Bing Blogs

Bing Blogs

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Bing Australia blog

Dec

21

20 12

New Ways to Search on Windows 8: The Maps...

We’re back with an app that will be your go-to app when plotting your day The Maps app powered by Bing Maps. The Maps app makes it easy to find the places you’re looking for and helps you get there faster. Quickly pinpoint locations, get directions, see traffic conditions and more— all designed to be easily navigable with touch. The first thing you’ll notice when you fire up the Maps app on Windows 8 is that your location is immediately available on the map. Using advanced location detection, we’re able to quickly pinpoint where you are on the map so you can figure out where you’re going next. To explore the map, simply pinch to zoom, swipe to pan or use your mouse to click and scroll. Finally, you can check traffic conditions or get a birds-eye view of where you’re going by simply switching modes. To show you what we’re talking about, Stefan is back again with the following video: - Bing Australia Product Team Read More We’re back with an app that will be your go-to app when plotting your day The Maps app powered by Bing Maps. The Maps app makes it easy to find the places you’re looking for and helps you get there faster. Quickly pinpoint locations, get directions, see traffic conditions and more— all designed to be easily navigable with touch. The first thing you’ll notice when you fire up the Maps app on Windows 8 is that your location is immediately available on the map. Using advanced location detection, we’re able to quickly pinpoint where you are on the map so you can figure out where you’re going next. To explore the map, simply pinch to zoom, swipe to pan or use your mouse to click and scroll. Finally, you can check traffic conditions or get a birds-eye view of where you’re going by simply switching modes. To show you what we’re talking about, Stefan is back again with the following video: - Bing Australia Product Team Read More
Dec

20

20 12

New Ways to Search on Windows 8: The Weather...

Earlier this month we kicked off our series of posts highlighting new ways you can search on Windows 8. Today we’re back with an app that is sure to become an indispensable part of your day: The Weather App powered by Bing. With Windows 8, you are a tap away from knowing if you need to pack an umbrella or can leave it home. The Weather app offers a beautiful preview of current weather conditions, helping you prepare for the latest conditions with hourly, daily and 10-day forecasts. You can dive deep into the local weather with historical trends that capture annual temperature, rain, and snow. Harnessing the best of Windows 8, the Weather App puts the information you care about front and center so you can prepare for your day at a glance. Sourced from leading services including Accuweather, Weather Decision Technologies, The Weather Channel, Foreca, Weather Underground and Weather2Travel, the Weather App brings together all the information you need to plan your day or your next holiday. Check out the following video of Stefan walking you through the app. Check back here tomorrow where we’ll highlight another of our favorite apps on Windows 8. ... Read More Earlier this month we kicked off our series of posts highlighting new ways you can search on Windows 8. Today we’re back with an app that is sure to become an indispensable part of your day: The Weather App powered by Bing. With Windows 8, you are a tap away from knowing if you need to pack an umbrella or can leave it home. The Weather app offers a beautiful preview of current weather conditions, helping you prepare for the latest conditions with hourly, daily and 10-day forecasts. You can dive deep into the local weather with historical trends that capture annual temperature, rain, and snow. Harnessing the best of Windows 8, the Weather App puts the information you care about front and center so you can prepare for your day at a glance. Sourced from leading services including Accuweather, Weather Decision Technologies, The Weather Channel, Foreca, Weather Underground and Weather2Travel, the Weather App brings together all the information you need to plan your day or your next holiday. Check out the following video of Stefan walking you through the app. Check back here tomorrow where we’ll highlight another of our favorite apps on Windows 8. ... Read More
Dec

