Here comes Microsoft's Bing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Surprise! Suprise!! Microsoft has finally launched its revamped search service today and confirmed it has picked Bing as the branding for this new endeavor. Why that name? They announced that: “You probably didn't wake up today expecting an entirely new search experience. But – Bing! – here it is.” Ok… now that we got that embarrassing piece of PR out of the way, we should note that this is not just a rebranding of their previous search engine but rather a major update, touted as a “decision engine,” introducing several new features and a fresh look.

Unlike previous efforts, which mostly focused on returning links to websites based on searched terms and other algorithms, Bing tries to go a step further by actually retrieving and processing data so that results are presented in a predigested manner. For instance, searching for a particular type of restaurant will get you a scorecard for each option, with user comments and ratings for things like service, food, wait time and more.

Shopping searches return pages featuring product reviews and price comparisons, with an emphasis on Microsoft’s CashBack service for rebates, while searching for travel information will present users with options to book tickets and even predicts when the lowest fares will be available – using technology from Farecast.com. General searches are also improved with related searches links based on semantic technology from PowerSet, which it purchased in 2008, and the main search box now also features suggestions as you type.

Overall it seems Microsoft has done some vast improvements to its search product – whether or not it will be enough to steal away any of Google's search market is another thing. Bing needs to seriously impress users to save Microsoft from its dwindling presence in this segment. Unfortunately, the service will not be broadly available until next week.

But you can watch an introductory video here.

Also you can find the new features of Bing here.

And Finally You Can BING it here !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.

Unreal Tournament 3 free on Steam this weekend

Epic has announced that Unreal Tournament 3 Black – a package comprising of the full game and Titan expansion pack – will be free to download and play via Steam starting tomorrow Thursday and through the weekend. Those interested in taking part can start dowloading the files here, now from Valve’s Steam digital distribution service so you’ll be able to play it the moment the free play period begins

Microsoft fianlizes Touch Pack for Windows 7

When Microsoft first started talking about Windows 7 at the All Things Digital conference last year, a lot of focus was put on the touch and gesture integration of the operating system. Since then, millions of curious Windows users have downloaded the beta or release candidate; but while an apparent majority has praised the software for a variety of reasons, few people have actually had a chance to play with its multi-touch features.

This can be attributed to a number of reasons, from the lack of proper drivers and touch-friendly applications, to the mere fact that not everyone has a multi-touch compatible desktop or tablet lying around at home. Regardless of this, Microsoft wants to bring the feature back into the limelight, and thus has just announced a new set of applications that show what’s possible with this novel way of interacting with your PC.

Dubbed the Microsoft Touch Pack for Windows 7, the set comprises of six multi-touch optimized applications and games, including a map application called Microsoft Surface Globe, a simple collage making tool to move and scale photos however you please, and an air hockey game called Rebound. The Touch Pack will be available to PC makers, who’ll have the option of installing these applications on touch-ready systems, when Windows 7 is widely available. You can read more about it at the official Windows Team blog.

Microsoft confirms Zune HD

Microsoft has finally officially confirmed the Zune HD’s existence with some hardware specifications and even an estimated time of availability. As it was speculated all along, the device is meant to compete head to head with Apple’s iPod Touch and could arrive this coming fall.

It will feature a 3.3-inch capacitive OLED touch screen with 480x272 resolution, which will offer some kind of multi-touch functionality, HD radio tuner, HD (720p) video-out, the ability to browse the Web and play high-definition movies. The latest Zune will also be the world’s first portable media player to pack HD radio, which provides song and artist info in addition to spruced up sound quality over conventional radio.

The Zune HD’s 720p output will allow users to feed high-def video to their TV via a dock. The company says that its Zune-branded video service will replace the Xbox 360’s current Xbox Live marketplace for TV and movies. More information regarding the Zune’s Xbox integration and presumably other aspects of Microsoft’s latest attempt at an iPod-killer will be available during E3 next week. For now though, it’s nice to have official recognition, some specifications and an idea of when to expect the device.

Nokia's Ovi Store goes Live

The Apple's App Store has finally got some competition with Nokia Launching its Ovi store.

The Ovi Store by Nokia is finally available on a global basis to more than 50 of the Nokia devices. To access the Ovi Store, which offers both free and commercial content, just point your Nokia phone browser to http://store.ovi.com/. The Ovi Store allows users to purchase and download applications, games, videos, podcasts, productivity tools, web and location-based services plus more.

Customers in some countries will also be able to benefit form the Ovi Store mobile client with automatic operator billing, downloadable from the Download! folder on the phone. The client is available in English, German, Italian, Russian, and Spanish and supports operator billing in Australia, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Russia, Singapore, Spain and the United Kingdom.

For those that live outside the mentioned countries, credit card billing is available both through the mobile application and the mobile website. Additional countries, languages and supported devices will be added later on this year.

Google integrates Translation into Gmail.

