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Today's World IPv6 Day: Google, Bing, Facebook and others test out new addresses for 24 hours
Described as a "test flight" of IPv6, today marks the biggest concerted effort by some of the web's marquee players to turn us all on to the newer, fancier web addressing system. Internet Protocol version 4 has been the template by which we've addressed everything connected to the web so far, but that stuff's now nearing exhaustion, so the future demands a longer, more complex nomenclature to tell our smartphones, tablets, printers, and other webOS devices apart. For end users, June 8th won't really feel too different from June 7th -- this will be a change that occurs mostly behind the scenes and there's an IPv4 fallback option if you can't connect in the modern way -- but Google does warn that a very limited subset of users may experience connectivity issues as a result. Hit the links below to see how well prepared for the future you are.
New Kinect dashboard to include Bing search technology
The Fall 360 update doesn't just give you access to every video thing anyone's ever made -- it also gives you a new method to search for that content. The new Kinect-centric dashboard allows you to search for content across all Xbox Live marketplaces using a modified Bing engine with a single spoken phrase, returning videos, games, demos and movies relating to your search terms. You know, in case you're too lazy to use your fingers to Google.
Engadget Podcast 241 - 05.27.2011
It's all about doing new stuff, right? This week, we're doing a lot of new stuff: paying for soda pop with our cell phones, reading books on E Ink displays, and waiting for Duke Nukem Forever. OK, well maybe none of those things are actually new, but we're doing them in new ways this week, kind of. Listen to the podcast, is all we're saying.Host: Tim StevensGuests: Brian HeaterProducer: Trent WolbeMusic: 10yr - Regulate02:30 - Kobo unbuttons for $129 eReader Touch Edition, we go hands-on (video)03:52 - Barnes & Noble announces new touch-enabled Nook for $139 (video)13:43 - Barnes & Noble selling Nooks for $99 on eBay18:03 - Live from Microsoft's Windows Phone VIP preview event!22:00 - Windows Phone 'Mango' search offers location-specific results, app integration (video)29:36 - Windows Phone Mango and Bing Vision hands-on32:05 - Live from the Google Wallet press event!33:50 - Google Wallet mobile payment service, Google Offers announced35:16 - Google Wallet vending on Nexus S hands-on43:21 - Droid Incredible 2 review48:53 - Spotify and Facebook partner up, send Europe a friend request?50:55 - Sony makes good, doles out identity protection activation codes for PSN and Qriocity users51:28 - TweetDeck and Twitter, together at last54:00 - Duke Nukem Forever goes gold, will meet promised June deadline (really!)Hear the podcastSubscribe to the podcast[iTunes] Subscribe to the Podcast directly in iTunes (enhanced AAC).[RSS MP3] Add the Engadget Podcast feed (in MP3) to your RSS aggregator and have the show delivered automatically.[RSS AAC] Add the Engadget Podcast feed (in enhanced AAC) to your RSS aggregator.[Zune] Subscribe to the Podcast directly in the Zune MarketplaceDownload the podcastLISTEN (MP3)LISTEN (AAC)LISTEN (OGG)Contact the podcastSend your questions to @tim_stevens.Leave us a voicemail: (423) 438-3005 (GADGET-3005)E-mail us: podcast at engadget dot comTwitter: @tim_stevens @bheater
Windows Phone Mango and Bing Vision hands-on
We're done listening, it's time to start doing. Microsoft had a number of Windows Phone Mango devices scattered about after this morning's intimate event concluded. So we grabbed one, went somewhere quiet, and got a little more intimate with the operating system itself, checking out the new hubs, groups, and Bing Vision search that should make cross-shopping a whole lot easier. Join us, won't you, to see what Mango is -- and what it isn't. %Gallery-124322%
Windows Phone 'Mango' search offers location-specific results, app integration (video)
