Search engines

Latest News

Bing visual search declares war on Cooliris
Lost for words? 14 September 2009 21:43 GMT
Bing, Microsoft's search engine, has demoed a new "Visual search" tool which it hopes will help people find what they are looking for even when they are lost for the right words.

Called Visual Search, the new service allows you to "formulate and refine your...
Which search engine is top of the pile?
Caffeine vs Google vs Bing vs Wolfram Alpha vs Facebook vs Twitter 11 August 2009 23:53 GMT
With the news earlier of Google's improvements to its search engine, we thought it best to put it through its paces up against the rival pack in the shape of the current Google, Microsoft's Bing, Mr Wolfram's Wolfram Alpha, Facebook's new search offering and the real-time...
Google Caffeine: New version of Google search inbound
Major update in the works 11 August 2009 4:12 GMT
Google has announced that it has been working on a "secret project" to improve the company's core product: its search engine.

"The new infrastructure sits "under the hood" of Google's search engine, which means that most users won't notice a difference in search...
COMMENT: Microsoft will swallow Yahoo in the end
Wednesday was just the start of the demise of the Yahoo 30 July 2009 2:14 GMT
The deal is done, Microsoft and Yahoo have finally created a merger of sorts, but what does it really mean?

While the business press will claim that someone has sold out to someone else and the markets will probably dip because no hard cash has actually been...
VIDEO: Microsoft and Yahoo announce search deal
10-year partnership finally reached 29 July 2009 14:10 GMT
Microsoft and Yahoo have finally announced an agreement that will see the two giants team up against Google on web and search.

"In simple terms" the companies say Microsoft will now power Yahoo search via Bing, while Yahoo will become the exclusive worldwide...
Microsoft launches "Page Hunt" game
To improve Bing results 28 July 2009 16:00 GMT
Microsoft has announced a little game that it's created to try and improve the search results on its Google competitor Bing. It's called Page Hunt, and asks you to guess what searches would lead you to a displayed page.

If the query you search for has the website...
Wolfram Alpha offers Morse code translation
Dot, dot, dot, dash, dash 27 July 2009 18:13 GMT
Computational knowledge engine Wolfram Alpha has added another string to its bow with the news it can now "translate" Morse code.

In a blog post, the site says: "Although Morse code is no longer used for mainstream communication, many people continue to tap...
Google Creative Commons images search has major problems
It doesn't work 20 July 2009 17:53 GMT
Google's recently launched tool on its image search that identifies images and can be re-used for free under the Creative Commons (and similar) licence appears to be grossly inaccurate.

The search engine is currently returning image results of many obviously...
Bing bigger than Digg and Twitter
But traffic still lower than Live.com 9 July 2009 14:35 GMT
Microsoft's Bing search engine has only been live for about a month, but already its traffic is healthy, with nearly 50 million unique US visitors in its first month.

That's more than social media luminaries Digg and Twitter, and bigger than news website CNN.com....
Wolfram Alpha seeks "volunteer curators"
Going down the Wikipedia route with contributors 7 July 2009 17:07 GMT
Computational knowledge engine Wolfram Alpha is taking a leaf out of Wikipedia's virtual book with the search for "volunteer curators".

"If you're as excited about Wolfram Alpha as we are, and want to help out, consider becoming a volunteer curator", the site...
Bing exiting Beta in more countries
Including the UK 7 July 2009 15:22 GMT
Microsoft has announced that its "decision engine" Bing will be emerging, blinking in the light, free from its beta tag in Australia, Canada, China, Japan and the UK. It's already out of beta in the US.

None of those countries currently have versions of Bing...
Microsoft Bing gets real-time Twitter search
Recent tweets to be included in results 2 July 2009 10:51 GMT
Microsoft's new search engine, Bing, has announced it will be introducing real-time search data from micro-blogging service Twitter to its results.

Describing the move as an "initial foray into integrating more real time data into our search results", it's...
Google talks visual search
New tech can recognise landmarks 23 June 2009 10:18 GMT
Google is working on visual search through "computer vision". Although at this stage the research is limited, it could hint towards the future of online search using images as input media, rather than text.

