•
Bing now knows a lot more about cars and will also give a select group of users the option to compare the performance of different sports teams. Microsoft just announced these updates at the Search Engine Strategies event in New York. The new comparison answers for sports will be rolled out to only about 5% of Bing's users at first. In addition, Microsoft will also begin to roll out some minor design changes to a small group of users today that will better highlight Bing's assets like weather and travel search. Sponsor Starting today, mobile users will also see improvements to Bing's autosuggest feature, which will now include answers for things like stock quotes right in the autosuggest box. Domain Task Pages for Cars Whenever a user searches for cars and car-related topics (" 2010 Toyota Camry specs ," for example), Bing will now bring up a page will all of the car's specs instead of directing you to another site with this info. This page will also include links to additional images and videos about the car, as well as the ability to restrict the search query by different trims and links to the specs of cars in the same class. In Microsoft parlance, these pages are called "domain task pages" and chances are that - if successful - the company plans to roll out more of these for additional topics in the near future. The task pages are part of Bing's efforts to provide users with specialized answers for popular queries in verticals like weather . According to a recent job posting , other topics for these pages that Microsoft plans to launch in the future could include "movies, music, games and other high-volume domains." Given that Bing bills itself as a "decision engine," it only makes sense for Microsoft to try to capture as many popular searches as possible and present its users with relevant answers right on Bing.com instead of sending them on to other sites. Sports Comparison and UI Changes A small number of Bing users will now also be able to compare the performance of sports teams by simply typing the name of two teams in the search form. As Stefan Weitz, Microsoft's Director of Bing, also told us during a briefing earlier this month, about 0.7% of all queries on Bing are comparison searches and the company hopes to capture more of these in the future and present the right answer in Bing instead of sending users to multiple sites. The same number of users (about 5%) will now also see a new user interface for the boxes at the top of the page that Bing will often display for popular topics. For searches related to cities and towns, for example, these "Bing boxes" will now include info about local weather, a relevant link to Bing Maps, as well as airfare info from your current location (based on your IP address). For popular artists, these boxes will now also include information about upcoming concerts and other relevant information. Sadly, this concert info is based on chronology and doesn't take a user's current location into account. Overall, these are interesting updates - not necessarily because Bing now knows a lot more about cars and sports, but because they show the direction the Bing team is going in. As a "decision engine," the Bing team's intend is to give users more information directly on the site instead of just presenting them with a couple of links. While these links can be relevant (and Bing still shows them most of the time, too), the Bing team wants to reduce the number of queries that result in links and increase the number of times the software can present users with direct answers Microsoft has sourced from its own databases or from sources across the Internet. Discuss
The rest is here:
Bing Keeps Getting Smarter: Adds More Info About Cars, Sports Teams
Tags:
Bing,
Bing Keeps,
Bing Maps,
comparison,
concert,
director,
future,
info,
Microsoft,
minor design changes,
New York,
number,
performance,
search,
search engine strategies,
search-engine,
Stefan Weitz,
toyota camry
•
IBM, Canonical and Simmtronics will offer emerigng markets a fully loaded, cloud-connected Netbook for $190. It's a clear example of how a cloud-based approach fits with the emerging Netbook market and its importance in the global marketplace as a channel for enterprise collaboration technologies. The Simmtronics Simmbook will initially be available in South Africa and emerging markets. In addition to African countries, the Simmbook will also be available in India, Thailand and Vietnam. Sponsor The Simmbook will come preloaded with IBM Client for Smart Work , which includes IBM software like Lotus Symphony and access to IBM LotusLive cloud collaboration services. The Simmbook will run Ubuntu from Canonical as its operating