10

20 12

New Ways to Search on Windows 8: Bing App

Last week, we kicked off a series of posts that will showcase 8 ways to search on Windows 8. Today we are following up with our second post that will cover our favorite app (you guessed it) Bing. First off, we completely reimagined search for Windows 8 so searching with the Bing app is fast and fluid, whether you use a touch device to tap and swipe or type and click with a keyboard and mouse. The first thing you’ll notice is that visual results and images take center stage letting you quickly find what you’re looking for. While you can still rely on the Bing web experience in Internet Explorer, we’ve tailored the Bing app to take advantage of the innovations available in Windows 8 specifically hardware acceleration and touch. You’ll see elements like autosuggest and search are designed for touch allowing you to seamlessly interact with search with a tap or swipe. Fast and fluid scrolling through the continuous list of results with a swipe of your finger allows you to quickly scan through results. Rich answers provide a glance-able way to experience search. Your eyes quickly pick up the differences amongst search results based on smart captions... Read More Last week, we kicked off a series of posts that will showcase 8 ways to search on Windows 8. Today we are following up with our second post that will cover our favorite app (you guessed it) Bing. First off, we completely reimagined search for Windows 8 so searching with the Bing app is fast and fluid, whether you use a touch device to tap and swipe or type and click with a keyboard and mouse. The first thing you’ll notice is that visual results and images take center stage letting you quickly find what you’re looking for. While you can still rely on the Bing web experience in Internet Explorer, we’ve tailored the Bing app to take advantage of the innovations available in Windows 8 specifically hardware acceleration and touch. You’ll see elements like autosuggest and search are designed for touch allowing you to seamlessly interact with search with a tap or swipe. Fast and fluid scrolling through the continuous list of results with a swipe of your finger allows you to quickly scan through results. Rich answers provide a glance-able way to experience search. Your eyes quickly pick up the differences amongst search results based on smart captions... Read More
Dec

05

20 12

New Ways to Search on Windows 8: Search...

Windows 8 is here and we couldn’t be more excited. In fact we’re so excited, we’re kicking off a series in which we’ll showcase new ways to use Bing on Windows 8. Check back here over the next few weeks, to see how we’ve reimagined search to be fast, fluid and built for touch. To “start” things off, check out how search is baked right into Windows 8. From the start screen simply start typing to quickly search across apps and all of your files on your device. If you don’t find what you’re looking for, justclick the search charm to launch a Bing web search. Tap, type, swipe and search. It’s as easy as that with the new Windows 8. We have our favorite search tricks in Windows 8, but if there are any areas that you would like to see us cover, please let us know in the comments or on Twitter (@Bing.) - Bing Australia Product Team Read More Windows 8 is here and we couldn’t be more excited. In fact we’re so excited, we’re kicking off a series in which we’ll showcase new ways to use Bing on Windows 8. Check back here over the next few weeks, to see how we’ve reimagined search to be fast, fluid and built for touch. To “start” things off, check out how search is baked right into Windows 8. From the start screen simply start typing to quickly search across apps and all of your files on your device. If you don’t find what you’re looking for, justclick the search charm to launch a Bing web search. Tap, type, swipe and search. It’s as easy as that with the new Windows 8. We have our favorite search tricks in Windows 8, but if there are any areas that you would like to see us cover, please let us know in the comments or on Twitter (@Bing.) - Bing Australia Product Team Read More
Jul

25

20 12

Bing gets London Games fever

The London Games are here and Bing Australia will commemorate the world's biggest sporting event with a different homepage image on each day of the Games. Keep an eye out for a couple of Australia's leading gold medal hopes featuring on the Bing Australia homepage too. As well as the daily imagery, Bing has also rolled out a host of answers which appear at the top of your search page. Among those featured are: Medal tallies (by athlete, country, date and sport) Results (by athlete, country, date and sport) Records (by athlete and sport) Event schedule (by country, venue, date and sport) Profiles of over 140 athletes Event schedule example: Athlete profile example: Go Aussie, go! -Bing AU Product Team Read More The London Games are here and Bing Australia will commemorate the world's biggest sporting event with a different homepage image on each day of the Games. Keep an eye out for a couple of Australia's leading gold medal hopes featuring on the Bing Australia homepage too. As well as the daily imagery, Bing has also rolled out a host of answers which appear at the top of your search page. Among those featured are: Medal tallies (by athlete, country, date and sport) Results (by athlete, country, date and sport) Records (by athlete and sport) Event schedule (by country, venue, date and sport) Profiles of over 140 athletes Event schedule example: Athlete profile example: Go Aussie, go! -Bing AU Product Team Read More
Jul

