Bing Not Better Than Google

Bing is better than Google? Bunkum, says Freakonomics | Technically Incorrect - CNET News: "In the experiment, Freakonomics found that 53 percent chose the Google results, 41 percent chose Microsoft's, and 6 percent just couldn't make their minds up. This might be summarized as not exactly 2 to 1. And not exactly in favor of Bing. Freakonomics didn't freak out. It tried some other experiments to see if it could find parameters along which there was a clear preference for Bing. It found none. It found a clear preference for Google or, at best, a tie. In conclusion, it described Microsoft's claims as "fishy.""

Microsoft Bings on a challenge to Google in search

USA TODAY
Microsoft has its work cut out for it with its provocative "Bing It On" search challenge. ... IMDb, YouTube, Amazon and elsewhere — to add additional information. ... there are in a grape — handily beat Apple's Siri in speed and relevance.. . .

eWeek

Microsoft dings Ballmer's bonus over Windows 8, Surface RT struggles

Computerworld
Computerworld - Microsoft's board of directors reduced outgoing CEO Steve Ballmer's bonus for the 2013 fiscal year, citing poor performance of Windows 8 and ...

Computerworld

Google adds pix search to Chrome, squashes 50 bugs - Computerworld: ""Starting this week, all Chrome users will be able to search by image," said Kibeom Kim, a Chrome engineer, in a short post to a company blog. By right-clicking an image displayed in Chrome, then selecting "Search Google for this image," the browser will show other image results culled from Google's search engine."

Apple threatened by growth of prepaid smartphone plans - SiliconValley.com: " . . . That shift is a worrisome one for Apple, whose iPhone provides the lion's share of the company's revenues. The vast majority of iPhones sold in the United States come with two-year contracts for standard plans with the big carriers, whose high-priced contracts subsidize the cost of the phones. The company faces the prospect of losing market share -- and eventually revenue -- to cheaper phones on prepaid plans, or having to offer a lower-cost phone that could undermine sales of its higher-priced iPhones. . . ."

Amazon Readies Set-Top Box for Holidays

Wall Street Journal
Roku sells its set-top devices for as little as $50, while Apple Inc. offers itsApple ... boxes like those sold by Roku, or videogame systems such asMicrosoft Corp....

Wall Street Journal

Samsung Soars While HTC Reports First Quarterly Loss
New York Times
TOKYO — The diverging fortunes of two of the leading smartphone providers in Asia were demonstrated Friday when Samsung Electronics of South Korea predicted better-than-expected quarterly earnings, while HTC of Taiwan reported its first loss. Bits ...

Four biggest iOS 7 complaints and how to fix some of them
Los Angeles Times
Apple's radically redesigned iOS 7 has been available for more than two weeks now, and users are upgrading to it at a record clip. Reports of satisfaction are generally high, but that doesn't mean there haven't been hiccups. In fact, a handful of problems have ...

Microsoft Said to Ask HTC for Windows on Android Phones

Bloomberg
By contrast, makers of Android devices don't pay Google, and instead agree to ... Android dominated with 79 percent, while Apple Inc. (AAPL)'s iOS was No....

NDTV

Microsoft Case Against Google's Motorola Partly Revived

Bloomberg
“We're pleased the court determined Google unfairly uses Microsofttechnology ... Microsoft's operating system was third with 3.6 percent, withApple Inc. having ...

Yahoo!7 News

Google Is Far From Losing the War Over Social

TIME
Google's social network, Google+, is more popular than Twitter. Every month, nearly 390 million people worldwide use the service to post messages, make ...

DigitalJournal.com

Verizon Pushes Into Google, Amazon, Microsoft IaaS Territory

InformationWeek
Verizon Cloud Storage is an object storage service, where structured and unstructured data is stored as files, similar to Amazon, Google andMicrosoft cloud ...

Dividend.com

Amazon Prime Instant Video to produce three new pilots

Los Angeles Times
Amazon Studios, which launched in 2010 with the goal of creating original online series and movies, announced Thursday that it would produce three new pilots ...

Complex.com

Microsoft's Spencer says the clever Xbone nickname will stick

GameSpot
Microsoft's Spencer says the clever Xbone nickname will stick. October 3, 2013 ... Microsoft took ownership of the Xbone.com domain in September. In the same ...

GameZone

Apple Buys Cue For Over $40M To Compete With Google Now ...

Alexia Tsotsis
Personal assistants are all the rage, with everything from Apple's Siri to Google's Google Now hogging headlines. There is also another tier of independent ...