system. The Simmbook is one of the first Netbook to provide direct access to the cloud by offering a package of online collaboration tools. The OS is not cloud-based but LotusLive is a robust enough application suite to give customers a cloud environment that should prove useful and less expensive than the costs of a Windows-based operating system. Simmbook launched in India at the beginning of the year. Simmtronics is an electronics company with a 20-year history developing motherboards, memory modules and graphic cards. Leadership By Numbers explains how Simmtronics competes at such a low price point: "The Simmbook is where they have put all the pieces together, to enter the laptop market with a low-cost netbook....Managing Director, Indrajit Sabharwal of Simmtronics pointed out that "because the motherboard and memory is 25% of overall cost," Simmtronics has a competitive pricing edge. By removing the expense of a Microsoft operating system, and relying on Ubuntu (Windows XP is an option, at an increased expense), Simmtronics has created a mobile computing device with 1 G of RAM, Intel Atom processor and a 160 HD that will be selling in the neighborhood of $250 US. " Simmbook has another edge to it. It's OS is open-source. The IBM software is built on open standards. Earlier this week we discussed LotusLive and its strong growth . We got a little grief from our commenters. So, how do you view this? At this point it seems plausible that Google Apps and Lotus Live will compete to some degree in the Netbook market channel. Part of the strategy here is to convince IT managers in emerging markets that the Netbook is a legitimate alternative to the PC, especially when it comes pre-loaded with Ubuntu and productivity applications with no custom work required. Our biggest question concerns the availability of broadband to take advantage of cloud-based collaboration services. A Netbook is viable due its low cost and capabilities compared to a PC. Reliable broadband? That seems to be a challenge well out of the control of IBM and its partners. Discuss
Read more from the original source:
IBM Partners To Offer $190 Cloud-Connected Netbook For Emerging Markets
Tags:
client,
director,
IBM,
India,
Intel,
laptop,
lotus symphony,
microsoft operating system,
Netbook,
news,
numbers,
online collaboration tools,
PC. Reliable,
Read,
Simmbook,
simmtronics,
smart,
south-africa,
Thailand,
ubuntu,
US,
Vietnam
•
Sears Holdings Corp. just announced they posted thousands of jobs on Twitter via the Twitter-based job board service, TweetMyJOBS.com . The parent company of retail stores like Sears and Kmart and home to brands like Kenmore, Craftsman, DieHard, Lands' End, Jaclyn Smith, Joe Boxer, Apostrophe and Covington, Sears Holdings posted over 500,000 job openings last year via traditional recruiting channels like job search sites and newspapers. Now those same jobs will be on Twitter, too. Says Lance Brolin, Director, Talent & Human Capital Services Operations for Sears Holdings, of the decision to engage on Twitter, "we're quickly realizing that we needed to broaden our employment marketing to include social media." Sponsor According to Gary Zukowski, president and founder of TweetMyJOBS, this partnership makes Sears one of the largest brands to embrace mobile recruiting. Although Twitter is the platform used for the service, the primary function of TweetMyJOBS is to connect job seekers with jobs via text messages sent to their cell phones. How TweetMyJOBS Works The TweetMyJOBS service lets job seekers receive instant notifications on their phone when new jobs are posted online via the popular micro-messaging service Twitter. The company aggregates the Twitter-based job postings from over 7000 companies and maintains over 8250 specific job channels within those companies, all of which are searchable via their website. However, it's the job matching service that makes TweetMyJOBS worth using for those in need of work. Instead of having to follow potentially hundreds of Twitter accounts belonging to companies, the service will match a Twitter user's interests with the available jobs posted to Twitter. Users can also specify a particular geographic region where they prefer to work. They can even use the service to post their resume to Twitter. When a job seeker and a job listing match up, the user is alerted via a text message sent to their phone via Twitter. For job posters, there are fees involved for adding listings just like there are with any other job board. At present, it costs $4000 to list 500 jobs and $8000 for unlimited job postings. Single posts are $1.99. In return, companies are able to directly connect with qualified candidates while