Microsoft Picturesque Android Lock Screen Hawks Bing

Microsoft wants a place on your Android smartphone, and it seems to figure one of the best ways to get there — and be seen multiple times every day — is by targeting the lock screen. Such is the nature of its new Picturesque lock screen app for Android handsets, giving users on Google's mobile platform a free alternative to the default lock screen. Picturesque is the brainchild of Microsoft Garage, the place where Microsoft workers bring their own projects into existence, and it is available now in the Play Store for (just about) anyone to grab.

Picturesque Lock Screen arrived in the Google Play Store yesterday, and with it comes those same beautiful backgrounds that users enjoy on the Bing. There's Bing search on the lock screen, and multiple pages through which one can browse, making it more like a pre-home screen rather than a lock screen.

That Bing background image can be toggled out for a different one from the past 6 days, and is joined by news snippets for quickly browsing what's going on in the world, weather details, notifications about calls and texts and such, access to the camera and other apps/settings, and for Indian users exclusively, there's also Muhurats and regional calendars.

You'll need to be running at least Android 4.0.3 to download the app, but other than that users will find it readily accessible. So far the app has scored largely favorable reviews on the Play Store. Have you already tried it? If so, drop us a comment and let us know what you think!

SOURCE: The Next Web