Windows Phone's latest iteration (codename Mango) is all about keeping it in the hood. We had a chance to sit down with a Windows Phone rep before today's big reveal, and they let us in on a couple of new features that will most definitely set the OS apart -- at least when it comes to navigating the tangled web that is the internet. We did get a quick glimpse at IE9, but the new browser isn't much of a game changer -- it supports HTML5, but still won't deliver Flash or Silverlight compatibility. The real news here is in the Bing-powered search function, which lets users surf the vast expanses of the web four different ways, with a focus on the local. Clicking the dedicated search button from the Windows Phone home screen takes you to a familiar Bing page, offering the visual, audio, and voice options we heard rumored earlier this month, along with a city scape icon. That skyline represents Local Scout, a function that focuses your queries on the neighborhood you're in, providing location-specific results that highlight important information about establishments and events in your immediate area. Clicking through on any link brings up general information as well as reviews gleaned from popular user-generated sites. That's not all that's new, however, as Mango also offers some nifty tricks in its visual search. Instead of just snapping a barcode, you can actually use a shot of the product itself to bring up information about pricing, availability, and relevant apps. The demo we saw used the cover of The Girl Who Played With Fire, and supplied among the search results a link to the title in the Kindle app. This isn't exactly groundbreaking technology -- Google Goggles does much the same thing -- but what's truly different here is the tight integration of such functions in the operating system, as well as links to outside applications. Thus, the experience is a bit unlike any other in the OS atmosphere, upending our idea of what it means to search the internets without resorting to standalone programs. Whether it's something users will take to is anybody's guess, but we're certain it's enough to get folks talking. For a deeper (and very vertical) look at Local Scout, hop on past the break.
Bing's 'friend effect' search tool uses Facebook 'Like' button to affect your results
If you'll recall, Google has been pushing social integration into its search algorithm quite aggressively for the past few months; lest we forget the versatile +1 button. Not to be out done by Team Google's spider-crawling and link-snatching ways, Microsoft has announced full-on Facebook integration for Bing. They're referring to it as, the "Friend Effect." So, what's the difference? While Google's approach aggregates its standard search results with shared content from the social networks you've manually linked to your account, Bing's approach relies upon the ol' Facebook "Like" button. Basically, Microsoft found that most people usually want opinions from friends and family before they make a decision on something. So by including friends' and families' Facebook-based Likes in the search results the company lets you know their input without ever having to ask. At the same time, Microsoft has added a universal like button to the Bing Toolbar that you can use to mark your approval on anything you find on the web, which in turn, can help out your friends' searches in a socially, antisocial kind of way. Bing uses "Collective IQ" of the internet hive-mind to optimize search results should your friends lack opinions about your interests. Bing's Friend Effect search integration is pretty interesting stuff, and it could definitely offer a compelling alternative to Google's social search approach if your Facebook "friends" can truly be classified as such. Check out the videos after the break if you want more detail, and be sure to let us know what team you're on in the comments below.
Latest WP7 Mango leak hints at added Windows Messenger support
The upcoming Windows Phone update is looking better with each subsequent leak. What initially appeared to be primarily targeted toward programmers has since begun bearing fruit on the user's end, a trend continued with this latest unauthorized glimpse. We're certainly taking it with a few tablespoons of salt -- the Mango screens appeared on and were subsequently pulled from Chinese site Cnblogs -- but we like what we see. Perhaps most significant among the newly glimpsed features here is integration between WP7's People hub and Windows Live Messenger, making it possible to IM people directly from the contacts list. Also present, Bing Image Search, support for East Asian languages, and added SkyDrive functionality, which we've already seen previewed. No doubt we'll be hearing more on this very subject in the near future. More info as the story ripens. [Thanks, All]
Windows Phone 7 updates Bing to find music and barcodes, provide turn-by-turn directions and send speech-to-text SMS?
