Search Blog

Bing is for Doing: Theophilus London’s Story

The Bing Team — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 17:00:00 GMT

Following his widely buzzed about performance at the Bing Bar at the Sundance Film Festival, Theophilus London and Bing are unveiling the next stage of their collaboration today. London, a songwriter, rapper, and designer has performed at several Bing- hosted events and we are currently sponsoring his upcoming album, a collection of remixes of Timez are Weird These Days tracks.

In the next phase of the Bing is for Doing campaign, Bing will be highlighting stories of musicians over the coming weeks – first up is Theophilus and how he is creating and inspiring. In this video, which will appear in different lengths online and in movie theaters, Theophilus shares why he is not an overnight sensation, how important individuality is to him, and why he wants to inspire people to be better.

- Sean Carver, Bing

Pop Music Maven Arjan Writes Joins #BingIt to Discuss the GRAMMYs

The Bing Team — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 18:13:00 GMT

Arjan Writes is the man behind the renowned www.ArjanWrites.com blog, which Forbes named “Best of Blog” for music in 2007, is an authority on emerging acts and cutting-edge new pop music. Arjan is also an official Community Blogger for GRAMMY.com, covering all major GRAMMY events throughout GRAMMY Week. With the GRAMMYs just around the corner we invited Arjan to share his GRAMMY predictions with you live via twitter.

This week, you have a chance to get Arjan’s inside perspective first hand. He will be our guest on this week’s #BingIt chat where he will share his GRAMMY predictions. Join us Wednesday, February 8th from 12-1 p.m. PT to tweet directly with Arjan and the #BingIt crew. To participate, follow @Bing and @arjanwrites and tweet out your questions and commentary with the hashtag #BingIt. As an added bonus, we’ll be giving away two $50 gift cards.

The 54^th annual GRAMMY Awards will air this upcoming Sunday, February 12 at 8 p.m. PT on CBS live from The Staples Center.

Need to catch up on your favorite acts ahead of the Grammy’s? Bing has you covered. Use Bing Entertainment to search nominees so you don’t miss a beat the night of the awards.

- The #BingIt Team

Kari Dilloo - @karidilloo
Ted Roduner - @roduner
Tanya Wang - @wangtanya

Our Favorite Features

The Bing Team — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 17:00:00 GMT

This week we have been encouraging people to take another look at Bing. To help folks who may not have used us in a while find some of our favorite features, we’ve pulled together a quick list of some cool things you can do on Bing that you won’t find other places.

1) Bing Homepage: Daily Inspiration

The Bing homepage includes a new beautiful image daily, information hotspots embedded in the image, popular searches, and links to video, news, shopping, travel, images, entertainment and maps. In addition, the Bing homepage occasionally features rich HTML5-powered videos in place of the daily image, providing people with an even more immersive experience.

2) Bing Travel: Price Predictor

With our airfare price predictions, in once glance you can find out whether fares are rising or dropping and whether you should buy now or wait.

3) Bing Video: Smart Motion Preview

How many times have you clicked on a video thumbnail only to discover that it wasn’t quite what you were looking for? With Smart Motion Preview, you can hover over a video and immediately watch a preview without having to travel to the site.

4) Bing Music: Artists

Interested in a band or exploring new artists. Look no further. Bing pulls everything together in one place. From videos, albums, show schedules, biographies and even the ability to listen or purchase the song from Zune, Amazon MP3 or iTunes.

5) Bing Events: FanSnap

Thanks to our partnership with FanSnap, you can find and compare event tickets from leading tickets sites, check out the view from the seat and quickly find the best value in Bing. Even Super Bowl tickets!

6) Bing Local: Action Buttons

Bing provides a plethora of information about local businesses including action buttons to get stuff done faster. For example, a restaurant listing may include links to commonly used functions on that site such as menu or location. Search results also may offer quick links to customer reviews, menus, one-click directions and an interior panorama or Streetside view of the location, if available.

7) Bing Maps: Mall Maps

Our Shopping Mall Maps allow you to view individual stores, layout, parking, ATMs and entrances, as well as many other mall services for nearly 700 malls across the US, France, Germany and the UK — all within Bing Maps.

