Microsoft's Bing for Android may not technically be the first Microsoft-made app for Android phones (that honor belongs to the rather obscure Microsoft Tag Reader,) but the Bing is its highest-profile app.

Released on Monday, Bing for Android closely resembles Bing for iPhone, with an image of the day marking the backdrop, and a pop-up menu to search by images, movies, maps, news, or what's nearby. There's also an option for directions. A search field sits at the top, next to a voice search button. Bing for Android hides your history, settings, and favorites in the phone's hard-coded Menu button.

The Android version of Bing also integrates maps, and the touchable hot spots hidden in the day's image that reveal additional information about the photo du jour. Swiping backward loads previous images.

However, Bing for Android lacks two significant features found in the iPhone version--options for scanning an item's bar code with your camera, and connecting to your Twitter and Facebook feeds.

We're fans of the Bing app on all platforms we've tested, and while we'd like to see this Android version gain parity with the iPhone version, usabilitywise, it's no exception. We'd also like to see the Maps portion add directions for public transit--a la Google Maps--to complement its driving and walking directions.

Bing for Android is free from the Android Market for Verizon phones, including the HTC Droid Incredible, Motorola Droid, Droid 2, and Droid X, Motorola Devour, and the LG Ally.

Originally posted at Android Atlas

Which browser do you use? Your Mac comes pre-loaded with Safari, a world-class option on its own that now has extensions you can add for even more functionality. Mozilla Firefox has wiggled it's way into many Mac users' hearts with its speed and virtually unlimited amount of useful add-ons. Opera is another great choice with its Speed Dial favorites pages, tons of added features, and its sleek and skinnable interface. All of these are good choices depending on the features you want, but there's also something to be said for simplicity.

If you just want a simple and stylish browsing experience without a lot of added bells and whistles, check out Camino. This light and agile browser is based on the Mozilla engine like Firefox, but was built from the ground up to fit well within the entire Mac OS aesthetic. Light on it's feet, Camino doesn't foist countless features on you, concentrating more on the basics of browsing the Web in style. This latest version includes several security fixes, fixes Flash issues, and other minor enhancements.

Also this week we have unpkg, the utility that lets you unpack package installers to let you look at and use the files included in the archive without installing the application. Our game this week is Jalada Ultimate Racing, the realistic auto racing game with 40 fine-tuned cars, more than 30 tracks, and 50 opponents to race against.

Don't forget to check out our iPhone apps of the week!