TechCrunch 

Google Search on Mobile Chrome and Safari Just Got Faster

Josh Ong
Google has made changes to its mobile search engine that should make it between 200-400 milliseconds faster on Chrome and Safari.

The Next Web 

Amazon trademark filings reveal something called Firetube | Internet ...

Lance Whitney
So far it's a name that Amazon has filed to trademark. ... for CNET, Computer Shopper, MicrosoftTechNet, and other technology sites. ... Samsung HomeSync competes with Apple TV, and Google's music app may be coming soon to iOS.Posts 

Google Chrome Blog: Chrome for Android gets application shortcuts ...
Have you ever wished your phone or tablet's browser could immediately open a website you visit often? With the Beta release of Chrome for Android rolling out ...chrome.blogspot.com/.../chrome-for-android-gets-application.... 

France targets Amazon to protect bookshops - FT.com
He said Google, Apple, Facebook and Amazon between them had between €2.2bn and €3bn sales in France, but paid on average only €4m in tax each. www.ft.com/.../3c173108-2c3a-11e3-acf4-00144feab7de.html 

Improved App Insight by Linking Google Analytics with Google Play ...
Posted by Ellie Powers, Google Play team. A key part of growing your app's installed base is knowing more about your users — how they discover your app, ...android-developers.blogspot.com/.../improved-app-insight-by... 

Apple iBeacons: iOS 7 iBeacon feature could usher in advertising ...
Alongside the introduction of Apple's latest mobile operating system iOS 7, the company also ...Video: Here's how Microsoft rebuilt Kinect for the Xbox One. Next ...bgr.com/2013/10/03/apple-ibeacons-ios-7-advertising/ 

Google Music app for iOS to drop in October, says report - CNET News
Google is currently working on its Music app and plans to get it to Apple's App Store sometime this month, Engadget reported on Thursday, citing people who are ...news.cnet.com/.../google-music-app-for-ios-to-drop-in-octobe... 

Apple issues OS X 10.8.5 Supplemental Update, iTunes 11.1.1 - Tuaw
Apple has released OS X v10.8.5 Supplemental Update 1.0 for Mountain Lion. The update, which is available in the Mac App Store or through the link above,www.tuaw.com/.../apple-issues-os-x-10-8-5-supplemental-upd...

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Google, Yahoo and Bing warned by FTC over ad labelling

FTC trying hard to be "relevant"--

Google, Yahoo and Bing warned by FTC over advert labelling
The Guardian
The letter (PDF) has been sent to the three largest US search engines – Google, Yahoo andMicrosoft's Bing - and also to AOL, Blekko, DuckDuckGo and 17 other specialist search engines for shopping, travel, and local business which display adverts to ...

Google Hangouts Adds Remote Desktop Feature | Geekosystem: "Hangouts remote desktop feature that lets you take control of another system through the chat service. The problem now is, how am I going to explain setting up a Google Hangout to my mother? Getting started with Hangouts Remote Desktop is pretty basic. We just gave it a test drive, and everything went smoothly. The feature can be installed as an app in the hangout itself. It’s found under the “Add Apps” tab on the left of the screen. Once one person enables Remote Desktop, the other party can choose to accept or reject it. Now you’re free to click around the other person’s screen."

Google to publish data on malware, phishing scams
Washington Post
Google, Yahoo, Facebook, Microsoft and Apple have offered more data about government requests for information in recent weeks. They are under intense scrutiny of their alleged participation in the PRISM government surveillance of consumer Internet data.

Google should be regulated like utilities, say rivals
Computerworld
Google has been under investigation by the Commission since November 2010 after rivals accused the search giant of setting its algorithm to direct users to its own services by reducing the visibility of competing websites and services. It was also ...

Apple Details Rebates For Kids' App...
ABC News
Apple, under the terms of a class-action settlement, will pay $100 million to parents whose kids went on unauthorized buying sprees in game apps. Parents who claim their kids ran up unauthorized charges of $30 or less will get $5 worth of iTunes Store ...

Google Reader Alternatives: Get All Your News in One Place with These Apps
ABC News
Next week, Google is sending another one of its products to the grave. Back in March, the company announced that Google Reader, its RSS application that debuted in 2005, was joining other products like Google Wave and Google Desktop in the Google ...

Microsoft Combines Its Startup Programs Under One Roof
Wall Street Journal (blog)
Microsoft on Tuesday announced it is creating Microsoft Ventures, a fusion and expansion of company programs to provide startups with technology expertise, investment money and other help. The company didn't say how much money Microsoft Ventures ...

