I love Bing. There aren’t many products (Xbox) that I’ll admit to being a fanboy of but Bing is getting pretty close to that status for me. I’m an oddity because most people don’t use Bing at all; either because they’ve used it and didn’t get the results they wanted, or based on word of mouth about it being so terrible. I don’t know where you fall, but I would bet most of you reading this don’t use or even like Bing. That’s unfortunate because you’re missing out.

Yes, Bing is good. But why do so many people hate it? Why do so many googlers refuse to even give it a try? Why do those who actually do give it a try, enter one search query, fail to get the results they want, and go back to Google, never giving Bing a second chance?

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Google Glass may not have been officially released to the public yet (it is currently only available to testers dubbed "Glass Explorers" by Google), but mobile security juggernaut Lookout has already found a security vulnerability that makes it possible to hack the wearable computer for potentially dangerous and malicious purposes.

The vulnerability impacting Google Glass is initiated through QR codes -- basically advanced barcodes. By design, a Glass user can scan these barcodes with the device's camera to do things such as perform an action or change a setting. While this provides beneficial functionality to the user, it also offers a new gateway for malicious hackers.

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Google showed off a new version of Google Maps for the web at its I/O conference back in May, but made the updated preview invite only. Yesterday, the search giant finally opened up the new Maps to all -- no sign up required. Just go to Google's Explore Maps page, click the Try Now button, and you’re ready to start using it.

In addition to that, a week after Google rolled out a "new mapping experience" for Android smartphones and tablets, the firm has updated its app for iOS devices, introducing the same enhanced search and navigation features, as well as an optimized iPad design.

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Work on the Eiffel Tower began in 1887 and was completed two years later. It was originally intended to stand for just 20 years, but the iron lattice construction has remained as a symbol of the country ever since. The monument stands 324.00 meters in height overlooking the European city.

Now Google, as it is wont to do, has decided that the massive structure needs a digital home. "The Google Cultural Institute and the Eiffel Tower Operating Company have teamed up to create three immersive online exhibitions which blend fascinating historical material with a sprinkling of technological magic. In order to capture the imagery, the Street View team followed", says Mark Yoshitake, Head of Product and User Experience for Google Cultural Institute.

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Get out your wallet and prepare your foreign investment portfolio because, just as Jimmy Buffet tells us it is always five o'clock somewhere, the market is also always open somewhere. Google Finance today grows a bit fatter, adding even more of those exchanges to its reporting.

Greg Pennington, Product Manager for Google Finance announces "we want you to have the world’s financial data at your fingertips. We’ve launched five new exchanges on Google Finance".

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Google has released Google Chrome 28 for Windows, Mac and Linux. The latest version of its open-source, cross-platform web browser sees Google implement the latest revision of its web rendering engine -- Blink -- and also give apps and extensions a better platform for interacting with users outside of the main browser window.

As part of the switch to a "richer" notification system, Chrome introduces a new Notification Center, which works independently of the browser via the taskbar or menubar. Already present in Chrome OS, the center currently only appears on Windows builds with this stable release, but will be extended to Mac and Linux shortly.

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Google has started rolling out a new version of Google Maps for Android devices, with plans to update the iOS edition "soon".

According to Daniel Graf, Director, Google Maps, the updated app builds on the version Google released for the iPhone last December, but improves on it by adding additional search and navigation features, as well as a dedicated design for iPads and Android tablets.

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Ever since Edward Snowden leaked what seems to be the mother lode of the decade, the internet has been fervently abuzz with speculation about Prism. The (aptly named) program was setup by the United States NSA (National Security Agency) to work hand in hand with internet giants to cull over mountains of data related to users of numerous services from Facebook to Gmail to Hotmail. Whether or not this information is accurately being used for its intended purpose -- thwarting terror attacks -- is still up for debate. But one thing we do know for sure is not only the type of data being plucked, but more importantly the overarching power this data yields.

It seems the crafty folks at MIT haven't been sitting back and watching this drama unfold. They've gone ahead and launched a representative cloud tool called Immersion that is very accurate in its portrayal of the inner workings of your entire digital life (or at least, the one contained to your Gmail account). National Journal's Brian Fung first covered this astonishing project, and it was since picked up similarly by eWeek.

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Jelly Bean is currently the most popular Android distribution, finally surpassing long-time ruler Gingerbread, based on the number of devices visiting Google Play during the 14 days ending July 8.

Jelly Bean (the first and second iteration) accounts for 37.9 percent (32.3 percent and 5.6 percent, respectively) of all Android devices, besting Gingerbread's 34.1 percent distribution level. The latest sweet in the family also outpaced its predecessor, Ice Cream Sandwich, which currently ranks as the third most popular version with 23.3 percent share.

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On 4 July, the founder of PRserve, Chris Barrett videoed an arrest that followed a fist fight on the Jersey Shore boardwalk.

We live in a world where such actions are routinely recorded on smartphones and uploaded to YouTube, but what makes Chris’s video unusual is he used Google Glass to film it.

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Three weeks and two thousand miles on a bicycle is something few of us could even fathom, especially over the steep peaks of the famed Pyrenees and Alps. The race may be a week into its trip around the roads of the French nation, but it is not too late to pull on your gear, take a deep breath and see what it is like to wrest this year's title away from potential winner Chris Froome before the famed race reaches its conclusion on hallowed Champs-Elysées.

Now Google unveils your opportunity to ride along over the mountain passes and down the narrow streets where sprint finishes are frequently decided and carnage is never far off.

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In the summer of 1947 an unidentified flying object reportedly crashed near Roswell, New Mexico (75 miles north-west to be exact). The "event" was classified by the United States as the crash of an experimental high-altitude weather balloon, and little was made of it at the time. That changed in 1978 when the National Enquirer ran a report of the story and the tin-foil hat crowd jumped on it.

As my friend Brian Dunning, who runs the popular Skeptoid podcast and blog reports: "Stanton Friedman, an obsessed UFO [enthusiast], started interviewing everyone he could find who was still alive who had been connected with the incident and began constructing all sorts of elaborate conspiracies". Regardless if you believe any of this or not, there is no denying it is a fun story and a major tourist draw for the city.

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With privacy higher than ever on the news agenda, it is not surprising people are starting to wake up to the fact they have happily allowed all kinds of personal information about themselves to appear online. It might be too late to stem the tide, but if you are thinking about reviewing your personal privacy, one place to start might be with the apps added to various social networks.

If this idea appeals, then desktop users should install one of MyPermissions Cleaner for Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer and Safari, while iPhone and Android users can go with Online Privacy Shield -- once done, you are ready to start taking action to tighten privacy settings.

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Opera Software made a bold move earlier this year when the company announced that it would use WebKit as its rendering engine and V8 as the JavaScript engine for all new products. Later on it revealed that it would follow Google and use the Blink Fork instead of WebKit, but that did not change the explosiveness of the move.

It took the Norwegian company five months to release the first final version of Opera for PCs that is powered by the new engines. While that seems like a long time for users who wanted to find out how the change would affect them personally, the development time is not that long.

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Just a month after unveiling the first beta to the public, Opera Software has released Opera 15.0 FINAL. The latest version of the browser receives a complete reboot, sporting a different rendering engine, revamped interface and a number of new features.

The new release does not spell the end of the previous version, however, with Opera 12.15 FINAL still available (and due to receive an update shortly) for those reluctant to move on.

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