Microsoft Outlook for Android gets Bing search shortcut

San Francisco, July 14 (IANS) Microsoft has secretly updated the Outlook for Android app to add Bing search integration to the long-press menu.

Some users who have Microsoft Outlook installed on their Android devices have noticed seeing a new option to perform a Bing search when selecting text, reports Android Police.

After opening the Outlook app to check an email and if a user long presses on a word in the email text, a pop-up menu will appear with three options: Web Search, Translate and Bing Search.

The third option Bing Search appears even if the user does not have Bing installed on the smartphone.

However, the feature appears not to be working for all.

In some cases, users were able to get rid of it by simply reinstalling the app from the Play Store.

“I noticed over the last few days that long press on text in Android now also includes a “Bing Search” option. I don’t have the Bing app installed. Only Microsoft app I have on my phone is Outlook. Anyone know what is going on?” wrote a user on the help page.

This is not the first time Microsoft is pursuing a clever strategy to promote a product.

The tech giant had previously used the Share menu and ‘Open with’ menu in Android to promote its apps.

–IANS

wh/na