Microsoft is the big winner in new Oracle cloud partnership
PCWorld
Microsoft and Oracle are working together? Oh, wait. I guess that should be a statement instead of a question. The two companies have joined forces in a new cloud venture. It seems Larry Ellison has embraced the wisdom of that ancient Arabic proverb ...

Google-backed O3b launches satellites to offer Internet connectivity

PCWorld
O3b Networks, a company backed by Google and other investors, has launched its first satellites that aim to provide low-cost and high-speed connectivity to parts of the world that do not have fiber infrastructure. The company's first four satellites ...

Announcing Microsoft Ventures for startups to build, innovate and ...
By Jeffrey Meisner
News and perspectives covering the top stories, events and activities from Microsoft. The content for this blog includes the official information and stories from all of Microsoft's primary businesses.
The Official Microsoft Blog

Digg Reader Is A Promising, But Still Incomplete, Google Reader ...
By Sarah Perez
For a subset of the Internet's population, Google's March announcement of its intention to shutter its dated, rusting RSS feed-reading service Google Reader was met with a large outcry. Though never having grown to a size that made the ...
TechCrunch

A Different Approach at Google Ventures - NYTimes.com
By By CLAIRE CAIN MILLER
And all of its money comes from Google instead of outside investors, though many other companies also have venture arms, including Microsoft, which on Tuesday announced the formation of MicrosoftVentures. But the differences at Google ...
NYT Bits

Google buying Tesla Motors? Does it make sense? : TreeHugger
By Michael Graham Richard
Bloomberg journalists are speculating that Google might be interested in buying Tesla. We look at whether that would make sense or not.
Latest Items from TreeHugger

Microsoft announces $399 Windows developer program for new Kinect
Ars Technica
Some of the most exciting uses of Kinect for the Xbox 360 came from people who hooked it up to a Windows PC or other device for some innovative, natural user interface applications. Microsoft is getting ahead of the game for these projects with the new ...

Windows 8.1 fixes problems, adds new features, but touch screen is still the ...
CNET
New Snap features let you have up to four apps simultaneously running, provided you have a high-resolution screen. Today, during the keynote for the Microsoft Build conference in San Francisco, the company ...

Samsung Unveils LTE-Advanced Version of Galaxy S4
PC Magazine
Samsung on Wednesday unveiled an LTE-Advanced version of its Galaxy S 4 flagship smartphone, which will connect to networks that provide double the speed of today's 4G LTE networks, the company said. LTE-Advanced is basically an upgrade from 4G ...

Sharp LC-70UD1
CNET
Sharp has announced the 70-inch LC-70UD1, which is the first Ultra HD screen to receive THX certification, but it won't come cheap. The Sharp LC-70UD1 4K television will be available in August 2013 for $7999. (Credit: Sharp). Sharp has announced that the ...

Pitchers have mammoth-hunting ancestors to thank for their prowess
The Guardian
Top baseball pitchers owe much of their success to our mammoth-hunting ancestors, a study suggests. Humans evolved unique throwing skills some two million years ago to help them fell and kill wild beasts, say the researchers. Today, the same ability ...

Genome of Horse Buried 700000 Years Is Recovered
New York Times
Researchers have reconstructed an ancient genome that is 10 times as old as any retrieved so far, and now say that DNA should be recoverable from animals that lived one million years ago. This would greatly extend biologists' ability to understand the ...

FTC commissioner calls for way to 'reclaim your name'
PCWorld
U.S. consumers should be able to reclaim control of their personal data from data brokers, websites and other companies, a member of the U.S. Federal Trade Commission said Wednesday. Commissioner Julie Brill, a long-time privacy advocate, will push for ...

Ouya Gets Trashed; Sony's New 'Ultra' Phablet; Zynga Games on Acer PCs
PC Magazine
Though the Ouya reportedly sold out on Amazon shortly after its debut, the reviews weren't very positive. "The Ouya could be a great, inexpensive Android-based gaming system for everyone," PCMag's Will Greenwald wrote in his two-star (out of five) review.

New Bird Species Discovered in Cambodia
ABC News
A previously unknown species of bird has been discovered in Cambodia, not in some remote jungle but in the country's capital, researchers announced Wednesday. The New York-based Wildlife Conservation Society said a team of its scientists, working with ...

