Apple in Talks With Microsoft to Switch iPhones to Bing

In a sign of just how tense Apple’s rivalry with Google has gotten, the software giant is in talks with archrival Microsoft to make Bing the primary search engine on the iPhone. The negotiations have been underway for weeks, sources tell Businessweek. “Apple and Google know the other is their primary enemy,” says an anonymous Apple insider. “Microsoft is now a pawn in that battle.”

Google is currently the iPhone’s primary search engine; to search via Bing, users have to either download a Bing app, or surf to bing.com on their browsers. If the deal goes through, users may have to change their settings to search with Google. Microsoft also wants Apple to agree to add Bing as a search option on its Safari browser on Macs; currently, Safari comes with just Google and Yahoo search options. (More Apple stories.)