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Apple Set to Replace Google with Bing

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Apple Is In negotiations with Microsoft to replace Google as the default search engine in both Safari and the iPhone, according to industry insiders. If you want to use Microsoft’s Bing at the moment, you need to go to bing.com.

The talks confirm just how much relations between Apple and Google, its erstwhile ally against Microsoft. have shifted. Until last August, Google CEO Eric Schmidt was still on Apple’s board of directors, but now the two companies are in direct competition in the smartphone, mobile advertising, browser sectors and, when Chrome OS appears, in the personal computer market.

‘Apple and Google know the other is their primary enemy.’ one insider told Businessweek. ‘Microsoft is now a pawn in that battle.’

Meanwhile, Schmidt recently attempted to tone down the perceived acrimony between Apple and Google. ‘I, as a former board member, have a special spot for Apple in my heart,’ he told financial analysts during a conference call. Apple is a very well run company. They have a lot of very excellent stuff appearance. We have a couple of very excellent partnerships with them, and we also compete with them in a couple of areas. My guess is that is a pretty stable Situation for a while.’

For Microsoft, a deal would enable it to boost Bing’s market share, especially in the emerging mobile search market, everywhere Google is less well-established, and everywhere the iPhone is the dominant hardware platform.

Although Apple and Microsoft. have been mortal enemies in the past, the two have also worked collectively when it suited them. Microsoft makes money selling Mac applications like Office, and in 1997 Apple made Internet Explorer the default web browser for the Mac in return for a $150 million (about £93 million) investment.

Apple’s choice to switch to Bing from Google could also just be a Question of Microsoft offering more money to have its search engine made the default for the iPhone and Safari, according to some industry analysts.

Others have speculated that Apple could adopt Bing as a stop-gap, while it develops its own search engine.