Microsoft and Apple in talks to port Bing to iPhone: report

In what could be a tectonic paradigm shift in the mobile search business, Microsoft and Apple are allegedly readying to tango to make Bing the iPhone's default search engine, according to an online report.

Though Microsoft has refused to confirm the rumour, analysts say migrating Bing onto the iPhone could likely be the big thing for Micorsoft's market share in the US mobile search space, where Google is the clear leader.

According to a 20 January report published in BusinessWeek, Apple and Microsoft are allegedly discussing porting Bing to the iPhone as its default search engine. The story cited ''"two people familiar with the matter"

The article quotes one of the sources as saying, "Apple and Google know the other is their primary enemy. Microsoft is now a pawn in that battle."

Analysts say if the scenario were to realise, it would underscore the increasing competition between Apple and Google, whose search engine is currently the iPhone default. 

It may be recalled that Google CEO Eric Schmidt had to step down from Apple's board of directors in August 2009 following US competition watch dog's objections (See: Google chief, Eric Schmidt resigns from Apple board) Analysts say the two companies have since then been locked in an increasingly adversarial relationship in the smartphone operating-system arena.