Bing News, Trends & Insights: Bing Blogs - Bing.com

Jun

18

20 13

How To Load Spatial Data From SQLite In...

Sometimes it can be helpful to hold geospatial data locally and to distribute it with the application. In this example, we will use SQLite to store geospatial information and visualize it as a layer in the Bing Maps Control for Windows Store Apps. SQLite is a software library that implements a self-contained, server-less, zero-configuration, transactional SQL database engine. Preparing the Data For this example we will be using trails which we retrieved from the King County GIS Data Portal . This data is available in Esri Shapefile format with coordinates in the North American Datum 1983 (NAD83) system. I converted them into a SQLite database with coordinates described as latitudes and longitudes with decimal degrees in the World Geodetic System 1984 (GS84) using the ogr2ogr command-line tool from Geospatial Data Abstraction Library (GDAL). The command for this conversion is: ogr2ogr.exe -f sqlite -lco FORMAT=WKT "D:\Downloads\GeoData\King County\trail_SHP\trail.db" "D:\Downloads\GeoData\King County\trail_SHP\trail.shp" -t_srs EPSG:4326 Prerequisites Since we are developing a Windows Store App, we need access to a Windows 8 machine as well as Visual Studio 2012. A free version... Read More Sometimes it can be helpful to hold geospatial data locally and to distribute it with the application. In this example, we will use SQLite to store geospatial information and visualize it as a layer in the Bing Maps Control for Windows Store Apps. SQLite is a software library that implements a self-contained, server-less, zero-configuration, transactional SQL database engine. Preparing the Data For this example we will be using trails which we retrieved from the King County GIS Data Portal . This data is available in Esri Shapefile format with coordinates in the North American Datum 1983 (NAD83... Read More
Jun

17

20 13

Join Us To Discuss Tips for Making the...

Summer is officially here which means it’s finally time to go on your highly anticipated summer vacation! Travel logistics are squared away and your bags are packed – you are ready to begin your adventure! Now the only decision that remains is how you are going to spend your precious time on your trip. Finding family friendly activities and where to dine or grab a trendy craft cocktail in unfamiliar cities can be daunting. Join travel expert and founder of the travel website Vagabondish , Mike Richard to learn the tools and hear tips for traveling like a pro. Whether you plan to soak up the sun on a beach in the tropics, navigate through the streets of Rome or go on a cross country road trip, Mike has money saving tricks, tips for planning fun activities, and more to make your vacation as fun and stress-free as possible. Mike is a Rhode Island native and travel junkie with an unhealthy addiction to backpacking, hiking and seeing the world. His advice, how-to tips and tall tales from around the world are a go to resources for travelers of all kinds. To participate in the chat follow @Bing, @fareologist and @vagabondish on Wednesday, June 19 from 12-1 pm PT and include... Read More Summer is officially here which means it’s finally time to go on your highly anticipated summer vacation! Travel logistics are squared away and your bags are packed – you are ready to begin your adventure! Now the only decision that remains is how you are going to spend your precious time on your trip. Finding family friendly activities and where to dine or grab a trendy craft cocktail in unfamiliar cities can be daunting. Join travel expert and founder of the travel website Vagabondish , Mike Richard to learn the tools and hear tips for traveling like a pro. Whether you plan to soak... Read More
Jun

17

20 13

Infoboxes for Native Windows Store Apps

Recently there has been a number of requests for information on how to create infoboxes using the Bing Maps Native control. Many developers who have used our JavaScript controls are used to an infobox control being available out of the box and are a bit surprised that there isn’t one in the Native control. This wasn’t an oversight, but really not needed. With the Native control, we have the ability to overlay user controls directly on top of the map and tie them to a location on the map. This means that rather than being restricted to having to use an infobox control that looks and feels the way we think it should, you have the ability to create an infobox that looks and feels how you want. In this blog post we will take a look at how to create a simple infobox control. To optimize this application, we will use a common method of having one Infobox control which we will reuse and update rather than creating an infobox for each pushpin we create. This will drastically reduce the number of objects your application will need to render and keep track of. This same approach is recommended when using the JavaScript control as well. If using JavaScript, take a look at this blog... Read More Recently there has been a number of requests for information on how to create infoboxes using the Bing Maps Native control. Many developers who have used our JavaScript controls are used to an infobox control being available out of the box and are a bit surprised that there isn’t one in the Native control. This wasn’t an oversight, but really not needed. With the Native control, we have the ability to overlay user controls directly on top of the map and tie them to a location on the map. This means that rather than being restricted to having to use an infobox control that looks and... Read More
Jun

17

20 13

Bing Makes Voice Recognition on Windows...

If you’re using a Windows Phone in the US, you may have noticed that the voice capabilities on your phone have gotten better. Over the past few weeks, we’ve been rolling out updates to Windows Phone customers, to improve the speed and accuracy of voice to text and voice search. Now when you compose a text message or search using your voice, Bing will return results twice as fast as before and increase accuracy by 15 percent. Check out the updates in action in the video below Read More If you’re using a Windows Phone in the US, you may have noticed that the voice capabilities on your phone have gotten better. Over the past few weeks, we’ve been rolling out updates to Windows Phone customers, to improve the speed and accuracy of voice to text and voice search. Now when you compose a text message or search using your voice, Bing will return results twice as fast as before and increase accuracy by 15 percent. Check out the updates in action in the video below Read More
Jun