12

20 12

Bing gets a fresh, new look

Bing Australia has a fresh, new homepage design. Many of you have provided feedback that you'd like to see Bing's stunning signature imagery cover more of your screen. Well, we've listened. The new design refresh provides an image of larger resolution, and gives the homepage a bright new look. Out with the old… And in with the new… New search results page design Changes to the homepage aren't the only ones we've made either. Under the hood, Bing is also getting a new look. You will also notice a de-cluttered search experience designed to help you find the results you want faster. We’ve tuned the site to make the entire search results page easier to scan, removing unnecessary distractions, and making the overall experience more predictable and useful. This new design helps you do more with search—and gives us a canvas for bringing future innovation to you. The results themselves are cleaner. Removing the "left rail" and minimising the header raises the level of predictability while making it easier to scan the page and quickly find the information you want. Increasing the space between lines improves readability and optimises... Read More Bing Australia has a fresh, new homepage design. Many of you have provided feedback that you'd like to see Bing's stunning signature imagery cover more of your screen. Well, we've listened. The new design refresh provides an image of larger resolution, and gives the homepage a bright new look. Out with the old… And in with the new… New search results page design Changes to the homepage aren't the only ones we've made either. Under the hood, Bing is also getting a new look. You will also notice a de-cluttered search experience designed to help you find the results you want faster. We’ve tuned the site to make the entire search results page easier to scan, removing unnecessary distractions, and making the overall experience more predictable and useful. This new design helps you do more with search—and gives us a canvas for bringing future innovation to you. The results themselves are cleaner. Removing the "left rail" and minimising the header raises the level of predictability while making it easier to scan the page and quickly find the information you want. Increasing the space between lines improves readability and optimises... Read More
Jul

02

20 12

Win an Xbox by 'liking' Bing Australia

Bing Australia has joined Facebook! Bing's worldwide fan page has near three million fans yet we thought it was time to take the plunge and offer you somewhere to indulge in your love for Bing Australia. 'Like' Bing and you'll be privy to quizzes and interesting facts plus you can tell us your thoughts on the day's homepage image. Perhaps even suggest what you'd like to see on Bing in the future? To celebrate Bing Australia joining Facebook, we've got an Xbox 360 Kinect pack to give away. The package includes a Special Edition Xbox 360 console with Kinect as well as a stack of games including Batman: Arkham City. All you've got to do is 'Like' the Bing Australia Facebook page and submit a few details so we can contact you if you win. The competition runs from 17 th of July to the 6 th of August, 2012. Good luck! Read More Bing Australia has joined Facebook! Bing's worldwide fan page has near three million fans yet we thought it was time to take the plunge and offer you somewhere to indulge in your love for Bing Australia. 'Like' Bing and you'll be privy to quizzes and interesting facts plus you can tell us your thoughts on the day's homepage image. Perhaps even suggest what you'd like to see on Bing in the future? To celebrate Bing Australia joining Facebook, we've got an Xbox 360 Kinect pack to give away. The package includes a Special Edition Xbox 360 console with Kinect as well as a stack of games including Batman: Arkham City. All you've got to do is 'Like' the Bing Australia Facebook page and submit a few details so we can contact you if you win. The competition runs from 17 th of July to the 6 th of August, 2012. Good luck! Read More
May

14

20 12

Gen Y launches 'Bing is for Doing' campaign

Over the past few weeks you'd have noticed a new Bing Australia campaign roll out across numerous media outlets. So what does the theme 'Bing is for doing' actually mean? Bing helps you spend less time sitting and searching and more time out in the world doing. What we did to portray this is recruit some of the country's best up-and-coming Gen Y filmmakers, with the guidance of creative agency BMF Sydney, to create mini documentaries on four inspiring individuals each with a unique story to tell. "It was a great opportunity for both the film makers and BMF to bring this new brand promise of 'doing' to life for Bing. By producing the work in this unique way, we proved everything that 'doing' stands for," said BMF's Executive Creative Director, Shane Bradnick. The "Bing is for doing" filmmakers were: • Campbell Brown and Stefan Hunt – filmed mountain boarder Andy Milenkovic's story • Martha Goddard – filmed shark diver Madison Stewart's story • Epiphany Morgan – filmed actress Bethany Simons' story • Lucy Hayes – filmed indigenous art group Desert Pea Media's story Be sure to check out their stories at www.bingisfordoing.com... Read More Over the past few weeks you'd have noticed a new Bing Australia campaign roll out across numerous media outlets. So what does the theme 'Bing is for doing' actually mean? Bing helps you spend less time sitting and searching and more time out in the world doing. What we did to portray this is recruit some of the country's best up-and-coming Gen Y filmmakers, with the guidance of creative agency BMF Sydney, to create mini documentaries on four inspiring individuals each with a unique story to tell. "It was a great opportunity for both the film makers and BMF to bring this new brand promise of 'doing' to life for Bing. By producing the work in this unique way, we proved everything that 'doing' stands for," said BMF's Executive Creative Director, Shane Bradnick. The "Bing is for doing" filmmakers were: • Campbell Brown and Stefan Hunt – filmed mountain boarder Andy Milenkovic's story • Martha Goddard – filmed shark diver Madison Stewart's story • Epiphany Morgan – filmed actress Bethany Simons' story • Lucy Hayes – filmed indigenous art group Desert Pea Media's story Be sure to check out their stories at www.bingisfordoing.com... Read More
May

