Andre Yoskowitz
4 Jan 2010 1:41
In the past week, Verizon Wireless has been pushing a Bing search engine application onto BlackBerry phones, without the owners consent.
Microsoft and Verizon signed a $500 million USD pact last year, in which the wireless carrier agreed to make Bing the default search engine for the browser in most of its phones. BlackBerry owners had always had the chance to select their own default search engine, however.
Many BlackBerry users now have a Bing icon on their phones, which is a link to install the app, although it cannot be deleted, only hidden. Worst of all, it was added without consent of the user.
Verizon has posted information on how to hide the icon after many complained but added: "We think Verizon Wireless BlackBerry users will love Bing, but we are passionate about customer choice."