Posts Tagged ‘Microsoft’

Microsoft’s search engine Bing wants to focus on social networks and thus catch up with market leader Google. The so-called social search displays advice from friends in addition to the normal results.

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After two years, Microsoft has finally ended the test phase of the German search engine Bing. From the end of January, users have been able to use all features as well as those provided by the local search service Bing Maps. Read the rest of this entry »

Microsoft has released its geodata service “Streetside” in Germany as a new feature on its local search engine, “Bing Maps”. Bing Maps has thus become a competitor on the same level of “Google Maps”, which has offered its own panoramic image service “Street View” for about a year. Read the rest of this entry »

Whoa, the search engine giant is throwing another punch: not only is the social network project Google+ Facebook’s biggest competition while still in its test phase, but Google has now taken over the deal provider The Dealmap.

The goal behind this is quite clear: the internet giant can further expand its own service for deals, Google Offers, which has been in the beta phase and only available for few American cities. Google would then become a powerful player in the couponing market. The Dealmap, which went live just last November, already has two million users and is available online and as a mobile application for several US cities as well as London. Read the rest of this entry »

meinestadt.de is offering something that has been already available from the online directory Das Örtliche since the beginning of the year, and from the local ratings portal Qype since this July: an app for the Windows Phone 7. In cooperation with Microsoft, the city portal developed this special mobile application. The apps for the iPhone and Android smartphones have been available for quite some time.

The app is available in the Windows Marketplace, under http://redir.ec/meinestadt-windowsphone7, to download. The developers have chosen the most popular categories from the vicinity radar for the app, according to allesklar.com. Users that are on-the-go can search for restaurants, cafés, hotels, or ATMs for all German cities and municipalities. Users also receive weather information, events, and film times in the vicinity. The smatphone’s localization is automatically conducted using GPS.
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Europe’s largest rating portal, Qype, has finally released a version of its app for the Windows Phone 7 in cooperation with Microsoft, following the release of the apps for Blackberry, iPhone, and Nokia.
The fact that about 25 percent of all user ratings are composed on a mobile device lead the internet giant to cooperate with the rating portal, according to a press release. Microsoft’s goal: a perfect Qype app for its Windows Phone 7. The app is available for download directly under http://www.qype.com/go-mobile, and offers an exclusive feature for the smartphone: searches can be specialized using a filter and lets users see where their friend are on a map.
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Last year, Microsoft announced its new partnership with its search engine Bing and the social network Facebook. Now, about five months later, we are finally seeing a result: users who have logged into Facebook and then who conduct a search on Bing will see results that friends have recommended using the “like” button. Read the rest of this entry »

Apple has a net worth of 153 billion US Dollars, surpassing the previous leader Google, whose worth dropped to 111 billion USD, according to the market analyst Millward Brown. The US software company Microsoft only got fifth place with a net worth of 78 billion USD. Microsoft’s purchase of the online telephone service Skype may be just what it needs to get back its edge. Read the rest of this entry »

Starting the end of 2011, the standard search engine and map service from Microsoft Bing will be integrated on all new Blackberry devices worldwide. This bit of information was announced by Microsoft’s CEO Steve Ballmer at the Blackberry World in Orlando.
Previously, the Canadian developer Research in Motion (RIM) has offered the services provided by Google. The new cooperation with Microsoft will not only be seen on RIM’s smartphones, but also on their first tablet computer, the Playbook. Accordingly, both of the companies also plan on developing new apps for local and social services or other augmented reality apps.

Bing Maps, Microsoft’s local search engine, will be bringing its geodata service Streetside to Germany. Starting May 9th, the camera cars will begin photographing Germany’s streets and public squares for the panorama view. Microsoft barely had the opportunity to announce their intentions before data security officers began criticizing the plan, similar to the criticism faced by Google Maps’ service Street View. The Bavarian State Office for Data Protection would like to prohibit the photography of private buildings in the event that Microsoft does not offer a possibility to have the photographs excluded. Read the rest of this entry »