Bing: Don't Like New Version; Won't Let Me Use Old One
 

Verizon HTC Touch Pro 2, Stock ROM 6.1.

I generally use Garmin Mobile XT for navigation, and Google for general search, but really liked Bing for Movies, and occasionally Gas Prices.

I went to do a quick Movie check, and it basically said I had to upgrade in order to continue using Bing. So I allowed it to upgrade me to "Bing for Verizon." During this process:

Got a message along the lines of asking me to let it stop Outlook in order to proceed (??). I said ok. It completed installation, and started up. Unfortunately, it couldn't detect a GPS connection. I fired up Google Maps, and it had no problem. I soft reset and tried again, but no luck. Tried COM4, as well as the default 'intermediate' driver, but neither would allow a connection. (This version was 5.1.2010.xxxx)

I uninstalled the "Bing for Verizon" and downloaded and installed directly from m.bing.com/download. This time I was able to use GPS without problem.

But the interface, for my purposes, is terrible, and much worse than the prior version. Previously I could hit the movie button, it would show a variety of theaters in my location, and I could switch back and forth between movies at that location, the list of theaters, check reviews, etc. Very slick.

Now, when I hit the Movies button, it brings up a short list of Movies, rather than theaters. And when I go to the theater list, it brings up a theater about 7 miles away, apparently oblivious of the one right in my home town (!!!).](*,)

So, I uninstalled that one, found a .cab for an older version, and tried that out. Unfortunately, when I try to run it, it once again leaves me no choice but to go to upgrade, and I am unable to even use the older version.

Yet another genius move on Microsoft's part, forcing the use of a newer program despite my preferring the older version, with the functionality of the newer version (for my purposes at least) dramatically inferior.

Does anybody know of a way to work around this, and allow the continued use of the older Bing application? Or some way to configure the newer version to work with the same functionality as the old one?:scratch:

Re: Bing: Don't Like New Version; Won't Let Me Use Old One
 

Damn that's crazy, the new Bing blows the old one out of the water for me...

Re: Bing: Don't Like New Version; Won't Let Me Use Old One
 

The new "Bing for VZW" is a total farce. It's forced on you, no choice. In my case it happened in the middle of a busy day where I was relying on Live Search to find my way around. Erases all your old saved locations/destinations, then blows up after a few minutes - keeps reporting over and over again that a "New Update" is available. I installed, removed, reinstalled 6 times, installed on both main device memory and storage card. In the few minutes when it was working, I noticed that the location icon is now smaller, harder to see and has no arrowhead to indicate direction. Also the program exit "X" in upper right corner is now missing - Am I now expected to leave this power hog running continuously? Also the old Bing allowed me to point at a location on the map, mark it, save it, and name it to use as a destination in the future. Can't find this function on the new, improved Bing. If it's there it's no longer the least bit intuitive.

So, it's buggy, it's rude, has a bad interface and generally s*u*c*k*s.

Oh, all this took place on my HTC Touch Pro2 (Verizon).

I do need navigation in Tijuana, which the old Bing excelled at. The new "Bing for VZW" won't stay running for more than a few blocks.

Anybody know a good third party GPS app that covers Tijuana? (Google Maps does not cover Mexico.)

Re: Bing: Don't Like New Version; Won't Let Me Use Old One
 

That's weird since Bing for Sprint is working 110% for me... Went on a 3 hour cruise today and used Bing the whole time...

Re: Bing: Don't Like New Version; Won't Let Me Use Old One
 

I like Bing, but I haven't actually used it for its turn by turn nav which is why I'm using it in the first place. Do you know if it's accurate or how fast it can relocate you?

Re: Bing: Don't Like New Version; Won't Let Me Use Old One
 

works great for me, gps locks instantaneously...

Re: Bing: Don't Like New Version; Won't Let Me Use Old One
 

Thanks for the replies. I'm glad it works well for some, and that their particular uses are served by the new version. But getting back to my original questions:

1. Is there some way to get the newer version to function more like the old in terms of Movie Theater and Movie searches? As I said initially, this is about the only reason I used Bing in the past. I have Garmin Mobile XT for actual navigation.

2. Is there some way to get the older version to run, without the "required" update?

Thanks.

Re: Bing: Don't Like New Version; Won't Let Me Use Old One
 

I have a stock TP2 on sprint and had stayed with the Live! app which was forced to upgrade last night as you describe. I re-installed the original cab and was again asked to update with no option to continue.