Developers are getting plenty of toys alongside Windows Phone 7's "Mango" release, but there may be extra baubles for regular users, too -- Microsoft will reportedly add a few features to Bing in the near future which could prove particularly useful. According to the latest episode of the Windows Phone Dev Podcast -- which hosted Microsoft's Brandon Watson as a guest -- a new function called Bing Audio will act like a Shazam for recognizing music (and will sell you Zune tracks) while Bing Vision will use your smartphone's camera to read barcodes and do optical character recognition, plus potentially provide support for augmented reality apps. There's also allegedly turn-by-turn voice directions for Bing Maps and a native podcast player, and one more potentially exciting thing -- voice-to-text for sending SMS messages without lifting a finger. Hear all about the rumor at our source link, at just about the 40-minute mark. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
BlackBerry to integrate Bing services at the OS level (update: video)
Steve Ballmer made an appearance today at BlackBerry World 2011 and after briefly pimping Windows Phone live on stage, announced a partnership between Microsoft and RIM to integrate Bing into BlackBerry products. In addition to making Bing the default search and map provider for all BlackBerry devices going forward, the services will be added at the OS level instead of being bundled as a series of apps. This will provide features ranging from voice and location-aware search to panorama stitching. It also suggests that we'll likely see another iteration of the BlackBerry OS beyond version 7 -- based on QNX, perhaps? -- sometime before the holidays. Update: We dropped in a video after the break demonstrating a future (aka, this coming holiday season) where Bing is integrated into the BlackBerry OS. Hope you can handle the hipness.
Microsoft releases Bing search app tailored specifically to the iPad
Are you finding the Bing iOS app not quite as tablet-optimized as it could be? Microsoft seems to agree with you, as it's just released a new version of Bing designed to make the most of the iPad's more spacious dimensions. It works with both generations of the tablet, though iOS 4.2 is required, and brings an arsenal of goodies to tempt users into giving it a try. A trends area will serve up the top-searched items on Bing, a dedicated movie- and trailer-searching section will help make your matinee decisions that little bit easier, and multiple map views will enlighten you with turn-by-turn directions and real-time transit info. There are even weather updates for up to five cities via MSN Weather and, if for whatever reason you don't find the touch-centric interface to your liking, there's a Bing Voice Search option as well. All for free. On the iPad. Boy, that must bruise some egos up in the Redmond. Video after the break.
Bing search engine arrives on iPad
Machines that go 'Bing!' now include your iPad. Microsoft's search tool has surfaced on the iOS App Store, and a first look at Bing for iPad (free) shows it to be a solid and well-designed competitor to Google and the parade of news, weather and search apps that have appeared for Apple's tablet in the last year. The app has been available for iPhone and iPod touch for quite a while and is now in version 2.1. Although there's probably no truth to the rumor that Bing stands for "Bing is not Google," the search service has been steadily gaining market share (usually at the expense of Yahoo!) since it first appeared in 2009. The iPad app should help Microsoft's plans for domination of the search world and give them a good solid grounding in how to design apps for future Windows-based tablets. Launching the app displays a changing photo, with small transparent squares on it that appear when you tap on the picture. Each of those squares links to a search result for a fun topic; today's photo of the John Day Fossil Beds in Oregon had links to a map, a paleontology song by They Might Be Giants and a gallery of beautiful photos of the area. %Gallery-120614%
Bing for Mobile portal gets updated, brings HTML5-based fanciness
Whatever Google (and Yahoo!) can do, Bing can do better? It doesn't exactly have that so-called ring to it, but Bing has proven to be a legitimate contender in the search wars -- particularly on the mobile side. This week, Microsoft launched a number of updates to the Bing for Mobile browse portal, giving users access to better and faster image search, real-time transit and directions, app search for the iPhone, and more. The new version relies on HTML5, and the company assures us that Windows Phone 7 support for the updates (and HTML5) will be available later in the year. On-the-go users will also see transit directions (real-time in Boston, San Francisco, Seattle, Chicago, and Los Angeles), a reorganized shopping experience, automated weather suggestions and app / movie searches. Head on down to the source link (on your phone, of course) to see if any of the new features have you sold.