Revealed as a Google team is presenting a paper on...
British Library puts 19th century newspapers online
Posterity preserved 18 June 2009 9:53 GMT
The British Library has announced that it's placed 2 million digitised and searchable newspapers pages online that date from as far back as 1800.

The service, which isn't free but is available on a pay-as-you-go basis, will let you crawl through the pages of...
VIDEO: What is a browser?
Less than 8% of New Yorkers have a clue 17 June 2009 16:51 GMT
In what seems to be a Google Chrome research project, 50 passersby in Times Square were asked what a browser is. Hit play to see the surprising results. Do you think the outcome would be different in another city, or do the general public really not get it?
Kosher "Koogle" search engine goes live
New site for Orthodox Jews 16 June 2009 10:37 GMT
A new search engine has launched in Israel, aimed at a specific market. "Koogle" is for "religiously devout Jews" that are apparently otherwise barred by rabbis from surfing the Internet.

Orthodox rabbis, said to restrict use of the web to ensure followers avoid...
Wolfram Alpha sees first big update
Wales now exists 10 June 2009 9:58 GMT
Computational knowledge engine Wolfram Alpha has received a big update just three weeks in to its launch that sees about 1.1 million data value tweaks.

In a blog post the site has revealed: "As one step in our ongoing, long-term development process, we’ve just...
Microsoft launches Bing Travel
Helping consumers make smart travel decisions 5 June 2009 15:27 GMT
Following the launch of the Bing search (or "decision") engine, Microsoft has announced the launch of "Bing Travel" in the US which it says "will help consumers make smart travel decisions through a variety of innovative tools and features".

Bing Travel combines...
Google launches "Squared" experimental search tool
The company's answer to Wolfram Alpha 4 June 2009 17:03 GMT
Internet giant Google has recently been faced with a few upstarts in the search area, namely Wolfram Alpha and Microsoft's "Bing", both of which attempt to categorise results, rather than just providing a list of links.

While we at Pocket-lint aren't convinced...
VIDEO: Microsoft Bing ad revealed as mobile version goes live
"Cut through the cr**" 3 June 2009 17:38 GMT
"Bing and decide". Er, if you say so. Here's Microsoft's first ad for Bing, its revamped search engine. Meanwhile the stripped down mobile version, at m.bing.com has gone live.
Stephen Wolfram announces Q and A session
Pose your puzzlers on 4 June 3 June 2009 17:02 GMT
This Thursday 4 June at 4pm CDT, Stephen Wolfram is to stage a question and answer session based around the comments, suggestions and questions that have been received relating to the Wolfram Alpha search engine.

The Wolfram Alpha blog states that "he’ll discuss...
Bing live, Microsoft warns over sex searches
Company explains safesearch functionality 1 June 2009 11:08 GMT
As promised, Bing is now live in the UK, and you can go and try it by typing bing.com into your browser. However, before you spend too much time on the site, you might want to be sure that safe search is on.

Microsoft has issued instructions via Twitter on how...
VIDEO: Microsoft Bing search engine
How it works video 29 May 2009 7:54 GMT
Microsoft has announced that it's rebranding is search engine offering to Bing and with it released a video to show us what it's all about.

Although not all features shown in the video are planned for the UK version it's still interesting to see how Microsoft...
Bing officially announced by Microsoft
Beta launch in UK planned for "coming days" 28 May 2009 17:10 GMT
Microsoft has just officially announced its revamp to Live Search - Bing - proving Pocket-lints previous reporting correct. The new search service will be located at Bing.com, and roll out over the coming days to replace Live Search entirely.

Bing will launch...
Microsoft Bing going live 29 May
Live Search upgrade due imminently 28 May 2009 12:44 GMT
Pocket-lint has learnt from industry sources that Microsoft's revamp to Live Search - codenamed Kumo and now titled "Bing" - will be going live on Friday 29 May.

As previously reported, the new search engine will apparently be a significant upgrade to Live Search,...