MS Challenges Google with Bing it On

While Google is still the most popular search engine on the internet, it's nice to see that Microsoft doesn't stop to enhance and promote Bing - to the point where you ask yourself how they can do things so blatantly obvious in TV series like Hawai Five-O, that you almost want to tear your eyes out.

Now, they set their sights on Google and challenge it to Bing it On. On this site you'll be asked to enter 5 keywords, and do a blind test, selecting which results you like the most. A test that Microsoft says Bing is winning 2:1...

On my first test, I forced myself into selecting the seemingly best results, even if in some cases the result should actually be a draw. And I was very surprised (shocked even) that... I had chosen Bing for all 5 scenarios.

But, I had used the suggested keywords that pop by on the site. So, I did another two runs, using "my own" keywords, and on both accounts, Google took the lead, even if by a small margin (2 wins, 2 draws, 1 bing).

Although I'll still be using Google for the time being, give it a try and see if it can surprise you as much as it did to me: Bing it On.

Bing in Windows 8

Windows 8 is about to become a turning point in the whole traditional Windows look and feel, letting go (for the most part) of the decade old window/mouse pointer paradigm, and embracing a more touch-friendly user interface. To that effect, Microsoft needs to provide a consistent experience across its entire product range, and today we get to know a bit more about how Bing will work on Windows 8.

In the Bing App, the results will now be shown in a "touch friendlier" grid, which also allows you to see photos in fullscreen mode and easily swipable - and that you can quickly check out, placing the results side by side with the browser, to tap and check each site to quickly find out if that's what you're looking for.

Besides that, you also get special treatment for things like Travel, Weather, and Maps:

And also New, Finance, and Sports:




Microsoft might have taken its time to fully commit to a touch-friendly operating system... but it finally seems to be willing to pick up the slack, and maybe even show its competitors how it can/should be done.

Do you have high hopes for Windows 8, or do you think it will be "too" different to be accepted by all those used to having the windows/mouse interface burned in their brains over the past decades?

Bing Translator App for Windows Phones

If you recall the amazing Word Lens, that was able to instantly transform an image containing text into a new image with translated text - as if you were looking at the world through some "magic" lens; then you won't be surprised by the new Bing Translator App for Windows Phone.

This doesn't mean that Microsoft hasn't done a nice job with this App. It too does the instant translation thing, overlapping "subtitles" over the original image - and that happens in realtime, no need to snap a photo of the texts to translate.

If you have a Windows Phone, the App is free, and it certainly will be of great help to anyone travelling abroad... as long as it has roaming Internet access.



[via thenextweb]

Bing vs Google

Microsoft has recently launched its new web search engine: Bing.
I won't be talking about its actual search performance because... I got stuck right in its front page.

What the heck is this? Nearly a full-screen image? Ok... maybe it's stilish but for me, it's a real pain.
I happen to work a lot via remote desktop, over slow network connections, and an image this size is sure to being my desktop refresh rate to a crawl.

Besides, even working in your local PC, just check the difference:

Bing's results on the left, Google's front page on the right: 3 sec vs 0.6 sec.
While Bing is still loading some javascript files Google is already finished.

I know we shouldn't judge a book by its cover, but for an efficiency maniac like me... that about sums it up for me. Sorry Microsoft... please give me an instant loading front page for your search engine, and then I'll look into it.