01

20 12

Free download: Best of Bing Australia 3

Back by popular demand. After the great success of Best of Bing: Australia and Best of Bing: Australia 2, we've created a new pack titled (you guessed it) Best of Bing: Australia 3. If you're new to Bing then what better way to acquaint yourself with our stunning daily homepage images then to have them on your desktop? Otherwise, if you're an old friend of Bing Australia, it's time you updated. Bing Australia has recently featured some amazing images from around Australia and we've picked the best of them to inspire you at work and at home. The Best of Bing: Australia 3 includes everything from wallabies, a shipwreck and a curious camel, to iconic locations such as the Great Barrier Reef. D ownload the Best of Bing: Australia 3 by clicking here. - Bing AU Product Team Read More Back by popular demand. After the great success of Best of Bing: Australia and Best of Bing: Australia 2, we've created a new pack titled (you guessed it) Best of Bing: Australia 3. If you're new to Bing then what better way to acquaint yourself with our stunning daily homepage images then to have them on your desktop? Otherwise, if you're an old friend of Bing Australia, it's time you updated. Bing Australia has recently featured some amazing images from around Australia and we've picked the best of them to inspire you at work and at home. The Best of Bing: Australia 3 includes everything from wallabies, a shipwreck and a curious camel, to iconic locations such as the Great Barrier Reef. D ownload the Best of Bing: Australia 3 by clicking here. - Bing AU Product Team Read More
Apr

04

20 12

Top tips for using Bing

We've compiled a quick list of ways to make your internet searches more effective. 1. Use less words, keep queries simple : less is more when it comes to search engine queries. A few other things to note are try to avoid generic terms or words such as "the", "of", "and" or "to", type "DEFINE:" to find the definition of a word and know that capital letters and punctuation are ignored by search engines. 2. Let Bing do the work : Bing reasons the intent of your search, and brings you answers in the search results. Instead of typing 'weather for Melbourne' just type 'weather' and Bing will geo locate you, and bring the current temperature to you up front in the search results. 3. Use the Bing 'related searches' feature: if you're not sure of exactly what you're looking for, recent similar or popular queries may help guide you. 4. Log in and set preferences: search engines let you specify your location, the languages you want to search in or whether to filter out adult content. Bing can then access your past searches and allows you to save searches. 5. Preview results - don't waste time by clicking to another page : Bing lets you preview the content of results by mousing over... Read More We've compiled a quick list of ways to make your internet searches more effective. 1. Use less words, keep queries simple : less is more when it comes to search engine queries. A few other things to note are try to avoid generic terms or words such as "the", "of", "and" or "to", type "DEFINE:" to find the definition of a word and know that capital letters and punctuation are ignored by search engines. 2. Let Bing do the work : Bing reasons the intent of your search, and brings you answers in the search results. Instead of typing 'weather for Melbourne' just type 'weather' and Bing will geo locate you, and bring the current temperature to you up front in the search results. 3. Use the Bing 'related searches' feature: if you're not sure of exactly what you're looking for, recent similar or popular queries may help guide you. 4. Log in and set preferences: search engines let you specify your location, the languages you want to search in or whether to filter out adult content. Bing can then access your past searches and allows you to save searches. 5. Preview results - don't waste time by clicking to another page : Bing lets you preview the content of results by mousing over... Read More
Jan