ComScore: Microsoft becomes second for online video in one month (update)
Earlier this month, we got word that Bing had surpassed Yahoo! as the world's second most used search engine, and now Microsoft's solidifying its place as runner-up, coming in behind YouTube as the internet's number two provider of streaming video, with 48 million unique viewers in February. According to ComScore's latest ranking of online video providers, the software giant went from number seven to number two in just one month, bumping Yahoo! down to third place. Of course, YouTube is still way out in front, with over 140 million visitors, but given the speed with which it leaped ahead, we'd say Bing is doing something right. Check out more online video results after the break. Update: Well, as it turns out, Microsoft wasn't number two for video in February, after all. We received an e-mail this morning informing us that ComScore made a correction to its numbers, showing VEVO as the runner-up, with 49 million unique viewers last month. That doesn't change the software giant's leap ahead -- it's still holding down third place, with 48 million -- but it certainly looks like someone's got some stiff competition. Check out the updated chart above for the new numbers.
Kayak to provide travel and flight search results within Microsoft's Bing
Bing Travel just so happened to be the one major aspect of Bing that kept us coming back, and now it's about to get even more irresistible. The famed Kayak flight search engine will soon be powering Microsoft's Bing Travel, with the two locking down a partnership that'll bring better results to consumers while enabling Bing admins to focus their attention on more pressing matters. According to Kayak, Bing will have access to "all" of Kayak's travel search services globally, and it looks as if the integration will be complete "in the coming weeks." Call it a hunch, but something tells us the folks are Redmond are just stacking up ammunition to face a new wave of inevitable competition -- if that Google / ITA deal ever clears regulatory hurdles, it'll be On Like Donkey Kong.
Bing advances past Yahoo! to become world's second most used search engine -- with 4.4 percent
How far we've come from the heady days when Microsoft was willing to splash $44 billion to acquire Yahoo! Since then, the online portal has done whatever the opposite of going from strength to strength is, and today it's suffered the somewhat predictable ignominy of losing its second spot in search to Microsoft's upstart Bing. Statcounter places the February global share of search at 4.4 percent for Microsoft and 3.9 percent for Yahoo! (the Redmond giant can actually lay claim to a bigger slice since Bing "powers" Yahoo! search results in some countries), neither of which should give Google much reason for concern while it's sitting pretty with a share of just under 90 percent. It's the first time Google has dipped below the 90 percent mark for a long time, but Statcounter says "it shows little sign of losing its global dominance any time soon." So that settles that.
Nokia and Microsoft enter strategic alliance on Windows Phone, Bing, Xbox Live and more
It's happened. Former Microsoft exec and current Nokia CEO Stephen Elop has married his future and his past in the holy matrimony of a "strategic alliance." Windows Phone is becoming Nokia's "principal smartphone strategy," but there's a lot more to this hookup -- scope out the official press release just after the break. Microsoft's Bing and adCenter will provide search and ad services across Nokia devices, while Nokia will look to innovate "on top of the platform" with things like its traditional strength in imaging. Ovi Maps will be a core part of Microsoft's mapping services and will be integrated with Bing, while Nokia's content store will be integrated into (read: assimilated by) Microsoft's Marketplace. Xbox Live and Office will also, as is to be expected, feature on these brave new Microkia handsets. An open letter on Nokia's Conversations site, penned jointly by Stephen Elop and Steve Ballmer, sets out the foregoing details along with the following statement of intent: "There are other mobile ecosystems. We will disrupt them. There will be challenges. We will overcome them. Success requires speed. We will be swift. Together, we see the opportunity, and we have the will, the resources and the drive to succeed."
