Motorola partnering with Microsoft for maps, search services; will launch on smartphones in China

Since Google might be moving out of China, it looks like there is more room for other companies to fill the void. And Motorola and Microsoft plan to do just that, announcing a new partnership that will be evident on smartphones launching in China soon.

Under the alliance, Microsoft's Bing will be the default choice for searching and maps on Motorola smartphones in China, starting in the first quarter of 2010. Google will sort of be involved though, given that it will be on Android-powered devices.

The selected smartphones (none have been specifically named yet) will have a Bing bookmark pre-loaded on the mobile browser, plus an enhanced app with Bing integration. However, Motorola and Microsoft insist users will have the choice to pick their own search engines, so if a particular person doesn't like Bing as the default, it should be removable.

Again, this project will only be in China first. No word on whether or not this will affect North American devices in the future just yet.