It looks like you either use the latest Bing or nothing.

So sad. In my case it will be nothing for now.

Re: Bing: Don't Like New Version; Won't Let Me Use Old One
 

i have no issues with movies on the latest bing. u press the movies button and it then lists all the movies that are playing and then u select the movie u want to see where it then gives the closest theaters where its playing at followed by its times. what exactly is the problem?

Re: Bing: Don't Like New Version; Won't Let Me Use Old One
 

For whatever reason, the database it seems to use now completely leaves out the movie theater in my home town. So it doesn't even show up as an option.

With the prior version, it showed my town's theater, and a half-dozen or more in surrounding towns. Now, it shows only a single of out of town theater.

When I do the initial search for Movies from the Home Screen, it shows a total of 5 movies! I have to hit the "Back" button to see the Theaters, and then it shows only one theater, which is 7 miles away.

If I then click on that Theater, it doesn't show what movies are playing there, and there doesn't seem to be an option to display that. I can call it, show directions, save it as a favorite, etc., but what the heck - I can't see what movies are playing there???

So basically, it's worthless, at least for my geographic location.

Re: Bing: Don't Like New Version; Won't Let Me Use Old One
 

I also did a search for "All Restaurants" and it shows one obscure restaurant only!

I did a search for Hotels & Motels, and it found a single Holiday Inn 6.6 miles away, ignoring the close to a dozen in my town, within 3-5 miles of me. Oh yeah, it also found "Destination Bus Charter" whatever the heck that is, and whatever the heck it has to do with Hotels & Motels!!

What the frick is the problem with this application? It is completely worthless to me.

Does this thing actually yield comprehensive search results for others in other locations? I'm in a reasonable size town, and the prior Bing version had no problem finding essentially all the movies, hotels, etc.

Re: Bing: Don't Like New Version; Won't Let Me Use Old One
 

The new Bing works ok for me, but I agree that the interface on the older versions was much better. It was a lot easier to search for movie times and gas prices, and I could easily send them to my friends via SMS if I wanted to. Now for movie times, I just use google. The Bing app is now useless for movie times IMO. I only use Bing now if I want to use the turn by turn nav, but that's only if I can't find my destination in TomTom.

Re: Bing: Don't Like New Version; Won't Let Me Use Old One
 

I was just playing with Google Maps to see how it worked for Movie Times, and I wasn't able to get it to find anything other than Movie Theaters. It found the main local theater just fine, but there was no option available to show what movies were actually playing there! Also pretty worthless.

Did you mean you just used Google within your web browser to search for Movie Times? If so, I still find that kind of cumbersome.

I mean is it too much to ask to have a simple GPS-based application to find movies and theaters near your current location?

Are there any other apps that will do this?

Re: Bing: Don't Like New Version; Won't Let Me Use Old One
 

Not GPS based, (you enter your zip code) but fandango works great for me & my son.

http://www.fandango.com/

~John

Re: Bing: Don't Like New Version; Won't Let Me Use Old One
 

have you sent a complaint to microsoft (report a bug)?

Re: Bing: Don't Like New Version; Won't Let Me Use Old One
 

bah, 4 hrs from home and whipped out the TP2 for some awesome Bing navigation. It forced the upgrade on me. Once it installed I just did my search and it only gave me web results. It was then that I noticed that it was not Bing but Bing for vzw so I figured they had removed the nav. I see now that they haven't but wow, a definite step backwards.

Re: Bing: Don't Like New Version; Won't Let Me Use Old One
 

so its the verizon version forcing the upload. Used bing yesterday or the day before and it asked if I wanted to upgrade, clicked no and it let my use it.

Re: Bing: Don't Like New Version; Won't Let Me Use Old One
 

I don't think it's Verizon. I had an older version of Bing that I was going to upload for the OP, but it wouldn't let me use that version without updating either. I'm on Sprint.

Re: Bing: Don't Like New Version; Won't Let Me Use Old One
 

I have posted here, and it appears it is being reported via MS personnel:

http://social.answers.microsoft.com/...?prof=required

Is there some other way to directly report this bug/performance issue?

jmorton
re: Fandango

Are you talking about just going to the Fandango site in the Web Browser? If so, yeah I guess that's an option, but considerably more time consuming than the prior Bing search. Those graphics-rich pages load quite slowly.