8) Bing Shopping: Deals

Deals available at Bing.com/deals, visually organizes nearly 300,000 of the hottest deals from across the Web along with daily deals in 12 cities, in one convenient location.

9) Bing Maps: Airport Maps

Airport Maps give you everything you need to navigate your travels, including information on parking garages, ticket counter locations, terminals and gates, baggage claims, currency exchange, and more. The maps also feature a sortable directory of airlines, cafes and restaurants. Currently, there are airport maps for more than 50 airports, covering most of the medium- and large-hub airports in the United States.

10) Bing Everywhere: Bing on Xbox, Bing for Mobile and Bing for iPad

We make Bing available in convenient and intuitive ways that take advantage of the capabilities across a breadth of devices. You can see this today with features like: voice search on Bing for Xbox, implicit search such as Local Scout on Windows Phone, the ability to search using your phone’s camera with Bing Vision and touch/contextual search through the Lasso feature on the Bing for iPad app.

Check it out and let us know what you think.

- The Bing Team

Lifelens to Bring Malaria Treatment to the Masses with Windows Phone and Bing Maps

The Bing Team — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 17:01:00 GMT

On Friday, four teams from around the world were informed that they had won a $75,000 grant to propel their Imagine Cup ideas and prototypes to the next level. One of the winners was Lifelens a distributed team that developed an innovative and cost effective way to identify malaria in patients living in remote and underserved areas.

Lifelens is a point-of-care tool to diagnose malaria using an augmented Windows Phone 7 application. A blood sample is applied to a slide with a dye that only malaria parasites can absorb. Using a special lens with 350x magnification, the Windows Phone takes an image of that slide to get a cellular-level view of the blood cells. The LifeLens technology then detects which cells are infected with malaria. The application includes GPS to geotag the location of each cellular analysis, which can then be displayed on Bing Maps.

Yesterday, Tristan Gibeau stopped by our offices to talk with Stefan Weitz about the project, what it was like winning the grant and how the team used Bing Maps. You can check out the conversation as well an overview of LifeLens in the team’s own words below:

- Ted Roduner, Bing

Let the Games Begin: Your Guide to Awards Season Fun

The Bing Team — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 17:00:00 GMT

Everybody loves a good rivalry.

Whether it’s celebrities vying for an Oscar, artists competing for a Grammy, or presidential hopefuls stumping for the nomination, we all enjoy a good competition. That said, some races are more entertaining than others. According to a recent survey we conducted, nearly 70% of people said they are equally or more invested in the Grammys and Oscars than the race for the US presidency.

With that in mind, I’ve pulled together some tips to help you bone up on your favorite nominated celebrity, movie or album and make this year’s hottest races even more fun to watch:

Plan a few fun nights. The best ways to learn about nominated movies and music can also be the most fun. Check out the lists of nominees and plan a few movie nights or listening parties with your friends to experience the hottest films and albums for yourself. Find movie times or concert listings near you with Bing Entertainment. Take note of your favorites and be ready to pick the winners on the big night based on first-hand knowledge.
Research what’s already won – and place your bets. By the time the Academy Awards roll around, Hollywood has already hosted several other awards shows, including the Critics’ Choice Awards, SAG Awards and Golden Globes. Use Bing Entertainment to search nominees and see who’s already won – they could win again. Make the night even more exciting by hosting a party or organizing an office bracket to bet on winners.

Catch up on latest gossip. Hollywood’s hottest couples often use awards shows as a fun date night out on the town, while new couples take advantage of the red carpet to step out together for the first time. Unplanned run-ins and new or unexpected couplings are always hot on the Hollywood radar. Bing Entertainment’s Celebrity Connections feature lets you see who’s connected to who, what stars are newly coupled or single, or who might have the most outrageous red carpet arrival this season.

Get inspired by red carpet glamour. Look to the best dressed stars for fashion inspiration and brighten up the dreary winter by making red carpet trends part of your wardrobe.
Substance over style. Those people more politically inclined can keep up with the hottest buzz in the 2012 presidential race. Bing News surfaces up-to-the-minute news coverage, including trending tweets to highlight what’s happening, so you can be constantly informed and ready for any race that interests you this year.

Whatever race interests you, researching in advance makes the experience more enjoyable. By spending a little time – and making it fun – you can impress your friends by mastering red carpet fashion trends, awards nominees or celebrity gossip.