Imagination's new MIPS CPUs will fight ARM and Intel for phones, tablets
Ars Technica
Imagination Technologies has long been known for its mobile graphics processors—designs from Imagination have shown up in everything from Apple's iPhones and iPads to Sony's PlayStation Vita. Today, the company announced that it would be extending ...

Two new Sprint Windows 8 phones, and no data caps in sight
Christian Science Monitor
Windows Phone 8, no data caps.Quick guide: iTunes Radio vs. Pandora vs. Spotify vs. Rdio vs. Google Play Music · Horizons Samsung unveils the Ativ S, the first-ever Windows 8 phone · Horizons It's official: Windows ...

Poppy, A Device That Turns Your Phone Into A 3-D Camera, Launches On ...
TechCrunch
Every now and then in this job I see something that's just fun and new and interesting and I think, “Wow, why hasn't anyone else thought of that?” That's kind of how I felt when I first saw Poppy, which is a cute little device that lets you view and record 3-D ...

Microsoft Announces Microsoft Ventures for Startups
Tom's Hardware Guide
With its developer conference starting today, Microsoft's in for a big week, and the company decided to kick off Build with a huge announcement. Microsoft on Tuesday unveiled plans for an startup support program it's calling Microsoft Ventures. Redmond ...

Near-earth asteroid 2013 MZ5 discovered, 100000 remain
Fox News
The good news: NASA has discovered the 10,000th near-Earth object (NEO). The bad news: At least 100,000 are still out there. PHOTOS: Russian Meteor Strike Aftermath. NEOs are asteroids and comets that approach Earth, coming within 28 million miles ...

Xbox Music For Windows 8.1 Preview Adds Pandora-Like Radio Feature
TechCrunch
One of the redesigned apps Microsoft is introducing in the Windows 8.1 Preview is an update to its Xbox Music app that now puts the emphasis back on your own music – whether in the cloud or on your local machine – and less on music discovery, which the ...

How a remote-controlled cockroach might come to your rescue
Christian Science Monitor
A roach is steered using remote control. Expect a national "Thank Your Cockroach" day in the near future.  RoboRoach: How to control a cockroach with your smartphone · How cockroaches evolved so as to bypass ...

Telefonica hopes Windows Phone push can slow iOS-Android duopoly
Computerworld
IDG News Service - Spanish operator Telefonica is worried about the Android-iOS smartphone duopoly, and has joined with Microsoft in a marketing blitz that it hopes will convince consumers to pick up smartphones based on Windows Phone. For one year ...

Snapchat: the self-destructing message app that's becoming a phenomenon
The Guardian
In any other messaging app, you'd think it was a bug in the software. Moments after you send or receive a photograph or video clip on Snapchat, it disappears – permanently. Yet this simple twist on picture-messaging has made Snapchat a phenomenon.

China's Shenzhou-10 Spacecraft Returns to Earth
Discovery News
The re-entry capsule of China's Shenzhou-10 spacecraft lands in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region on June 26, 2013. Stunning Solar Transits by China's Space Station.

This is Motorola Mobility's new logo
The Verge
Motorola Mobility is making changes to its well-known brand this week, switching to a new, all-lower-case typeface that's both thinner and softer than the classic bold and italic "MOTOROLA" that has been used for decades. The famous "M" badge persists, ...

FTC Pushes Search Engines for Better Labeling of Paid Ads
PC Magazine
The Federal Trade Commission this week penned letters to top search firms like Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft, urging them to make sure that their search results clearly distinguish between paid and natural search results. "We have observed a decline in ...

Stock dips as fanbois complain of dodgy Wi-Fi on MacBook Air
Register
Peak Apple Apple is investigating claims that new Macbook Air notebooks are suffering from crippling Wi-Fi connection problems. Cupertino's latest creation, the Macbook Air, boasts an epic battery life, but customers are reporting terrible Wi-Fi problems.

The bad: The HTC One Google Play Edition doesn't offer any of the extras found ...
CNET
The bad: The HTC One Google Play Edition doesn't offer any of the extras found in HTC Sense. The handset's unsubsidized price is expensive. The bottom line: The pricey HTC One Google Play Edition's unique blend of premium design, components, and ...

StickNFind Releases An SDK For Its Clever Bluetooth Tracking Sticker
TechCrunch
Think of the possibilities, developers. Find lost keys or the TV remote or a child. Make an electronic Marco Polo game! Embed the StickNFind Bluetooth sticker in a museum exhibit as a sort of supercharged RFID educational system. The world could be yours.