14

20 13

Links, Likes and Le Retweets

Shortcuts. Such a negative term, isn’t it? Perhaps we should call it “seeking efficiencies”? But you, it won’t matter what you call it, it’s a bad path to follow when seeking support for your SEO and social activities. Every day, webmasters are surprised to learn that some tactics they thought were safe because some so-called expert told them it would work, are actually harming their chances of ranking well and driving traffic. Links Yup, links still matter. They are still a trust signal that can help ranking. But before you go crazy building links, you need to understand the relative value. None of this should be news. Direct, one-way links are best. You know, the kind where your site impressed someone enough that they blogged about it, or shared it socially. These are called organic, but you can also think of them as spontaneous as you are not actively working on building them – they simply appear. These are best as they allow the engines the strongest confidence that the link is trustworthy. I am constantly amazed at the businesses who claim these are the types of links they build. If they truly were building this way, it would be... Read More Shortcuts. Such a negative term, isn’t it? Perhaps we should call it “seeking efficiencies”? But you, it won’t matter what you call it, it’s a bad path to follow when seeking support for your SEO and social activities. Every day, webmasters are surprised to learn that some tactics they thought were safe because some so-called expert told them it would work, are actually harming their chances of ranking well and driving traffic. Links Yup, links still matter. They are still a trust signal that can help ranking. But before you go crazy building links, you need... Read More
Jun

12

20 13

Experimentation and Continuous Improvement...

One technical problem in Web search is how best to measure the quality of search results. Our powerful machine learning systems correct the spelling of your query , interpret your search intent, differentiate quality pages from junk , rank documents from our index of tens of billions of documents, and optimize whole-page layout . These systems, and many more, must all be optimized towards user satisfaction. The problem is that there is no perfect measure of objective user satisfaction, so we use surrogate measures. Surprisingly, once your machine learning systems are powerful enough, your choice of surrogate measure has a strong influence on the kind of results you return. In this blog post Nick Craswell and Filip Radlinski describe some of the issues motivating their award winning research paper on measuring search results which was presented at the international conference WSDM-2013. - Dr. Harry Shum, Corporate Vice President, Bing R&D In information retrieval (IR) research there is a strong focus on relevance measurement. For example this year at SIGIR , which is one of the largest research conferences in the area, there are two sessions dedicated to IR evaluation, plus... Read More One technical problem in Web search is how best to measure the quality of search results. Our powerful machine learning systems correct the spelling of your query , interpret your search intent, differentiate quality pages from junk , rank documents from our index of tens of billions of documents, and optimize whole-page layout . These systems, and many more, must all be optimized towards user satisfaction. The problem is that there is no perfect measure of objective user satisfaction, so we use surrogate measures. Surprisingly, once your machine learning systems are powerful enough, your choice... Read More
Jun

11

20 13

Bing Maps Publishes Equivalent of 100,000...

Today, we are excited to announce a number of updates to Bing Maps, including the largest shipment of Bird’s Eye imagery yet, nearly 270 terabytes of data or the equivalent of 100,000 DVD’s, along with expanded venue maps and our new “Report a problem” feature. Bird's Eye Imagery captured at a 45 degree angle, giving depth and three-dimensionality to ortho photography To date Bing has published a total of 1,452,958 sq km, or half a petabyte of data, of Bird's Eye scenes from around the world. Look for yellow in the below World map to see our new Bird’s Eye coverage from this release: Click the links below, and view more imagery on Bing Maps! Tampere, Finland W8 Link | Bing Maps Link Rome, Italy W8 Link | Bing Maps Link Kaanapali, Hawaii W8 Link | Bing Maps Link Stavanger, Norway W8 Link | Bing Maps Link Milan, Italy W8 Link | Bing Maps Link Ringerike, Norway W8 Link | Bing Maps Link Toledo, Ohio W8 Link | Bing Maps Link... Read More Today, we are excited to announce a number of updates to Bing Maps, including the largest shipment of Bird’s Eye imagery yet, nearly 270 terabytes of data or the equivalent of 100,000 DVD’s, along with expanded venue maps and our new “Report a problem” feature. Bird's Eye Imagery captured at a 45 degree angle, giving depth and three-dimensionality to ortho photography To date Bing has published a total of 1,452,958 sq km, or half a petabyte of data, of Bird's Eye scenes from around the world. Look for yellow in the below World map to... Read More
Jun

11

20 13

Top Father’s Day Searches on Bing

From brunches and barbeques to fishing poles to golf clubs, Father’s Day topics are trending up on Bing this week. When it comes to celebrating dear old dad, 57 percent of respondents in a recent Bing survey said they switch up their Father’s Day celebration every year - from attending a different sporting event to seeing a new summer blockbuster - while 44 percent of people say they plan to celebrate Father’s Day by treating Dad to a meal on the town. Check out our roundup of dad-related searches that are popular on Bing this week. When it comes to popular Father’s Day gifts, there’s a new reigning champion- shoes! Shoes beat out the old standby, ties, with 37 percent of Father’s Day gift searches. 1. Men’s shoes 2. Ties 3. Golf Clubs 4. Cufflinks 5. Fishing Gear With six children, a successful marriage, and an upcoming summer block buster, Brad Pitt is the most searched celebrity father on Bing. In fact, 1 in 3 survey respondents say Brad Pitt deserves to win celebrity “Father of the Year.” 1. Brad Pitt 2. Channing Tatum 3. Kanye West 4. Prince William 5. Ben Affleck When it comes to movies... Read More From brunches and barbeques to fishing poles to golf clubs, Father’s Day topics are trending up on Bing this week. When it comes to celebrating dear old dad, 57 percent of respondents in a recent Bing survey said they switch up their Father’s Day celebration every year - from attending a different sporting event to seeing a new summer blockbuster - while 44 percent of people say they plan to celebrate Father’s Day by treating Dad to a meal on the town. Check out our roundup of dad-related searches that are popular on Bing this week. When it comes to popular Father’s... Read More

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