Articles about Bing

Getty Images Inc is suing Microsoft for "massive infringement" of copyright. Microsoft's recently released Bing Image Widget enables people to display images on a website based on search terms. The automatically generated code creates image slideshows and galleries that pull in images from Bing -- Getty's complaint centers around the fact that the widget displays unlicensed images from its catalog that are subject to copyright. The Seattle-based stock image company says that Microsoft has turned the images that can be found online into "a vast, unlicensed clip art collection".

The lawsuit, filed at the US District Court for the Southern District of New York, says that the injury caused to Getty is "incalculable" and calls for the widget to be blocked immediately. The level of damages sought is not specified, but Getty's lawsuit suggests that the company has more than 80 million unique images in its library. Getty has its own image embedding tool, and John Lapham, general counsel for the company, explained to Reuters that it is "only available for non-commercial websites and includes photographer attribution".

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I am hardly a degenerate gambler, but I do enjoy my fair-share of games of chance. Whenever I go on a cruise, I can likely be found sitting at the roulette table or penny slot machine. While I do play for real money, I bet small and usually retire to other things after I lose $50 or so.

One aspect of gambling that I never tried is sports-betting. For the most part, I enjoy sports on their own, but many people need the thrill of gambling to truly enjoy watching it. Today, Microsoft announces that Bing can now predict the winner in NFL games -- for my foreign friends, that is American Football. If Microsoft's search engine proves reliable, it could be a great tool for gamblers.

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Technology is almost always shrinking. The only thing that seems to keep getting physically bigger is displays (monitors). This is the reason that smartphones are now getting huge -- people like more real estate on which to work. Before the smartphone was popularized, cell phones were getting ridiculously tiny.

Home computers have been shrinking too -- laptops keep getting thinner, and desktops keep getting smaller. However, desktops still command too much of a footprint on a desk. The tiny Raspberry Pi, when paired with Linux, showed the world what could be, but Windows machines would never achieve such size, right? Wrong. Today, Zotac unveils a Windows computer that is impossibly small -- the ZBOX PI320 pico.

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The land of the rising sun, Japan, has some bustling cities. That can lead to headaches for tourists attempting to navigate the foreign surroundings -- not the easiest thing to traverse, as many travelers have learned.

However, Bing is attempting to improve on this, adding new features to its mapping service within the nation. Multiple updates have been made to the services.

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Microsoft’s Bing Maps team has made a major update to its service, adding Streetside views (its version of Google’s Street View) to 64 new cities, and 3D maps to 29 new cities.

Among the new cities gaining Streetside views are Atlanta, Boston, Denver, Las Vegas, and Chicago. All of the Streetside additions are in the US. The new list of 3D cities also focuses on American locations, including Atlanta, Denver, and New Orleans, but Copenhagen in Denmark and Toronto, Vancouver and Victoria in Canada are also included.

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Back in May, the EU Court of Justice ruled that people have a "right to be forgotten" from search results. Google fairly quickly set up an online form to allow complainants to put forward their case for censoring their appearance in results. It didn’t take long for Microsoft to follow suit, and Bing users were soon afforded the same option.

Forget.me was one service that offered to take care of Google removal requests for people, and at the time CEO Bertrand Girin promised that "if Bing and Yahoo get their Right to be Forgotten forms in order, we’ll be able to provide you with the possibility of submitting your URL to all three search engines at the same time." For Microsoft, that day has come.

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Bing is a wonderful search engine. My love for it is hardly a secret, as I declared my affection earlier today. However, while Internet Explorer is getting better all the time, Chrome is still my preferred browser on Windows, Linux and OS X. Unfortunately, using Bing as the default search engine on Chrome just felt wrong. I pictured Google employees spying on my web activity and shaking their heads in disappointment at my horrible crime.

Of course, that is not really happening (I hope), but still Bing on Chrome felt out of place and third-rate in comparison to Google. Today, this changes as Bing comes to new tabs in the Chrome browser.

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Google is a great search engine, but so is Bing. Many people dismiss Microsoft's offering without even trying it. This is a shame, as people do not know what they are missing. While its search-results are relevant and appropriate, there is so much more. Google is simplistic in its design, but Microsoft creates a world of color, images and discovery to bring life to the overall experience. There are benefits to both design choices and it is a personal preference, but I prefer beauty over a white page with a Google logo.

Besides all of those benefits of Bing, one of my favorites is Rewards. Essentially, Microsoft will pay you to use its search engine. Is it bribery? Sort of, I suppose. However, if you are searching anyway, why not take advantage of it? In addition to Rewards, Microsoft has Bing Offers, which lists special deals for Bing users (sort of like Groupon). Today, Microsoft announces that it is expanding Bing Offers beyond the web with a new program called Bing Offers Card-Linked -- uninspired name, but cool concept.

