Hasta La Gadget!

It is not news that over in China, the government is pretty heavy-handed when it comes to censoring information. To that extent social media networks like Facebook and Twitter are banned. However it seems that due to a technical error, Microsoft’s Bing search has accidentally censored search results for Chinese-language users in the US, the same way it would have been censored in mainland China. At least that’s what Microsoft claims. This is based on a report from The Guardian who were the ones of reported on the alleged censorship.

According to censorship blog, Greatfire who initially discovered the censorship, it was found that certain websites and topics that could be found on Google could not be found on Bing when attempting to search using the Chinese language. Website author Charlie Smith claimed that the results were “radically different results in the US for English and Chinese language searches.” Microsoft has since denied claims that they were actively censoring search results and have attributed it to a technical error. According to Stefan Weitz, the senior director of Bing, he claimed that this was due to errors in Bing’s system and that Bing does not apply China’s legal requirements. However according to sources of The Verge, they state that Microsoft would have to adhere to China’s censorship laws if the IP address were to originate from China itself.

Microsoft Denies Censoring Bing Search Results In Chinese original content from Ubergizmo.

While Bitcoin might not necessarily be looked upon favorably by governments, such as Russia and China, there are many out there who have started to accept the currency as a legitimate form of payment. That being said, we guess we can’t say we’re too surprised to learn that tech companies such as Microsoft have also decided to embrace Bitcoin, although not in the way that you might expect. While Microsoft isn’t exactly accepting Bitcoin as a form of payment, the company has recently announced that as far as Bitcoin conversion is concerned, Bing has been recently updated to include that feature.

According to the Bing blog, “Starting today, you will find instant Bitcoin conversions at the top of your Bing results.” However as it stands, this feature is only available in the US, Australia, Canada, India, and the UK, but Microsoft expects that it will be rolled out to other markets in the future. Like we said while this does not necessarily mean that Microsoft will take Bitcoin as payment, it is a sign that shows that Microsoft acknowledges the currency, compared to Apple who has been busy trying to remove Bitcoin-related apps from its App Store. So if you’re an avid Bitcoin trader or watcher and would love to keep up with the fluctuating value, hit up Bing’s search and give the conversion a go!

Bing Integrates Bitcoin Converter Into Its Search original content from Ubergizmo.

February 7th might come and go for many of us without much fanfare, but that is the exact date where the opening ceremonies will kick off in Sochi, Russia, for the Winter Games. Of course, it will not be as celebrated as the Summer Olympics, but this does not mean it has no following at all. Far from it – you can be a fan of curling or figure skating, bobsled or biathlon, giant slalom or hockey, Nordic skiing or everything that has been mentioned and more, and Bing will make sure that you remain on top of all the action. Microsoft hopes to make Bing your one-stop location when it comes to obtaining the most relevant and up-to-date information which concern the Winter Games.

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Bing Lets You Track The Winter Olympics With Ease original content from Ubergizmo.

If you’re working with a device made by Microsoft (or running a Microsoft-made OS) right now, get ready to see a whole lot more of Foursquare. Microsoft has just invested … Continue reading

When it comes to search engines, which do you ultimately prefer? Google? Yahoo? Bing? Well for Windows Phone users, a survey conducted has found that Bing is being used by 52% of Windows Phone users based on their findings back in Q4 2013. This is apparently a drop from 58% in Q3 2014, but still significantly higher compared to the desktop search market share. So why is Bing so popular on Windows Phone devices? Well obviously because it is the default search engine and is built into the phone itself, meaning that for better or worse, Windows Phone users will use Bing by default, unless of course they choose to load up Google or Yahoo before searching.

Given that sometimes mobile internet speeds can be slow, depending on coverage, searching using the default search engine might be faster than loading up a different search engine, and then using it to search, which is a multiple step process. Similar to how one might use the search bar built into Android to fire up a quick search rather than launch the Chrome app and then searching through it. However the fact that the number has decreased from 58% to 52% would suggest that Windows Phone users are starting to switch, although it was not mentioned whether they might be switching to either Yahoo or Google.

In fact it was recently that Yahoo tried to make their presence felt on Android by acquiring Aviate, an Android launcher which will presumably come with Yahoo’s search and services installed, essentially overriding Google’s own search and weather services.

52% Of Windows Phone Users Use Bing For Search original content from Ubergizmo.