Google has integrated its automatic translation technology directly into Gmail.

So to now read a mail one receives in a another language, uers have to only enable "Message Translation" from the Labs tab under Settings, and on receiving an email in a language other than their own, Gmail will help translate it into a language they can understand.

If all participating parties are using Gmail, they can have entire conversations in multiple languages with each participant reading the messages in whatever language is most comfortable for them.

For more on Gmail updates visit here.

Windows 7 in trouble again

Microsoft Corp's next version of Windows is stirring fresh complaints of anticompetitive behavior from rivals who say the new version of the operating system gives unfair advantage to Microsoft's Internet Explorer browser, the Financial Times reported.

"Our initial review suggests this is a blatant use of the Windows operating system to change the market dynamics of browser usage," Mitchell Baker, chairperson of Mozilla, developer of open-source Firefox browser, told the paper. No-one at Microsoft could immediately be reached for comment. Opera, the Norwegian browser company, echoed Mozilla's complaints about Windows 7, the paper said.

Microsoft had earlier said users will be able to turn off key programs like Internet Explorer, making it easier to use other browsers. Microsoft is scheduled to respond to European Union antitrust regulators in a hearing next month on charges it sought to thwart rivals by tying the company's Web browser to its Windows operating system.

Microsoft's Wii-mote killer

According to some rumors on the net Microsoft is creating it own motion sensing game controller on the lines of Nitendo's Wii-mote.Well it could be a Wii-mote killer given that Microsoft are very good at imitation...

Here are some of the device’s capabilities that it could have:

• Full body and hand gesture control of games / characters.
• In fighting games you kick, punch, duck, dive, jump and so forth with your body.
• It also picks up small hand gestures like pinching, grabbing and scrolling.
• There will also be video conferencing and games with video.
• Trivia game over the internet with live images of each person playing. When a question pops up, they can clap to buzz in.
• You can "move objects on your screen" and the other party can see what you're doing in real time.
• Sensor detects only the person playing, not folks observing on the couch.

One may wonder how well the Japanese audience will accept this, considering Xbox’s comparatively low sales there.

Keep in mind, all this could be just a rumor

Facebook affected by yet another scam

Facebook users have been affected by a new phishing scam that can result in crashing your computers or mobile phones and steal your passwords? If not, beware, do not open the files ending with ".at" or ".be".

The phishing scam is being run through the spam messages which steals the sensitive information of the Facebook users.

In the attack, the messages are circulated with a subject line of "Hello" and a prompt to check out "areps.at" or other URLs ending in ".at".

The mails with the subject line "Look at This" and links like - goldbase.be, greenbuddy.be, silvertag.be, picoband.be - leads to some malicious Web sites, which if visited, could secretly download malware onto computers through a "drive-by download" application.

The URL connectivity, before being blocked directs the visitor to a fake Facebook page and the mail ID and password are stolen as soon as it is logged-in again.

According to the All Facebook blog.Facebook, the password in such cases should be changed immediately and the same message should be sent across to one's Facebook acquaintance.

"Whoever is behind the scam has been steadily amassing a large number of e-mail addresses and passwords over the past few weeks," the blog says.

Though, Facebook spokesman Barry Schnitt said, "The impact of this attack or the previous ones are not widespread and only impacted a tiny fraction of a per cent of users.

"We've been updating our monitoring systems with information gleaned from the previous attacks so that each new attack is detected more quickly," he said.

The site has blocked links to the new phishing sites from being shared on Facebook and has added them to the block lists of the major browsers.

The social networking site is working with partners to have the sites taken down completely, he said adding Facebook is also cleaning up phony messages and wall posts and resetting the passwords of affected users.

"We believe the bad guys here are phishing an account and then trying those credentials on webmail providers," Schnitt said.

So, for example, if a user is compromised on Facebook and has the same login and ID password for their Gmail, the attacker may be able to intercept the Facebook password reset and compromise the account again in the future, he added.

YouTube, Universal to Launch Premium Music Site

Google's YouTube and Universal Music Group, the world's largest music company, have decided to launch a premium music video website as they bid to increase revenue from YouTube's huge usage.

The new site will be called Vevo and is expected to launch in coming months, the companies said. Plans for Vevo come in addition to the renewal and extension of YouTube's rights deal to feature video content from Universal artists such as U2, 50 Cent and Kanye West. Universal Music is owned by French media group Vivendi.

Vevo will be a premium online music video hub designed to offer higher-quality videos, as opposed to the typical grainy and often user-generated videos on YouTube. The idea is for Vevo to attract more big-name advertisers and other content owner partners. Universal and YouTube will share advertising revenue generated by the site. Both sides will be betting that building a premium site will help increase advertising rates. Many big brand owners have avoided advertising alongside YouTube's mix of user-generated videos. Vevo will also serve as a syndication platform as YouTube and Universal expand the reach of the Vevo brand, the companies said.