26

20 12

Bing screensaver: Cute & Charming

Bing Australia's background imagery is always inspiring, yet quite often it is also charming. We've put together a screensaver pack that celebrates the animals that have featured as Bing daily homepage images. From a cheeky hippo to an Aussie roo to a pair of curious frogs to a camouflaged tiger, this free screensaver pack has it all. Also featured in the 'Cute & Charming' themed pack is a motherly meerkat and her pups. The system requirements for installing the screensavers are as follows: Windows 7; Windows Vistal windows XP with Service Pack(SP) 2 Windows Internet Explorer 6 or later; Firefox 3.0 or later 512 megabyte (MB) RAM or higher 500 megahertz (MHZ) processor or higher 50 megabyte (MB) of free hard drive space - Bing AU Product Team Read More Bing Australia's background imagery is always inspiring, yet quite often it is also charming. We've put together a screensaver pack that celebrates the animals that have featured as Bing daily homepage images. From a cheeky hippo to an Aussie roo to a pair of curious frogs to a camouflaged tiger, this free screensaver pack has it all. Also featured in the 'Cute & Charming' themed pack is a motherly meerkat and her pups. The system requirements for installing the screensavers are as follows: Windows 7; Windows Vistal windows XP with Service Pack(SP) 2 Windows Internet Explorer 6 or later; Firefox 3.0 or later 512 megabyte (MB) RAM or higher 500 megahertz (MHZ) processor or higher 50 megabyte (MB) of free hard drive space - Bing AU Product Team Read More
Nov

29

20 11

What you Binged in 2011

Australians Binged Miranda Kerr more than any other international celebrity this year, with the Aussie supermodel also outranking other popular searches for tax, sex and "how to build muscle". Miranda topped the search rankings, followed by Justin Bieber and Katy Perry. Despite her best publicity efforts, Kim Kardashian came in sixth. Among the most binged Australian celebrities, Lara Bing le also ranked highly - and it's clear from this year's most unexpected hook-up who is the more popular, with searches for Liz Hurley almost doubling searches for Shane Warne. 2011 also saw more searches performed for the word 'tax' than 'sex'. Unsurprisingly, tax searches peaked in the month of July - and for no apparent reason, 'sex' searches were most frequent in October. The Royal Wedding was the overseas highlight of the year, but it was Pippa Middleton that exceeded searches for 'Royal Wedding' and 'Prince William' by 61% and 68% respectively. Combined searches for the nation's political leaders put Tony Abbott clearly in the shadow of Julia Gillard. Julia's name was searched 18 times more frequently than Tony's. Image-conscious queries including "how to get rid of acne" and... Read More Australians Binged Miranda Kerr more than any other international celebrity this year, with the Aussie supermodel also outranking other popular searches for tax, sex and "how to build muscle". Miranda topped the search rankings, followed by Justin Bieber and Katy Perry. Despite her best publicity efforts, Kim Kardashian came in sixth. Among the most binged Australian celebrities, Lara Bing le also ranked highly - and it's clear from this year's most unexpected hook-up who is the more popular, with searches for Liz Hurley almost doubling searches for Shane Warne. 2011 also saw more searches performed for the word 'tax' than 'sex'. Unsurprisingly, tax searches peaked in the month of July - and for no apparent reason, 'sex' searches were most frequent in October. The Royal Wedding was the overseas highlight of the year, but it was Pippa Middleton that exceeded searches for 'Royal Wedding' and 'Prince William' by 61% and 68% respectively. Combined searches for the nation's political leaders put Tony Abbott clearly in the shadow of Julia Gillard. Julia's name was searched 18 times more frequently than Tony's. Image-conscious queries including "how to get rid of acne" and... Read More
Nov