May the best person win!

- Karin Muskopf, Bing

Bing Rewards December Winners and Our Latest Sweepstakes

The Bing Team — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 17:00:00 GMT

We are pleased to announce the winners, pending official confirmation, of the three Bing Rewards sweepstakes that ended on January 11. Our new sweeps have begun and end on January 31. Keep reading for details on the great prizes we’re offering and how to enter, but first congratulations to our latest winners.

John A. of Chalfont, Pennsylvania was drawn as the grand prize winner of the Wintacular Weekend Trip. Have fun picking who to take and where to go on your trip for two with two nights' accommodation anywhere in the continental U.S.
Sandi V. of Ankeny, Iowa was picked in the Xbox 360 Pole Position Prize Pack sweepstakes. Enjoy your Kinect for Xbox 360 bundle, Forza Motorsport 4, a Forza Motorsport 4 Season Pass and a special edition Forza Motorsport 4 gaming chair from Playseat America.
There were 100 winners in our 1K Credit Blizzard sweepstakes, too numerous to list here. However, we’re pleased to share that they represent 35 out of the 50 states, including 16 winners in California and eight each from Texas and Florida. We look forward to seeing how they redeem the 1,000 Bing Rewards credits they won in our new redemption center.

Our new sweepstakes* have kicked off and will run through January 31, 2011 at 11.59 a.m. ET. This month’s prizes include:

Orlando Weekend Getaway. Orlando is one of the coolest cities in Florida. Add a must-see destination like Universal Studios Park and you've got yourself one stellar weekend. Win a two-night trip for two including airfare, a stay at the Portofino Resort and Spa, 2 two-day Universal Studios Park passes-and $100 to drop on whatever you'd like.
Xbox Prize Pack & Movie a Year of Movie Nights. Take a Kinect for Xbox 360 bundle, toss in a year's worth of free movie nights (52 one-night DVD rentals)– then add a yearlong Xbox LIVE gold subscription to the mix.
$50 Tango Card - 30 Winners. 30 lucky winners will skip off into special treat land when they win Tango Cards loaded with $50. Convert your Tango Card effortlessly into GAP, Target, REI or Nike cards (just to name a few), or even into cold hard cash.

www.discoverbing.com/rewards/web and please follow the instructions to create a Bing Rewards account or simply log into your existing Bing Rewards account and enter by following the directions found at the links above. Join Bing Rewards before January 31 to automatically be entered into the Orlando Weekend Getaway and Xbox Prize Pack & Movie Rentals for a Year sweepstakes. You can find the sweepstakes Official Rules here. Good luck!

Have an idea for a Bing Rewards sweepstake prize you’d like to see in the future? We want to hear it. Just send us a note on Twitter or leave us a comment below.

Alex Danskin

Product Marketing Manager, Bing

* No purchase necessary. Open only to Legal residents of the 50 US +D.C. 13 +.

Looking Back at Sundance 2012

The Bing Team — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 21:05:00 GMT

As things wrap up in Park City this week, we wanted to thank everyone who stopped by the Bing Bar on main street. We played host to a group of amazing artists, independent filmmakers and athletes who inspire us (and hopefully you.)

We’ve captured some of our favorite interviews and performances below. If you’d like to relive any of these moments, you can find all the interviews at www.bingsundance.com and archived performances from the likes of Fitz and The Tantrums, WIM and Cobra Starship as well as access to insightful talks from figures like pro snowboarder turned traumatic brain injury advocate Kevin Pearce at www.facebook.com/bing (Livestream tab.)

See you next year

- The Bing Team

Bing at Sundance: See What’s Happening at Sundance 2012

The Bing Team — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 23:20:00 GMT

Sundance 2012 is in full tilt at the Bing Bar. From amazing live performances from the likes of Drake, Jason Mraz, Grouplove and Cobra Starship to candid interviews with stars like Aziz Ansari, Kristen Bell, Paul Simon, Neil Young and Quincy Jones, we have captured all the action.

Check out a few videos below, visit www.bingsundance.com for all of the interviews and check out www.facebook.com/bing for livestreams of events as they happen.