And it seems as if Windows Mobile is once again getting passed by: looking at the Mobile section of Fandango, they have apps for iPhone, Blackberry, Android, and even Palm Pre (!), but nothing for WM!

As much as I've enjoyed my TP2, if I were buying now, I think I'd definitely be looking at Android! I'm following your other thread on your Droid X purchase, and will be very interested to hear about your experience with it.

Re: Bing: Don't Like New Version; Won't Let Me Use Old One
 

memory leaks!

Re: Bing: Don't Like New Version; Won't Let Me Use Old One
 

I still think it's a so/so issue because on both my TP2's it works perfect and I'm in a high traffic area... Restaraunts, Movies, Gas Stations, etc all are found within seconds and it shows the max on a page (I think 20..??) but yeah both phones are on Sprint and neither seem to have any of the issues you guys are having...

Re: Bing: Don't Like New Version; Won't Let Me Use Old One
 

???

Well, I'm glad it's working for you, but this doesn't change the fact that there seems to be a subset of people for whom the Search Engine has some serious flaws. It might be geographical in nature, provider in nature, who knows. So it's not a "so/so issue" for those of us who are effected.:sad:

Re: Bing: Don't Like New Version; Won't Let Me Use Old One
 

Thanks, and if you would have read what I said, it's not just working for me, it's working for my girlfriend as well who has a bone stock TP2 and as of 5 minutes ago in a phone call convo with my cousin it's working for him who has a VZW TP2 and lives across the state... So it does sound like a so/so issue if you ask me, some say it works, some say it don't... But I have 3 different TP2's now, all running it perfectly... Are you all on stock roms..??

Re: Bing: Don't Like New Version; Won't Let Me Use Old One
 

No need to let this devolve into an argument. I did read what you said, and have no problem acknowledging that the new Bing might be just fine for a large percentage of users.

But the point is that it doesn't work well for at least some, so for them it's not a "so so issue." It makes the Bing application essentially worthless for them, regardless of how many others are happy with it.

I've indicated before that I have the Stock 6.1 Verizon ROM, and also that it's not that the program itself crashes, freezes, or otherwise doesn't function. So I don't think it's likely to be a ROM issue.

The problem is that the results of the Search (Movies, Hotels, Restaurants) are extremely limited for some, rendering the application useless for us. The Microsoft representative in the thread I've linked to indicated that she has had similar reports from other users, so it is not an isolated phenomenon. The biggest frustration is that we had no problems with the earlier version of Bing, and Microsoft doesn't "let" us use it, and forces the upgrade.

My guess is that it might be a problem with certain geographic areas, but this is just a speculation. Hopefully they'll identify where the problem is occurring that gives some of us unacceptable search results.

Again, I'm genuinely glad that it works well for you and the others you mention. But there are those for whom it is useless, and that is the reason for this and other threads.

Re: Bing: Don't Like New Version; Won't Let Me Use Old One
 

It works for you so it's a non issue that it is completely useless for somebody else?

Re: Bing: Don't Like New Version; Won't Let Me Use Old One
 

I understand, I wasn't tryna argue :laughing6: just expressing the oddity that it works for some and not for others, even others that are on your same setup because that's what my cousins phone is stock vzw...

^^ That doesn't quite make sense to me... It works for my girlfriend and my TP2's on Sprint and another TP2 on VZW, so for it to not work on another VZW that is almost identical leaves the culprit in disguise... Like DLC pointed out, I think it could be a geographical issue perhaps, because us 3 all live in Florida although the 3rd tested TP2 was on the other coast of Florida...

Re: Bing: Don't Like New Version; Won't Let Me Use Old One
 

well I made it home now, luckily my wife had her GPS in the glove box for us to get around a strange town 4 hrs from home. I tried out the new Bing for VZW today and seriously disappointed.

it doesn't keep the screen/backlight on when navigating. This one dims the screen according to default so its no good for navigation.

Tried searching for movies. It doesn't show theaters, only movies. I used to be able to select my theater, and then see what was playing. Now it shows only movie results, and they're all from 60 miles away instead of my local theater.

too bad, I used to use Bing all the time. I didn't even install google maps when I flashed to MR2. Guess I'll have to install it now.

