World turned upside down: Apple and Microsoft may ink a partnership to fight Google
- TAGS:Apple, Bing, Google, iPhone, Microsoft
- IT TOPICS:Applications, E-Business, Internet, Macintosh, Operating Systems, Windows
If you have any doubt that we're living in an alternate universe, here are two pieces of evidence for you: Massachusetts has a Republican Senator, and Microsoft and Apple are in talks to form a strategic partnership to make Bing the default search engine for the iPhone.
BusinessWeek reports that Microsoft and Google have been in talks for weeks about Bing replacing Google as the iPhone's default search engine. There's even a chance that Bing will become the default search engine on Safari on the Mac.
This potential partnership is clearly based on the Arab proverb, "The enemy of my enemy is my friend." Microsoft for years has been locked in battle with Google, and with the release of Google's NexusOne, Google is taking on Apple as well.
This would be a very big deal for Microsoft, because currently it's not particularly easy to use Bing on the iPhone. BusinessWeek notes:
A deal between Apple and Microsoft may mean iPhone owners would automatically get Microsoft's Bing as the main search engine, possibly requiring users to actively change phone settings if they want to search via Google. Google is now the default search engine on the iPhone. To search via Bing, a user needs to download a Bing application or go through the browser to call up wwww.bing.com. Microsoft may also be lobbying to make Bing an alternative on Apple's Safari browser for Mac users. Currently, Mac users can choose either Google or Yahoo search through the Safari browser.
BusinessWeek adds, though, that any deal may only be a short-term marriage of convenience. It reports that Apple may be working on its own search engine:
The person familiar with Apple's thinking says Apple has a "skunk works" looking at a search offering of its own, and believes that "if Apple does do a search deal with Microsoft, it's about buying itself time." Given the importance of search and its tie to mobile advertising—and the iPhone maker's desire to slow Google—"Apple isn't going to outsource the future."
Free Insider Guide