- The Bing Team

Bing at Sundance: Wiz Khalifa, Jesse Williams and More Rock the Bing Bar

The Bing Team — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 17:00:00 GMT

The snow is falling and the stars are out in Park City.

Ross Mathews has been busy catching the actors and musicians as they make their way through the Bing Bar. Check out some of the interviews below, head to www.bingsundance.com for all of the coverage and watch the livestreams of today’s events on www.facebook.com/bing.

- The Bing Team

Bing is for Doing: Kevin Pearce’s Story

The Bing Team — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 14:00:00 GMT

This weekend, Bing will be premiering a new campaign featuring winter sports athletes doing amazing things. The campaign will launch with American snowboarder, Kevin Pearce, who was on the path to the 2010 Olympics before a tragic snowboarding accident left him with a traumatic brain injury. Pearce, now an aspiring sports commentator and an advocate for both the National Down Syndrome Society and the prevention of Traumatic Brain Injuries, just returned to the slopes this month. Bing has documented his inspiring story and an advertisement featuring his story will premiere during the NFC Championship game on Sunday and air during the X Games coverage on ESPN. Kevin’s determination and drive to overcome his accident through vigorous rehabilitation and training inspires us at Bing to “do” more.

Today, we’re pleased to preview Kevin’s inspiring story and how he embodies the spirit of doing.

Just over two years from the day of the accident, Kevin is returning to Park City as part of Bing’s Speaker Series at the Sundance Film Festival. Moderated by Sal Masekala, Kevin will join Dr. Holly Ledyard, the doctor who helped him recover to tell his story and raise awareness for traumatic brain injury prevention. You can watch a live-stream of the conversation at www.facebook.com/bing at 1 p.m. PT on Sunday, the 22^nd.

Joining Kevin in this campaign are other notable winter sports athlete: Bobby Brown – a freeskier specializing in slopestyle and big air competitions who defines the current state of tricks in skiing, Kaitlyn Farrington – one of the world’s best half-pipe snowboarders who won gold at the Winter X Games in Europe, and Gretchen Bleiler – one of the world’s top snowboarders and silver medalist at the 2006 Oylmpics in the half-pipe. Their stories will be shared on TV, online and via social media campaigns.

These videos are part of a new campaign for Bing, highlighting people doing interesting things. Bing has traditionally highlighted the decisions people make and now, with this new campaign, Bing will illustrate how decisions enable people to go beyond searching to doing.

These videos are part of a new campaign for Bing, highlighting people doing interesting things. Because Bing is for people who do; for people like you who are always doing more and don’t have time to sit still. So whether you’re on your PC or on your phone, Bing has features designed not just to connect you to the information you are looking for, but also to help you get things done right on Bing.com. From making dinner reservations to sharing a link with one of your Facebook friends, it can all happen within Bing. With Bing, you simply get results you can trust that will get you quickly from searching to doing. Bing is for doing.

What do you want to do?

- Lisa Gurry, Director Bing

Experience Sundance 2012 Live on Facebook.com/Bing

The Bing Team — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 17:00:00 GMT

Since not everyone can make it to Park City, we’re bringing Sundance to you

Over the course of the festival we will be hosting speaker series with independent film makers, award-winning actors and musicians, featuring nighttime musical performances and partnering with SPIN to bring exclusive happy hour musical acts to play at the Bing Bar. You can watch the Livestreams from the Bing Facebook page. Check out the schedule below and visit www.facebook.com/bing to watch live.

FRIDAY, JANUARY 20^TH

Event: The Bing Speaker Series for “In Search of Incredible”, featuring commentary and performance by Jason Mraz, presented by Asus/Intel

Time: 1 pm MT

Event: Bing Presents SPIN Sessions happy hour featuring a performance by Mallory Lennon and Gary Clark Jr. at the Bing Bar

Time: 4:45 pm MT

SATURDAY, JANUARY 21ST

Event: The Bing Speaker Series with the “Lay the Favorite” Cast and Filmmakers at the Bing Bar

Time: 3 pm MT

Speakers include: Catherine Zeta-Jones and Rebecca Hall

Event: Bing Presents SPIN Sessions happy hour featuring a performance by The Cool Kids at the Bing Bar