14

20 11

Video homepages give breath of life

Bing's homepage imagery is incredibly popular inciting beauty and enticing exploration yet we've gone ahead and taken the homepages to a whole new level. If you have a HTML-5 enabled browser you'll be able to view the likes of a leaf frog clambering across your monitor, as well as rippling water and amazing sunsets. And they're just a few of the video homepages Bing Australia has already displayed. Users without a compatible browser will still continue to see the gorgeous still photography that Bing is known for. If you're not getting the video and want to see what the fuss is about try downloading IE9 and then going to www.bing.com.au We won't be programming a video every day, just when the mood strikes us. - Bing AU Product team Read More Bing's homepage imagery is incredibly popular inciting beauty and enticing exploration yet we've gone ahead and taken the homepages to a whole new level. If you have a HTML-5 enabled browser you'll be able to view the likes of a leaf frog clambering across your monitor, as well as rippling water and amazing sunsets. And they're just a few of the video homepages Bing Australia has already displayed. Users without a compatible browser will still continue to see the gorgeous still photography that Bing is known for. If you're not getting the video and want to see what the fuss is about try downloading IE9 and then going to www.bing.com.au We won't be programming a video every day, just when the mood strikes us. - Bing AU Product team Read More
Nov

14

20 11

Bing Australia Bounces Out of Beta

Today, following more than two years of localisation and product development since its Australian launch, the Beta tag has been removed from Bing Australia. Bing positions itself as a new-generation search engine that helps you get things done, quickly and easily, making searching the web more instinctive. Key features of Bing are: Bing is task oriented - designed to help you get things done more quickly, with less queries Bing is visually organised - displays search results with more than just blue links Nearly 3 million Australians use Bing search engine each month and local Bing users are increasing. Traffic increased by more than 65% between June 2009 and Sept 2011. The removal of the Beta tag is today marked with an Australian home page image featuring two Urambi roos. Did you know that kangaroos can't move backwards? Much like Bing Australia you could say. We've come this far so it's now full-steam ahead. Thanks to each and every one of you for your ongoing support and we look forward to sharing with you what lies ahead for the future of Search. - Bing AU Product team Read More Today, following more than two years of localisation and product development since its Australian launch, the Beta tag has been removed from Bing Australia. Bing positions itself as a new-generation search engine that helps you get things done, quickly and easily, making searching the web more instinctive. Key features of Bing are: Bing is task oriented - designed to help you get things done more quickly, with less queries Bing is visually organised - displays search results with more than just blue links Nearly 3 million Australians use Bing search engine each month and local Bing users are increasing. Traffic increased by more than 65% between June 2009 and Sept 2011. The removal of the Beta tag is today marked with an Australian home page image featuring two Urambi roos. Did you know that kangaroos can't move backwards? Much like Bing Australia you could say. We've come this far so it's now full-steam ahead. Thanks to each and every one of you for your ongoing support and we look forward to sharing with you what lies ahead for the future of Search. - Bing AU Product team Read More
Sep

22

20 11

The law of attractions

Bing Australia's new 'attractions' feature gives you access to a mountain of information on the most popular attractions in Australia and across the world, with more than 50,000 listings. The info available includes images, videos, reviews, maps, prices, website links and contact information as well as handy suggestions such as nearby restaurants. It's a comprehensive tool which covers everything you'll need to best explore a specific attraction or the city you find yourself in. The information is sourced from a number of content providers and also utilises a number of Bing's most practical features including Bing maps for directions or nearby points of interest and Bing weather. To find this travel-friendly new feature just type a tourist attraction into Bing, for example, Sydney Opera House . If you click on the result you'll be rewarded with a full-page experience with loads of additional information. Alternatively, you can browse the whole catalogue by using the filters at www.bing.com/attractions/ or by tabbing through the attractions Visual Search... Read More Bing Australia's new 'attractions' feature gives you access to a mountain of information on the most popular attractions in Australia and across the world, with more than 50,000 listings. The info available includes images, videos, reviews, maps, prices, website links and contact information as well as handy suggestions such as nearby restaurants. It's a comprehensive tool which covers everything you'll need to best explore a specific attraction or the city you find yourself in. The information is sourced from a number of content providers and also utilises a number of Bing's most practical features including Bing maps for directions or nearby points of interest and Bing weather. To find this travel-friendly new feature just type a tourist attraction into Bing, for example, Sydney Opera House . If you click on the result you'll be rewarded with a full-page experience with loads of additional information. Alternatively, you can browse the whole catalogue by using the filters at www.bing.com/attractions/ or by tabbing through the attractions Visual Search... Read More