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If you live in Europe and don't like the fact that Binging yourself throws up results you'd rather didn’t appear, Microsoft has created a form you can use to request removal of these links from searches. (Yeah, ok…Bing doesn't really work as a verb in the same way as Google. Lesson learned.) Not all that long ago, Google was forced to consider censoring search results that people considered to be out of date, incorrect or irrelevant -- it's a ruling that has been dubbed the right to be forgotten. A form was set up to make it easier for people with complaints to get in touch, and now Microsoft has followed suit and created a Request to Block Bing Search Results In Europe form.

Filling in the form is absolutely no guarantee that a search result will be removed -- and it is important to remember that this is only about removing links from search results, not removing actual content. Or, as Microsoft puts it in the form:

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I am quite far removed from high school, but I recall the horror well. While hardly a war zone, the environment was definitely not conducive to learning. Many teenagers are not motivated for anything other than the opposite sex (or same sex in some cases). Not to mention, there are drugs and alcohol amongst other distractions. And so, it is imperative that the school keep the teens on-track.

Unfortunately, not all schools are created equally. Even worse, for the most part, where you live dictates where you go to school. In other words, if you live in a town with a bad school district, your child is pretty much out of luck. Of course, if you can afford it, there are private schools that may offer a better learning experience. The problem becomes, how do you know which schools are good and which are bad? Don't worry, Microsoft has your back. You see, starting today, Bing can tell you if a school sucks or not.

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Last night, Germany won against Argentina in the World Cup 2014 final. It was a good game, with, dare I say, an expected outcome for those who watched both teams closely during the competition. But, for tech enthusiasts, there is a second winner, and that is Microsoft's Bing.

Through the Windows Phone 8.1 personal assistant, Cortana, Bing predicted the winners in 15 out of the 16 World Cup 2014 games in the knockout stage. It only failed to foresee that The Netherlands would win against Brazil in the fight for third place. This remarkable achievement shows to prove that, contrary to what some might believe, Bing really has what it takes to shine when the pressure is on.

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My colleague Joe Wilcox is currently entrenched in an all-Microsoft lifestyle and I am enjoying reading about it. I too have been using Microsoft's products lately, including the wonderful Surface Pro 3 and Nokia Lumia Icon. The combination of that tablet and smartphone create quite the awesome experience.

One of my favorite things about Microsoft's desktop and mobile operating systems is Bing Apps. It keeps me in touch with things like news, weather and sports to name a few. While that is nothing unique, it is the overall fluid design that makes it a treat to use. Today, Microsoft announces that it is updating Bing Apps for Windows Phone, but there is a catch -- it is an 8.1 affair only.

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I'll let you in on a secret -- I was not a good student. I was more interested in daydreaming and staring out the window than learning about long division and history. I would wait all year for summer vacation so I could turn my brain off for a couple of months. While some people liked to read during the vacation, I much preferred flattening pennies on the railroad tracks, running around barefoot in the grass or throwing rocks at a random object like a stop sign. Book learnin' during the summer months was for suckers.

Today, Microsoft announces plans to ruin summer vacation for kids with the power of Bing. Yes, the company actually wants kids to learn while off from school. Will you make your kid learn?

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Some people say Google is better than Bing, and maybe they are right. However, that is a subjective statement. What they really mean to say is that Google is better for them. In reality they are both great search engines with different pros and cons. My favorite aspect of Microsoft's search engine is Bing Rewards -- a program that rewards users for searching. Hell, if you are searching anyways, why not get rewarded?

Sadly, Microsoft released a Bing Rewards app for Android and iOS, but not its own Windows Phone platform. This was hugely disappointing for users of Microsoft's mobile operating system, including myself. Today, Microsoft levels the playing field and makes it available for Windows Phone too.

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I am a huge fan of the NBA -- the New York Knicks to be precise. Basketball is a great sport as it does not require too much equipment. You can visit any park with a hoop and bring nothing but the basketball and spend hours just fooling around. This is in contrast to something like baseball, where everyone needs a glove and you have to find a bat, or hockey where everyone needs a stick. This makes basketball the ideal global sport, especially in low income areas.

Besides watching games on TV or live at Madison Square Garden, there is something else I love -- the draft. If you aren't familiar, every year NBA teams are ranked from worst to best based on record, except for the top 3 which are chosen by lottery. Also, since draft picks can be traded, this can alter the list too. Hell, some teams don't even have picks as a result of trades, such as my Knicks this year. Then, one by one, teams select eligible amateur players to join their teams, for a total of 60 new players (30 in the first round, 30 in the second round). Today, Microsoft announces that Bing has gained the ability to predict the NBA Draft. The question is, how accurate will it be?

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