Bings maps the Great Locale Debate

When PocketNow demonstrated Bing Maps, I think we all wet our pants a little bit.
 You can get local results pinned on a map, click to route from my current location, voice search and some other really cool stuff.

But now that WP7 has gone retail...well the truth for many people is that the experience is not at all as advertised.  Especially on the Little Red Dot that is Singapore...and yes, Singapore is an official 21st October launch partner.

Read on to see why...



Firstly, no directions in Singapore. You only get two icons at the bottom of the page, not three...the third is an up arrow which brings in the direction blind from above so you can set start and end points. So no routing.

Secondly, when you press the search icon, there is no mic icon in the search box to allow you to use voice input either. Doesn't work with the windows hard key trick of press-&-hold either, that kicks you back to the main voice command app.

Thirdly, no traffic feature.

Finally, If you use the workaround (see below), you can get a route up but the little map window is not pinch/pan-able. You have to click on the map to get full screen map, do your pan/pinch then click the route again (or use menu) to get back to the directions list...its a bit more long winded but I guess this changed after user feedback.

The Workaround
Try this: go Settings > Region & Language > Browser & Search Engine and set to English (United Kingdom).
This will give you the third icon to access the directions blind and make a route. HOWEVER, for your End Point you will need to type the address and finish with "Singapore" or it will try looking for that address in the UK!

One very weird thing...within Bing Maps you must use the magnify glass onscreen icon to initiate a search...if you press the search hard key you will get kicked to the normal Bing web search page (depending on locale settings)...I think this is inconsistent behaviour from WP7, because the hardkey search should ALWAYS be contextual to the app you are working in, shouldn't it?
If all your System Locale settings are set to Singapore, then the icon and hardkey act the same way and you get a web search results list...you don't get mapped results at all. So to get mapped results your "browser & search language" must be set to US/UK.

If you change you Display Language, Region Format, System Locale AND Browser & Search Language to United States, you will get the mic icon in search fields to use voice search...guess the guys at MS figure the phone is only good for American accents...but my London accent is good enough for it to be accurate.

HOWEVER, if you change Browser & Search Language ONLY to Singapore (leave the others as US) then you can retain the voice search...but you lose the option to get directions in Bing Maps and you get kicked to regular Bing Web Search if you try and use the search icon (or hardkey).

All of this points to two main things - the region & language settings are complex...I mean, why is there "Display Language" as well as "Browser & Search Language"?!? And MSFT needs to sort Bing Maps out ASAP. 

I mean, I had google maps on my last phone and it worked the same way in Singapore, UK, USA, Australia etc...why the hell is Bing Maps so complicated?