Time: 4:45 pm MT

SUNDAY, JANUARY 22ND

Event: The Bing Speaker Series with Kevin Pearce and Dr. Holly Ledyard at the Bing Bar

Time: 2 pm MT

Event: Bing Presents SPIN Sessions happy hour with Performance by Grouplove at the Bing Bar

Time: 4:45 pm MT

Event: The Official Bing Bar After-Party Featuring Cobra Starship

Time: 11:30 pm MT

MONDAY, JANUARY 23RD

Event: Bing Presents the Creative Coalition’s Teachers Making a Difference Luncheon at the Bing Bar

Time: 12:30 pm MT

Event: Bing Presents SPIN Sessions happy hour featuring a performance by Fitz and the Tantrums at the Bing Bar

Time: 4:45 pm MT

TUESDAY, JANUARY 24TH

Event: The Official Bing Bar After-Party Featuring Theophilus London

Time: 12 am MT

- The Bing Team

Get the Scoop on Sundance with Ross Mathews and #BingIt

The Bing Team — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 17:00:00 GMT

The Sundance Film Festival kicks-off Thursday and TV personality, Tonight Show correspondent and Chelsea Lately regular and guest host, Ross Mathews will be in the center of the action hosting exclusive interviews with the stars at The Bing Bar. You have a chance to get Ross’ inside perspective on the happenings at Sundance. He will be our guest on this week’s #BingIt chat where he will share his take on what to expect in Park City this year.

Join us Tuesday, January 17^th from 1-2 p.m. PT to tweet directly with Ross. To participate, follow @Bing and @helloross and tweet out your questions and commentary with the hashtag #BingIt. To make it worth your while, we will be giving away two $50 gift cards. Check out this video from last year to see Ross in action.

- The #BingIt Team

Kari Dilloo - @karidilloo
Ted Roduner - @roduner
Tanya Wang - @wangtanya

Lights, Camera, Action: Experience The Sundance Film Festival with Bing

The Bing Team — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 17:01:00 GMT

On January 19^th film buffs and the independent film community will descend on Park City to experience the Sundance Film Festival. For the third year, Bing will serve as the “Official Search Engine of Sundance” and offer a star-studded line-up of events to celebrate the spirit of Sundance at the Bing Bar.

Bing offers a range of entertainment features that make it easy for you to find the information you need, and do the entertainment you love. Partnering with events like Sundance help us share amazing content with entertainment fans and this year for the first time, we will livestream many of our events on our Bing Facebook page – making it easy for anyone to experience the magic of Sundance.

We’re proud to be prominently featured as the official search engine of sundance.org and provide the mapping technologies for the Official Sundance Film Festival Mobile Application.

And this year, we’re excited to have the biggest Bing Bar yet – now taking over 3 floors of this historic Claim Jumper hotel in downtown Park City. The Bing Bar will offer a star-studded line-up of diverse events, featuring speaker panels, film premier parties, exclusive musical performances, a daily happy hour in conjunction with SPIN, after-hour parties, and more – all celebrating the best of Sundance.

Highlights Include:

Musical Performances: Exclusive musical performances by Drake, Cobra Starship, Wiz Khalifa, Jason Mraz, Theophilus London, WIM and James Murphy. SPIN Sessions happy hour performances by Gary Clark Jr., Cool Kids, Grouplove, and Fitz and the Tantrums.

Bing Speaker Series: A range of diverse Bing Speaker Series featuring Catherine Zeta-Jones and acclaimed snowboarder Kevin Pearce, who will be returning to Park City for the first time since his devastating head injury. The Creative Coalition’s Teachers Making a Difference Luncheon will also be hosted by Bing.

Film Events: Events such as dinners, junkets, parties and more for eagerly-awaited films appearing at Sundance including “Lay the Favorite” (Bruce Willis/Catherine Zeta Jones), “Under African Sky” (focusing on the 20th anniversary of Simon’s Graceland), “Neil Young Journey’s (Neil Young), “Excision” (AnnaLynne McCord, Ariel Winter), “The Surrogate” (William H. Macy, John Hawkes), “Finding North” (Participant Media’s latest documentary featuring a performance from the Civil Wars), and “Sleepwalk with Me” (Mike Birbiglia, Ira Glass.)