Re: Bing: Don't Like New Version; Won't Let Me Use Old One
 

Exactly! And thanks for posting this on the Microsoft forum as well.

If Microsoft has any sense (:banghead:) they'll do something about this; but I'm not holding my breath.

I like Google Maps in general, but it doesn't enable me to see Movies playing at a Theater; it lists the Theaters ok, and provides a link to the website for that theater company, but this is too slow and cumbersome to be useful, for me at least.

Fandango has apps for Android, iPhone, Blackberry, and even Palm Pre (!), but nothing for Windows Mobile

At this rate, my next phone will not be Microsoft/Windows Mobile...

Re: Bing: Don't Like New Version; Won't Let Me Use Old One
 

I have the same gripes with the new Bing and have unfortunately had to resort to other sources for certain info, such as movie theaters/times. Although I was able to figure out that you can press Back after the initial search and then Local to get it to search for movies at a particular location, the interface is definitely a step backward.

The mobile web version of Fandango is pretty quick & easy to use: http://mobile.fandango.com

You set your location once, and you're good to go from then on. You can change the location fairly simply to get a list of theaters at an alternate location. I like it better than the mobile movietickets.com (http://mobile.movietickets.com), since it takes fewer clicks to get to the movie times at a theater. That said, I don't like that they only show five movies at a time for a theater (have to tap "More Movies" to see the next five and so on), and in no discernable order that I can tell.

Back to Bing, I do appreciate the improved, voice-assisted navigation, but it would quit on me (disappeared, with no error or any feedback) every so often during a recent 600-mile road trip, particularly when I deviated from the path and it had to recalculate (especially where there was poor cell signal strength); once right when I needed it at an important intersection! Granted, this was before they released this month's update, so I don't know if it's any more stable now.

Add the various UI & search changes they've made that seem hard to comprehend & justify, and this baby has gone from my favorite app to one that I may only use occasionally out of curiosity; it's like an artist ruining a masterpiece by trying to add a few extra unnecessary touches. If they had just added the new nav to the old interface, I would've been much happier.

Oh well, at least it didn't cost me anything. I'll keep updating as they release newer versions and hope they eventually "get it" (hopefully before WM7 releases and they leave die-hard 6.x users hanging out to dry).

Re: Bing: Don't Like New Version; Won't Let Me Use Old One
 

well i was able to download and install regular Bing, instead of the "Bing for Verizon" that was forced onto me.

unfortunatley movies is still broken, will check on the nav & voice guidance tomorrow.

Re: Bing: Don't Like New Version; Won't Let Me Use Old One
 

on US cellular here and had to update also, update was buggy so I dumped it and downloaded the beta version, (v. 5.1.2010.6280), from the Microsoft mobile site...much prettier interface, movie section is much tuffer to navigate and as stated above, a bite clumsy having to pick movies first to see what is playing at your theater, hit or miss! Though it does list my local theaters. Strange that MS would take what seems to be a step backwards in usability...hopefully it should be easily reversed since this is a beta...the key here seems to use the "local" button to navigate to what you want!
The big thing that is immediately obvious with this version is the nav is MUCH improved and accurate! Google maps and the old version of Bing seemed to have problems locating me frequently using cell towers to trianglate my location with mixed results, while this new version finds me with GPS almost instantly and within a few yards! Maps are also MUCH improved and writes faster to the screen.
Generally, I am pretty happy with this version but it will take some time to get used to.

Re: Bing: Don't Like New Version; Won't Let Me Use Old One
 

well this morning I discovered 1/2 my problem. on the "Bing for Verizon" I had for a few days I had two options, #1 was get directions & #2 was VZNavigator. Now that I'm back on regular Bing I'd still been using "get directions" and that is not the same as "Navigate" as far as Bing is concerned. Now if I "Navigate" it will give me voice guidance (that's a brand new feature to me) and keep the screen on.

Now if only the movie thing would work, that's the other thing I used the most.

Re: Bing: Don't Like New Version; Won't Let Me Use Old One
 

I hate it. Its completely useless compared to the Live app. Plus you cant add contacts to your phone anymore. When searching for something it uses the web not what the old Live used to use, or at least the results are from the web. If i wanted to use the web to search i would have in the first place.

So im guessing that no one had found a way to keep using Live instead? When i click No to upgrade, it crashes my phone and im forced to update to continue use.