Bing adds playable games to search results
At approximately 3:00pm ET, Joystiq blogger Richard Mitchell was assigned an article regarding the Bing search engine now including playable games in its search results. For example, if a user were to search the term "blackjack," the results page will include a playable version of blackjack embedded directly in the search engine itself. Furthermore, players can log into either Facebook or Windows Live to compare scores with friends. Mr. Mitchell is believed to have begun a game of Bejeweled 3 for research purposes. He has not been heard from since. Should any reader discover the whereabouts of Mr. Mitchell, please contact Joystiq immediately. For the sake of your loved ones, it is recommended that you do not examine the list of available games after the break.
Google responds: Bing recycles search results, and we'd like it to stop
Google accused Microsoft of copying search results this morning, and the company's sticking to its guns: in response to Microsoft's firm denial -- "We do not copy Google's results" -- it's released another tiny batch of evidence to the contrary and a call for Microsoft to discontinue the practice for good. Mind you, Google search engineer Amit Singhal doesn't explicitly call out its competitor for "copying" results -- rather, "recycling" them through a clever combination of Microsoft Internet Explorer and the Bing Toolbar -- but the message is clear. Google wants you to view its search results as the originals, and doesn't really care how sincere Microsoft's flattery might be.
Google accuses Bing of 'cheating,' piggybacking off its search results (updated)
You could say Bing is taking a cue from its competition, but it seems to be more literally taking search results as well. Google Fellow Amit Singhal is claiming so much and has provided some amusing (if not totally clever) results from its "Bing Sting." Here's how it works: find a search term that returns no matches for either site, make a "honeypot" page manually appear for the term, then have about 20 Google employees make the search (and click the top link) using Internet Explorer with both Suggested Sites and the Bing Toolbar on. Within two weeks, Singhal claims, a handful (about 7 to 9) of the 100 or so "honeypot" results were popping up in Bing. Bizarre choices, too, like mbrzxpgjys, hiybbprqag, and indoswiftjobinproduction. So, is this "cheating," as Singhal specifically alleges? The experiment had to be run with Bing's toolbar and / or Suggested Search feature activated, which it explicitly says are used to collect data and improve services. And more popular search terms do return different results, It's not as if Microsoft is using non-public information, but is this an example of taking an unfair shortcut? That's a debate we imagine with rage for quite some time. Update: Microsoft's been sending out the following statement from Stefan Weitz, director of Bing: We use multiple signals and approaches in ranking search results. The overarching goal is to do a better job determining the intent of the search so we can provide the most relevant answer to a given query. Opt-in programs like the toolbar help us with clickstream data, one of many input signals we and other search engines use to help rank sites. That's pretty ambiguous, so ZDNet's Mary Jo Foley pressed for a followup and was flatly told "We do not copy Google's results." We're sure there's going to be a lot more analysis and discussion to come -- this ought to be fun.
Toyota Entune in-car infotainment system interfaces with your smartphone, does everything but drive
Ford and Microsoft have been all over the smartphone-car integration scene with their SYNC system, but now it's Toyota's turn. The outfit is launching a major initiative here at CES to make your vehicle more than just a mode of transportation, with the Entune infotainment system offering Bluetooth, a host of mobile apps and the ability to read-back and replay text messages. Entune is expected to launch as an option on "select models" later this year, with featured apps including Bing, iheartradio, MovieTickets.com, OpenTable and Pandora, not to mention location-based services such as personalized traffic, fuel prices, stock alerts, weather reports and sports scores. It'll rely on voice commands and in-vehicle controls, enabling users to be informed and empowered while traveling. Aside from giving motorists the ability to reserve a table as they're en route to an eatery and order a movie ticket for later, it's also a fully-featured entertainment center -- you'll get access to HD Radio, a CD player, USB connectivity and Bluetooth audio streaming. Best of all, the entire setup is firmware upgradable via OTA updates, so the risk of obsolesce is lessened a good bit. We're hoping to get some hands-on time with an Entune-equipped whip here on the show floor, and we'll be sure to share our impressions just as soon as we do. For now, feel free to get a closer look in the gallery below and the video after the break. %Gallery-112384%
