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Microsoft wants Bing Desktop to transcend the limits of web-based search, and that's especially clear with a newly posted app update -- it's all about doing what most browsers can't. The software brings inline searching that lets users run Bing queries on websites, PDFs and Word files just by selecting text. Newshounds also don't have to wade into every article now that there's both at-a-glance previews and a trending stories section. We suspect most users won't mind the real-time weather forecasts and live Facebook notifications, either. Existing Bing Destkop users should automatically receive the new features in the days ahead, but those who refuse to wait can grab the upgrade straight from the source.
Filed under: Internet, Software, Microsoft, Facebook
Via: Bing Search Blog
Source: Bing
The Bing Translator app has been available on Windows Phone for some time, but today it's heading over to Windows 8. According to a post on the browser's Search Blog, the program was built "from the ground up" for Windows devices, and it utilizes the Share Charm to let you translate text from within any Windows 8 app. Otherwise, it works much the same as on other platforms: by using your gadget's camera to parse more than 40 languages (of course, you can type text to translate as well). The Translator app also includes offline support, so you can download language packs for use without a WiFi connection. Check it out for yourself by heading to the download page in the Windows Store.
Filed under: Software, Microsoft
Source: Windows Store, Bing Search Blog
Yahoo has been a busy little bee recently, updating its various properties and snatching up new ones. Now its giving its Bing-powered search page a facelift. The redesign is actually quite subtle. The color scheme remains the same and there's still a sidebar, though, the various search tabs have all been pushed to the left rail. The look is flatter, boxier and more modern with quite a bit of empty space. In fact, the padding on the right side has been expanded, leaving much of the screen strangely bare. In addition to the updated aesthetics, the company has introduced a new navigation bar that sits glued to the top providing shortcuts to the homepage, your mailbox, Flickr and other Yahoo-owned properties. The nav bar will also be rolling out to these other services soon, providing a Google-esque way to quickly hop around. Now Yahoo just needs to figure out how to serve up actually useful results. When our search for sushi on Staten Island turned up only one restaurant actually in the borough and a query for "old fashioned recipe" spit out a pile of pancake plans, we knew that there was still quite a lot of work to be done.
Source: Yahoo
Microsoft's Bing may be a boy among men in the search-engine wars, but that's not stopping it from piling on new features. The latest are in its news search, where it just added a "trending topics" carousel that shows timely info in the same category as your query (see the above image), along with a sidebar that displays personalities "you might also like." Clicking on either will bring up further news results, and Bing also said it's now extended the article index several years back in time compared to the curt two-week period it had before. It's an interesting change-up over Google's Knowledge Graph, and Microsoft needs all the help it can get in search, given recent survey results.
Filed under: Internet, Microsoft
Source: Bing blog
Google has always known as the search engine giant, but is its stranglehold slowly slipping away? Bing is on the rise as it accounts for 25.6 percent of the search results in the US. Perhaps in a bid to further cement their popularity (and following Google’s footsteps somewhat with interactive search), Bing has unveiled interactive Star Trek-themed search results that’ll beam you up to a different galaxy on the interwebs. Or should I say, Bing you up?
Just type in “Beam me up” on Bing.com’s homepage and you can see what I’m talking about for yourself.
Searching with the simple command as your query will transport you to Star Trek’s transporter room with the franchise’s iconic sound effects and visuals in the background. At the transporter you’ll find themed animations and links to trivia related to Star Trek, as well as links to other Bing pages featuring the Enterprise starship and its command bridge room.
VIA [ Dvice ]
Though some may look down on Star Trek's fictional Klingon language and invoke the infamous phrase uttered by William Shatner -- "Get a life!" -- Microsoft's Bing translation team doesn't see it that way at all. As part of a marketing join-up with Paramount Pictures, the service will be offering translation of the fictional tongue to and from its other 41 languages to support the release of Star Trek Into Darkness. According to the LA Times, the translator was developed with the aid of Klingon-fluent Microsoft engineer Eric Andeen, who said that it's as much about the passion for linguistics as for Star Trek. Originally developed by a language specialist based on a few words ad-libbed in Star Trek: The Motion Picture by 'Scotty' actor James Doohan, Klingon has taken on a life of its own thanks to fans and sites who developed full dictionaries and on-line translators. The Bing project will fire up later today, so why not check it out at the More Coverage link? After all, ghojmeH ta'vaD He tu'be'lu'!
Filed under: Software, Microsoft
Source: LA Times
Competing with Google for search traffic is no easy task, even for a software giant like Microsoft. Unique features and customization have helped keep Bing afloat, though -- and now, MS is counting on some more comprehensive Facebook integration to boost appeal. Beginning today, the site's "Social Results" sidebar will be pulling in a bit more Facebook content, including posts from your friends that the tool deems relevant to the search at hand. You can also pub directly to your timeline from within the tool, sharing search results with your online buds. It's hardly a revolutionary refresh, but if you haven't yet managed to annoy your friends with posts about your favorite Spotify tracks or those shoes you just purchased online, Bing's now ready to step in by making your search habits public, too.
Filed under: Internet, Microsoft, Facebook
Source: Bing
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