Another first for Bing - we’ll be offering a concierge service - handing out exclusive Bing Bar access to festival-goers, movie screening passes, ski lift passes, transportation in the Bing vans, and essential cold-weather items including sweatshirts, gloves and blankets. The Bing Bar concierge will provide festival-wide services such as assistance for making reservations, mobile phone charging packs, Sundance tips, and more. Follow the Bing Bar concierge on Twitter using #TeamBing to enter exclusive giveaways or #BingBar for the scoop on Bing’s star-studded events from Park City. On the digital front, we will also have Foursquare integration, free Postagram photos, and GroupMe SMS alerts. Event attendees can sign up to join the Bing-sponsored group on GroupMe to coordinate plans with friends, as well as unlock exclusive Bing Bar access and giveaways.

The Bing Bar will be open from January 19th to January 24th. Visit www.facebook.com/bing and @Bing to follow along and visit www.bingsundance.com to watch video content from the Festival including exclusive interviews hosted by Bing’s Sundance Correspondent Ross Mathews (Chelsea Lately, The Tonight Show).

Check back here and on @Bing for specific dates and times.

- Lisa Gurry, Bing

Win a Trip to See Jason Mraz Live at Sundance 2012

The Bing Team — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 17:00:00 GMT

Last week, we asked you to share your favorite film with us for a chance to win a trip for you and a friend to The Sundance Film Festival 2012. Today, we’re proud to announce that Jason Mraz will be performing at Sundance. For all of our loyal followers who are also Mraz fans, we are hosting a Twitter sweepstakes for the chance to win a trip to Sundance for one winner and a friend.

Today (January 10^th), we will be tweeting a question from the @Bing Twitter handle asking you to decide which Jason Mraz song you would like to dedicate to a friend. To play, all you have to do is tweet your answer, @-mention Bing somewhere within the post, and include the #BingBar and #SearchIncredible hashtags.

From the followers who tweet an answer that @-mentions Bing somewhere within the post with the #BingBar and #SearchIncredible hashtags, we will randomly select one lucky winner during the following time period:

9AM-5PM PT on January 10, 2012.

Good luck!

For details on how the sweepstakes works, read the official rules here.

- The Bing Team

Win a “Trip to Sundance” Compliments of Bing

The Bing Team — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 17:00:00 GMT

Each year, The Sundance Film Festival draws thousands of film buffs to Park City, Utah and serves as the premier showcase for independent films.

For the third year, Bing is the official search engine for Sundance and the Bing team will be traveling to Sundance to set up the Bing Bar, last year’s hottest destination at Sundance. The Bing Bar will host a star-studded line-up of diverse events, offering an inside look at the films, people, and music that make Sundance so unique. Featuring speaker panels, happy hours, film premier parties, after-hour parties and much more, the Bing Bar celebrates the best of Sundance.

Last year, the Bing Bar featured exclusive performances from Florence and the Machine, Janelle Monae, and Cee-Lo Green; film parties for soon-to-be hits like Margin Call, My Idiot Brother and The Ledge; and a range of speaker series featuring Susan Sarandon, Robert Redford, Forest Whitaker, Jeremy Piven and more. Demi Moore, Liv Tyler, Paul Rudd, Adrian Grenier, Chelsea Handler, Kevin Spacey, Emma Roberts, Shaun White, Ashton Kutcher, and Elizabeth Banks were just a few of the stars that hung out at the Bing Bar. Check out the video.

This year, we want you to join us in Park City! We are hosting a Bing “Trip to Sundance” Sweepstakes giving you a chance to win the ultimate film experience: a trip to the Sundance Film Festival for you and a friend!

Today (January 6^th2012), we will tweet a question from the @Bing Twitter handle asking you to decide your favorite movie of all time. All you have to do is tweet your answer during the Entry Period (9 AM-5 PM PT on January 6, 2012), @-mention Bing somewhere within the post, include the #BingBar hashtag to be entered into the sweepstakes and remain a follower until at least January 19,2012. Throughout the day, @Bing will tweet links to searches of the films at Sundance 2012.

From all eligible entries we will randomly select one lucky winner.

Good luck and get your film on! Be sure to retweet and spread the word so that we can get the popcorn popping!

For details on how the sweepstakes works, read the official rules here.

- The Bing Team