also tracking the clicks on the jobs they list. Sears Holdings: 7000 Jobs Now, Hundreds of Thousands to Come At launch time, Sears Holdings has posted 7000 jobs to TweetMyJOBS. The lineup includes everything from cashiers to vice presidents, a company representative tells us. And this is just the beginning. Over the course of the year, the company will continue adding all their available jobs to the service. Since, as noted above, the company posts hundreds of thousands of jobs per year, they will soon have thousands more to post to TweetMyJOBS. In today's tough, competitive hiring market, a service like this can give motivated job seekers an edge. Since it allows for instant notification when a job is made available online, users of TweetMyJOBS can be among the first to apply to available positions. They can also rest assured that the jobs sourced are from reputable companies assures Rich Trombetta, TweetMyJOBS co-founder. Unlike on many job boards today, filled with questionable get-rich-quick schemes, work from home offers and other spam, only legitimate jobs are made available on his service. "We are very careful about the types of jobs we list on the site," Trombetta recently told the Chicago Tribune . "We eliminate the spam." Interested job seekers can sign up for the service here at TweetMyJOBS.com . Discuss
See more here:
Sears Holdings Corp. Posts Thousands of Jobs on Twitter, Hundreds of Thousands to Follow
Tags:
Business,
Chicago,
chicago-tribune,
director,
jobs,
phone,
sears,
sears-holdings,
spam,
Twitter,
user
•
A new report from mobile analytics firm Flurry reveals some interesting numbers about Google's first attempt to sell its own custom branded Android device, an HTC-built phone called the Nexus One. It's a flop. After 74 days, the same amount of time it took the original iPhone to sell its first million units, the Nexus One sold only 135,000. But before you read too much into these numbers, thinking that it has any meaning with regard to the Android ecosystem as a whole, think again. Android market share is growing fast - it more than doubled from September to December of last year, for example. Oh, and the Droid, Android's fastest-selling phone to date ? It actually beat the iPhone by day 74, Flurry says. All this new data shows is that Google is no Apple when it comes to marketing their own device. Sponsor iPhone Killer? Hardly In January of this year, Google hosted a press event to showcase their new Nexus One phone, a HTC device sold exclusively by Google on its own website in both a carrier-specific and unlocked version. When asked if the new phone was meant to be an iPhone killer, Google's Director of Mobile Platforms Andy Rubin simply replied that "choice is a good thing." Prior to its launch, many technology insiders suspected (or rather, hoped) that the new "Google phone" would be exactly that - a killer , the first real rival to challenge Apple's dominance in the smartphone market. With features like support for multitasking, Google's own GPS navigation application, Google Voice (the VoIP app Apple banned from iTunes), a 3D photo gallery and, of course, heavy integration of Google services, the Nexus One had a feature lineup that Apple's iPhone couldn't beat. Why Did the N1 Flop? So what happened? Why don't the sales numbers match up with the excitement surrounding the device? The problem likely has to do with the fact that the phone is sold online only. You can't march into a store and purchase a Nexus One and, apparently, that's how most customers want to shop. Another problem is that the U.S. carrier for the N1 is T-Mobile, a much smaller network than either AT&T (iPhone) or Verizon (the Droid). Also, the N1 isn't available worldwide like the iPhone is. However, don't count the N1 out just yet. According to Google's website , it will arrive on Vodafone in Europe by Spring 2010 and, in the U.S., Verizon will get a version of the device at the same time. Given how well the Droid has done for Verizon, the Nexus One may have a shot at boosting its sales soon. Meanwhile, Android, as a platform, is doing quite well even if the Nexus One isn't. The Droid recently became the fastest-selling Android phone to date, beating the sales of the myTouch 3G by more than four times, the Android market share has been growing by leaps and bounds, Android's application store is now the second largest , second only to Apple's iTunes and finally, some companies found their Android website visitors increasing by as much as 350% over the past year. In the end, the Nexus One may not have succeeded the way Google had hoped, but clearly, Android itself has. Discuss
Follow this link:
Nexus One Flopped, but Android Didn't
