Long Zheng, of I started something.com, developed a tool back in 2009 that used Bing?s public API?s that gave it an instant live search. And according to Zheng this tool could have been easily added to Bing using a simple JavaScript, but for some reason, never happened.

A year later and Bing hasn?t gone for any type of instant search feature. But, at Apple?s WWDC this year Bing showed off a new version of it?s site that?s powered by HTML5 with some very impressive new features.

The early version of future Bing gave a smooth transition between queries and results, which was close to instant search. The HTML5 version also included a quick tab preview for weather, maps and other features when hovering over menus, reducing the number clicks and page loads.

Bing HTML5 could be the counter response to Google?s instant search that people have been expecting. And it would make sense for the launch to coincide with that of IE9.

The first TV ad for Bing was released shortly after it?s launch. The 60 second ad used the catchphrase ?Bing and decide,? which vowed to end ?search overload?. Bing upgraded from the beta status in November 2009, new features have been added such as visual search and video.The original brand of ?Kumo? was replaced by Bing and became the official name.

Rumours of a deal between Microsoft and Yahoo were ignited, and a back and fourth discussion between the two made for some very confusing times. One rumour did the rounds that Microsoft was going to purchase Yahoo,l but Ballmer squashed this one quickly. A deal was eventually struck to replace Yahoo with Bing for 10 years. Which would allow Microsoft to use Yahoo?s search technology to fine tune Bing. This deal was fully implemented only 24hrs after it was signed.

Bing started with a fairly good market share of 2.96% in it?s first month. this grew over the next few months to hit 3.52% in August 2009. Bing?s market share has held pretty steady since then, and was at 3.24% in May 2010.

Bing has yet to knock Google of the top spot, which will be it’s greatest challenge. But Google brand power is pretty phenomenal, it?s well known globally and is set as the default search engine in most of top browsers.

But Microsoft still holds 1st place in browser market share, which may well be the key to Bing?s success. Internet Explorer hold 54.75% of the US market share, with Firefox being it?s closest competitor at 29.75%.

One of Microsoft’s most successful pieces of software is Office. Microsoft recently announced that it?s made a deal with manufacturers in the US to offer an Office 2010 trial for just $2 instead of $5when a Bing bar is installed on their machine.

Bing has also gone mobile, with the Bing app available on several different mobile phones including the iPhone in the US. It will be well integrated with Mobile 7 when it launches later this year. The app offers free turn-by-turn navigation, allowing complete navigation on you phone. Sprint, T-Mobile and AT&T customers in the US are also offered a free GPS unit with the Bing app.

Bing has had a few adjustments to the user interface in an effort to refine it. A new Bing Box has been added that contains real-time data and adds quick tabs to the top of search results. These updates will be rolled out over the next few weeks.

There is also a new map application that uses real-time data from Foursquare. Foursquare is social networking service that is based on location. Users check in at venues and gain points? badges and mayorships. The Foursquare map app and Bing maps is integrated with the user reputation service, users will be able to see who?s got what and where. This integration with foursquare will provide Bing with some great data. Users of Foursquare leave tips about locations, so other users get a heads up on what?s good to do. They can also contact other user with questions about their tips. But the bad news is that these enhancements may not make it over to Europe, or any where else for that matter.

Motarola has confirmed that the Bing bookmark and search widget (based on google’s open source OS) will appear on new and existing phones before the end of the quarter. However, it seems that bing will not be the default provider on devices. The Bing map service will also appear on phones.

The confusion relating to Google’s postition in China is still ongoing. So too is?the relationship between Mountain View and Motorola.?After an alleged?hack on?Google’s internal system by Chinese??sources, Google threatened to stop it’s China opperation. It also?planned to?postpone the launch of 2 Android phones on China Unicom. Google also took th stance to not censor results on it’s Chinese search engine, but this censorship still seems to be in place as its position with the government is negotiated. And this negotiation has been going on for quite some time, over?eight weeks.?

Android is open source, but the CU phones would have been loaded with Google. And would have also offered intergration with Google apps, the availability of these apps has been postponed. Therefore meaning that Motorola will not be able to offer it’s apps on the Chinese Android handsets even if it did go with Google.

Microsoft has also made a deal with Verizon Wireless in the US, to make Bing the default search engine on particular Blackberries. And this default cannot be changed. So it looks like Redmond is really pushing the reach of mobile bing.