While new apps continue to launch for Windows Phone every day, including more and more high-profile ones, Microsoft has also been doing its bit to add to the apps available on its mobile platform. Having already brought its Bing News, Weather, Sport and Finance apps to Windows Phone, the company has now launched a fifth addition to the family.
Like its siblings, the new Bing Travel app closely mirrors its Windows 8.x counterpart, with a broad range of features, an attractive UI and simple navigation. The app, which is currently available in beta form, aims to provide a complete solution for all things travel, and includes features to help users discover the world, as well as the ability to plan a getaway to exotic destinations.
The app includes feature articles to inspire you to visit new and exciting places, as well as travel news from a range of sources, along with photos and other information.
If you already know where you want to go, you can search for fares via the Flight Search facility, with results provided by travel specialists Kayak. Results can be filtered by price, fewest stops, shortest flight or earliest departure.
If you"re not travelling, and just picking someone up from the airport - or dropping someone off there - arrival and departure boards are provided for airports across the globe.
You can search for destinations across the globe to find out more about them, or allow the app to use your location data to find cities and attractions worth visiting nearby. Weather data at each destination is provided, along with the ability to pin it to your Start screen.
When browsing local attractions, you can tap on each one to find out more... or at least you should be able to do so. As you can see in the example above, tapping on my home town of Richmond-upon-Thames brought up nothing more than a blank page, and the same happened for every other attraction that I attempted to get more information on.
Still, that"s why the app comes with a "beta" tag, so don"t be too surprised if you encounter a few bumps along the way while Microsoft continues to refine and improve it before its final release.
The app is available to download now from the Windows Phone Store (not available for Windows Phone 7.x).