Tags:
apple,
beat-the-iphone,
device,
director,
droid,
Europe,
iphone,
like-the-iphone,
mobile,
Nexus,
phone,
sales,
verizon,
voip
•
Our top story this week was location - location-based networks, services, advertising and even "feelings". Read on for our coverage and analysis. We also continued our exploration of the significant Internet trends of 2010, including Real-Time Web, Mobile Web and Internet of Things. Note: We've refreshed the format for our longest running feature, the Weekly Wrapup. It now focuses more explicitly on the key trends that ReadWriteWeb is tracking in 2010, as well as giving you the highlights from the leading story of the week. Let us know your thoughts on the new format. Sponsor Story of the Week: Location Can Brightkite Beat Foursquare & Gowalla With a Universal Check-in? Google Patents Location-Based Advertising 2 Services for DIY Mobile Social Networks Google Chrome Becomes Location Aware Can Geosense for Windows Help Kickstart the Development of Location-Aware Apps for Windows 7? Glow: Location-Based "Feelings" for iPhone More coverage and analysis of location-based technology Announcing the ReadWriteWeb Mobile Summit Join us for the ReadWriteWeb Mobile Summit on May 7 in Mountain View, California as we explore the latest mobile development trends, both the technology and the emerging business applications. Be a part of the discussion on geo-location services , augmented reality , native app vs. browser-based , commerce and marketing , mobile social networking and the Internet of Things. Sponsorship enquiries: sales@readwriteweb.com , Register now for the ReadWriteWeb Mobile Summit and get early bird rates - only $295. Mobile Web Watch Out, iPhone Devs: One-Man Android App Nets $13K Monthly Netflix on the iPhone? Yes, Please! Can We Kick Our Keyboard Addiction by 2013? More Mobile Web coverage Historic Conversation in NYC: Ai Weiwei, Jack Dorsey & Richard MacManus On March 15, at the prestigious Paley Center in New York City, a conversation will take place between Chinese digital activist and artist Ai Weiwei , Twitter co-founder and chairman Jack Dorsey , and yours truly, Richard MacManus , ReadWriteWeb founder and editor in chief. The moderator will be Orville Schell , the director of the Center on U.S.-China Relations at the Asia Society in New York. The topic of the event is the emergence of digital activism for fostering positive social change. The onsite event is invitation only, but it will be live streamed exclusively on ReadWriteWeb on Monday, March 15, at 6:30 PM EST (-5 GMT), from the Paley Center for Media, New York City. Internet of Things McKinsey: Get Ready For Sensor-Driven Business Models Ads with Eyes: Keeping Digital Signage in Check Google Wants Your Lamp to Tell You How Much Power It's Using More Internet of Things coverage Real-Time Web Google Index to Go Real Time 10.5 Million WordPress Blogs Get PubSubHubbub Beyond Twitter Search: Semantic Analysis of the Real-Time Web More Real-Time Web coverage . Don't miss the next wave of opportunity on the Web supported by real-time technology! Get ReadWriteWeb's report, The Real-Time Web and its Future . Check Out The ReadWriteWeb iPhone App We recently launched the official ReadWriteWeb iPhone app . As well as enabling you to read ReadWriteWeb while on the go or lying on the couch, we've made it easy to share ReadWriteWeb posts directly from your iPhone, on Twitter and Facebook. You can also follow the RWW team on Twitter, directly from the app. We invite you to download it now from iTunes . ReadWriteStart Our channel ReadWriteStart , sponsored by Microsoft BizSpark , is dedicated to profiling startups and entrepreneurs. The Startup Bus: Is This How Outsiders See Startup Culture? Picnik CEO to Startups: The M&As Are Out There Are Crowdsourcing and Outsourcing No-Nos For Startups? ReadWriteEnterprise Our channel ReadWriteEnterprise is devoted to 'enterprise 2.0' and using social software inside organizations. Will StatusNet Be Another Open-Source Star in the Enterprise? Drupal Founder Critical of SaaS and its Proprietary Nature ReadWriteCloud Our channel ReadWriteCloud , sponsored by VMware and Intel, is dedicated to Virtualization and Cloud Computing. Steve Ballmer: Microsoft's Future Is in the Cloud Weekly Poll: What is the Top Threat to Cloud Computing? How Many Enterprise Workers Will Work in the Mobile Cloud? Try 130 Million That's a wrap for another week! Enjoy your weekend everyone. Discuss
See the original post here:
Weekly Wrap-up: Location, Location, Location, and More...
Tags:
advertising,
Business,
California,
director,
enterprise,
iphone,
Microsoft,
mobile,
mountain,
networks,
semantic,
startup,
technology