Bing Search Engine by Microsoft – Ahead of schedule appears to be the theme of this beautiful, bright 1st of June. Microsoft’s anticipated new search engine Bing was originally scheduled to launch on Wednesday, but is already available today. Though it will take more than a couple of hours to decipher just how much of a “Google killer” it is, it does offer some new features that set it apart. When searching travel destinations, for instance, you’ll be provided with real time pricing and availability to make booking fast and seamless. Similarly, online shoppers and those looking for health-related and local information are provided with more customized tools.
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Perhaps because Google revolutionized e-mail and Web searches, the company is getting the benefit of the doubt for its latest app, called Google Wave. Billed as a reinvention of e-mail, Google Wave lets users communicate through a form of instant messaging that can expand into group text editing, event planning, blogging and gaming. It all depends on what extensions developers bring to the table, and how users themselves decide what to do with them. One example at Google’s I/O conference had a robot translating in real time, while another included real time map manipulation between two users. In the end, all of these creations can be searched, collaborated on, tracked or published, if the user chooses. It’s the kind of creation that seems cool in theory, if only we could understand its reason for existence. There’s no word on when Google Wave will be available to the masses, but I/O attendees will get preview accounts later this week. [via PC Magazine]
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Your time is, apparently, important to Google. In upgrading its Chrome Web browser to 2.0, Google says it increased focus on speed and added a few other features in response to user feedback. Notably, users can now hide their most visited pages when opening a new tab, preventing potential embarrassment depending on what you do on the Internet. There’s also a new full screen mode and automatic filling out of forms. As for speed, well, naturally every browser claims it’s the fastest — we heard as much when Internet Explorer 8 was released a couple months back — but Google is challenging you to stack everything up with some benchmark software. If you’re not 100 percent satisfied, you’ll get your money back. Oh wait. [via Google Chrome Blog]
If you live in New York, San Francisco, Chicago, Australia, France or China, among other locales, you may have trouble with Google this morning and afternoon. The Internet giant is suffering packet losses, possibly related to routing issues with AT&T and other yet-unknown problems with NTT and Qwest. Patience, you’ll be fully-functional soon enough, but isn’t it freaky to think about how important Google has become. Safely tucked away in Los Angeles, I’m happily using Gmail and searching for stories with iGoogle. Less fortunate Web surfers might be sorely missing their Google Docs and Calendar, along with Picasa. Sure, there are other search engines, but these Apps can’t be replaced in a pinch, and that’s why even a few hours of Google outages is such big news. [via ZDNet, image from just ping]
The Internet is great and all, but compared to the real world it’s a little flat. The race is on, then, to create a programming standard that will bring 3D graphics to the Web. Mozilla’s been working on its own, and now Google has entered the fray with an open source plug-in, allowing third parties to tinker with the programming interface as they see fit. Gaming would be an obvious use for the 3D standard, as would richer displays of data. For its part, Google wants to develop a browser-based version of Google Earth. The whole concept is in its early stages right now, but there are some samples if you want to get a glimpse of the future — which could very well consist entirely of 3d Pong. [via Ars Technica]
Google unveiled another killer app today in Google Voice, a VoIP suite that, like most of its other apps, costs nothing. Some might recognize the call forwarding features as the resurrection of GrandCentral, which Google purchased in July 2007 and closed to new sign-ups shortly thereafter to inegrate with Google’s own systems. Google Voice adds plenty of new features. High on the list is free calls to all U.S. numbers (international calls incur a fee), but the voicemail transcript and drag-and-drop conference call creation tools are nice as well. Other features include SMS sending and receiving, voicemail screening and personalized greetings. The service is available now for existing GrandCentral users, with support for the masses coming later this month. I’m stoked. [Google Voice via GigaOM]
With the economy in upheaval, it’s getting more and more difficult to establish a reliable investment, or indicator for that matter. To illustrate, two longtime blue chips are currently teetering on the Dow Jones industrial average fence. With stocks dropping below the $2 mark, GM and Citigroup are in peril of getting pushed straight out of the index. Who’s going to replace these economic powerhouses? It looks like it could very well be a player from the tech sector as names like Google, Cisco and Apple have been floating around as possible candidates. While the index is simply a “broad-based but investable measure of the U.S. stock market, intended for use as the basis of investment products”, it’s a step in a prestigious direction for those name brands that we all lust for here at Gear Crave. [Electronista]
Not satisfied with the entrenched popularity of YouTube, Google and Universal are reportedly talking about a collaborative new Web site for hosting music videos. Tentatively called “Vivo,” the site intends to nab more revenue by coming up with a more lucrative solution than YouTube’s beside-the-video display ads. Wall Street Journal’s report doesn’t specify how this would be accomplished, nor does it say why people who already think of YouTube as the place to go for videos would suddenly flock to another site. Perhaps the two companies will try to sweeten the deal with more content in higher resolutions, but no matter what, they’ll have to compete with MTV’s massive library at MTV Music. Other record labels besides Universal could be involved in the discussions, but it’s not clear as of yet. For now, enjoy our wicked awesome screengrab of A-ha. [Wall Street Journal via Ars Technica]
Google has now officially launched Google Latitude, a new way to keep track of your friends, children, and even your boss through the web. The mobile application uses location based technology to track where users go, and then plots their location on a map for people (whom they allow) to see. The application can use GPS, as well as cell-tower technology to determine your location, and allows you input your location manually if you’re phone isn’t able to provide it. The idea is pretty cool. Really you could be at a local bar, and check your phone to se what friends might be nearby that you can invite to join you. The app definitely also have stalker-esque qualities. Sometimes were places we don’t want to be found, or where we don’t want certain people to know we are. [via WSJ]
