Microsoft announced that it will now include information from Twitter and Facebook in its Bing search results. The announcement was the first of its kind, and positioned Microsoft ahead of Google in one category of search technology, but only for a short moment, as later in the day, Google announced that it will also include Twitter data in its search results. With the most popular search engine now on board, real-time search is set to be especially useful for everyday users looking for up to the minute information.
The Twitter news wasn't the only revelation on Google's agenda, as the search giant unveiled plans for a music search service. Dubbed OneBox, the new offering will provide music streams in search results and give users the ability to stream searched songs free and easy through services like Lala.com and iLike.com. The world will get a better look at Google's OneBox next week when the service is launched.
Microsoft's Windows 7 hits stores today. The company hopes the new operating system will erase the bad taste Vista left in many users mouths. In an effort to build a more tactile OS, Microsoft reportedly decided to forgo bundling Windows 7 with a bevy of new features, choosing rather to iron out the kinks for a better user experience. With Vista only running on 1/3 of corporate Microsoft's corporate systems, the company hopes that Windows 7 will be viewed as an essential upgrade for companies still running Windows XP.
Facebook is also getting into the music game. The social network will, like Google, also use Lala.com to power music streams inside its network. The new service will allow users to gift songs to friends through Lala.com for as little as $0.10 a song, while $1.00 will give the user the ability to download the song without any DRM attachments.
Shelly Palmer is a consultant and the host of MediaBytes with Shelly Palmer a daily show featuring news you can use about technology, media & entertainment. He is Managing Director of Advanced Media Ventures Group LLC and the author of Television Disrupted: The Transition from Network to Networked TV. Shelly is also President of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. You can join the MediaBytes mailing list here. Shelly can be reached at shelly@palmer.net For information about Get Digital Classes, visit www.shellypalmer.com/seminars