones it is disabled due to VZ Navigator. See the full list of compatible phones here.

The second feature is turn-by-turn navigation for Windows 6.x phones, powered by Bing Maps. We took advantage of the Microsoft Tellme team’s expertise in voice applications to deliver an amazingly lifelike voice experience for the turn-by-turn navigation. If you have a Windows phones on Sprint, T-Mobile, or AT&T you can use the voice guided navigation.

I took it for a test run today on my Sprint Touch Pro2, and it worked well overall. The phone tells you to turn shortly before reaching an intersection. Bing did seem to have more trouble locating my position initially than Google Maps. Also, I have a screensaver-like app that shuts off the navigation sounds after 30 seconds of inactivity, which I need to figure out how to disable.

Still, can’t complain about free! It appears to only be a matter of time before similar navigation is free to anyone with a data plan.

Filed Under: Deals & Offers, Frugal Living
Last updated: April 10, 2013
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Comments

  1. MattG says
    May 13, 2010 at 8:51 am

    Thanks Jonathan… I like this little app. Seems to work well. By the way, did you do the WinMo 6.5 upgrade?

    Reply
  2. Vern says
    May 13, 2010 at 9:22 am

    I’m interested to know how much people who read this blog spend each month on phone and internet services. I have high speed internet at home, OOMA for home phone, and a minimum basic family cell plan. All that, with taxes, is costing me about $130/month. Don’t know about the rest of you, but that’s a lot for me to stomach each month, so I can’t even think about a data plan.

    Reply
  3. Jonathan says
    May 13, 2010 at 11:41 am

    I spend $30 monthly on a phone with 500 minutes and unlimited text and data. So does my spouse. High speed internet is $30 if on promo every 6 months or so, or about $50 if not. I have Ooma Hub for home phone as well, so $0 per month after $160 upfront.

    I’ve thought about going prepaid for cellular, but I do admit a data plan will be hard to give up if I get used to all these goodies (google maps, e-mail, WiFi tethering for laptop…)

    Reply
  4. Jonathan says
    May 13, 2010 at 11:43 am

    @MattG – I haven’t upgraded to 6.5 yet, although I downloaded it. I should, but I’ve been pretty busy and I’d rather be sure my phone works than risk messing things up with an bad upgrade!

    Reply
  5. Richard says
    May 13, 2010 at 12:13 pm

    How do you get “500 minutes and unlimited text and data” for 30$. Where can I get that. Thats the ideal package that I want, but with data, its always 50$+. May be I missed some deal or didn’t negotiate enough. Pls let me know the plan, I will call and see. I am with T-Mobile, but the contract will end soon.

    Reply
  6. MattG says
    May 13, 2010 at 1:22 pm

    @Vern: I too have the old SERO F&F 500 plan at $30 a month less 15% discount for mobile, home cable and internet (16mbs) bundled together for $70.

    @Jonathan: 6.5 is worth it… no problems at all… smooth transition and a much better interface.

    @Richard: The plan J mentions is the old Sprint SERO pan that is no longer available (although it may be possible to buy someone’s old contract).

    Reply
  7. MattG says
    May 13, 2010 at 10:50 pm

    @Jonathan: I just found a .cab file that installs Pandora on the TP2 that works great. Let me know if you want me to email it to you.

    Reply
  8. Joshua Katt says
    May 15, 2010 at 4:30 pm

    Thanks ! I am a big fan of the Google app for when I didn’t want to drag out the GPS. I just got a HTC Touch Pro2 on VERIZON service and the GPS appears to work OK with the built in GPS as the Google app does. Not sure if this is universal or my company cut a deal with Verizon but it doesn’t hurt to try.

    Reply
  9. Melissa says
    May 18, 2010 at 11:09 am

    @Richard – I also have the $30 sero plan that I bought off ebay for $100. I’m picking up my tp2 today after complaining about my tp. The bing navigation works amazingly well on my TP. Hoping it will work just as well on my tp2.
    @MattG – I’d love the pandora cab file if you wouldn’t mind emailing too me…. melissalbatgmaildotcom thanks!

    Reply

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