Japan robot says space mission 'big stride' for androids
AFP
TOKYO — A talking robot that will accompany a Japanese astronaut in space this summer says the cosmic tour will be one giant leap for androids everywhere. In a scene straight out of Star Wars, the pint-sized KIROBO fielded questions from curious ...

Security standard proposed for apps
Telegraph.co.uk
Lookout, a security technology company that protects from mobile threats, has added a feature to its mobile security app that will flag up the presence of mobile advertising networks with adware risks and shows users how to remove problematic software.

California Cities to Reduce Water Imports From the Colorado River and Bay-Delta
National Geographic
Residents of a community in Camarillo, California, are alerted to the use of recycled water for landscape irrigation. Using water more than once — for example, for indoor home use and then irrigation — is one way a number of southern California cities are ...

Sony Ramps Up Mobile Push
Wall Street Journal
SHANGHAI—Sony Corp., a household name in consumer electronics, has failed to make a dent when it comes to smartphones, trailing far behind Apple Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co. for the past few years. But with improving financial conditions and a ...

Motorola Electrify M review: Compact, capable Android with poor camera
CNET
The good: The affordable Motorola Electrify M features a colorful screen, 4G LTE, and long battery life. Thin, attractive, and compact, it also runs Android Jelly Bean. The bad: The Electrify M's camera takes unimpressive images and has a slow processor.

Google: Hacked sites far worse than attack sites
CNET
The new Safe Browsing section of Google's Transparency Report shows that you face a significantly bigger threat from compromised legit sites than intentionally dangerous sites....

Apple promotes iOS 7 enterprise additions in pitch to business customers
Apple Insider
A new section added to Apple's website promotes its upcoming iOS 7 mobile operating system to business customers, touting new features such as enhanced security, and new ways to configure and deploy devices at scale. Business. With iOS 7, the new site ...

Oracle and Salesforce Enter a Strategic Partnership
Destination CRM
Salesforce.com and Oracle yesterday announced a nine-year partnership encompassing all three tiers of cloud computing: applications, platform, and infrastructure. Salesforce.com plans to standardize on the Oracle Linux operating system, Exadata ...

DOMA's Instagram Videos Are Raw, Real & Perfect for Today
The Atlantic Wire
The Instagram videos that surfaced in the few hours immediately following the Supreme Court's historic ruling today that the Defense Against Marriage Act was unconstitutional aren't very good, per se, but that's why they're so great. The amateur clips ...

Planetary data merge shows three Earth-like planets in close star system
Register
Astronomers are spending more and more time looking for planets in the "Goldilocks Zone," meaning those orbiting at just the right distance from a sun that it's neither too hot nor too cold for liquid water. Now they've found three orbiting a single star that's not ...

New Laser Reveals Substances to Military Aircraft, Uncovering Hidden Dangers
Science World Report
A new laser could help military aircraft identify hidden dangers, such as weapons arsenals, far below them during missions. The new piece of technology can show what objects are made of, which makes it extremely useful for identifying hidden locations.

'World of Warcraft' Suffers From Account Hacks, Blizzard Issues a Security Warning
Headlines & Global News
"World of Warcraft" Blizzard Entertainment's popular massive multiplayer online roll playing game (MMORPG), has been experiencing some security issues. The game requires users to set up an account in order to pay the game's monthly fee and reap all of ...

Australians Attack Japan's 'Scientific' Whaling Practices In International Court
RedOrbit
Australia stood up at the United Nation's highest court on Wednesday and defended the largest mammals on Earth. Representatives argued before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague that Japan's excuse to hunt whales for “scientific” ...

Investors, You'll Love LeapFrog's Hot New Toys
DailyFinance
LeapFrog , maker of the children's tablet LeapPad and other popular educational electronics for kids, now makes eight of the top 10 best sellers on Amazon's Kids' Electronic Learning and Educational Systems, 20 of the top 20 for Kids' Software and Books, ...

Apple iPhone 5S Rumors: Release Date Coming This Fall With Faster A7 Chip ...
International Business Times
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) may have plans to release two new iPhone models this year, but so far we've seen convincing photos only of the highest-end one, the alleged iPhone 5S, to corroborate rumors about the next-gen smartphone. After MacRumors ...

Labour peer smashes world land speed record for electric car
Yorkshire Post
A MEMBER of the House of Lords has broken the world speed record for an electric car, on a Yorkshire circuit. Lord Drayson got behind the wheel of his converted 600bhp Lola Le Mans race car at the RAF Elvington Airfield on Tuesday evening where he hit ...

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