Microsoft is making its Bing search engine more entertaining by spotlighting music, films, games and television shows.
The US technology giant late on Tuesday added an array of features to make it easier for Bing users to find and play their favorite songs, movies, TV programs or online games.
“In this release of Bing, one of the biggest investments we are making is in the area of entertainment,” Bing senior vice president Yusuf Mehdi said in a blog post.
“Bing is making a first step today to help make entertainment on the Web easy and fun, so you spend less time searching for entertainment and more time doing the stuff you love,” Mehdi said.
Bing software was modified to improve results to entertainment-related searches and a page devoted to the content was launched at www.bing.com/entertainment.
Microsoft tapped into its games divisions, which makes titles for the company’s Xbox 360 videogame consoles, to arrange for people to be able to play scores of popular online games on Bing pages.
Bing users can search out song lyrics as well as get videos or concert tour dates of musicians and even sample tunes.
Bing offers new tools to get information about movies along with local restaurant, parking and other information “you need to get to the movie stress-free and have a great night out,” Mehdi said.
Microsoft is also tailoring Bing for television lovers.
“We’ve brought together a very comprehensive collection of full-length TV episodes and visually organized them so it’s easy to find what you are looking for and start watching,” Mehdi said. “And if you are one of those people who watch TV on an actual TV, we’re pulling in guide information to help you easily find what’s on in your area from your service provider.”
Separately, Internet giant Google has opened its Google Voice telecommunications service to anyone in the US interested in using a single telephone number for all of their phones.
Google Voice reportedly attracted more than 1 million users during an invitation-only test phase and Google was bracing for a flood of interest on Tuesday as it made the service public.
“Today, after lots of testing and tweaking, we’re excited to open up Google Voice to the public, no invitation required,” product managers Craig Walker and Vincent Paquet said in a joint blog post. “We’re proud of the progress we’ve made with Google Voice over the last few years, and we’re still just scratching the surface of what’s possible when you combine your regular phone service with the latest Web technology.”
Along with letting users have one phone number that rings at all of their telephones, the service converts voice mail or text messages into e-mail and allows for toll-free calls to the US and Canada.
In an online video describing Voice, Google promised “less annoyances and more awesomeness — for free.” Voice threatens to challenge global Internet telephony star Skype.
People in the US can sign up for the service online at www.google.com/voice.
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