Hasta La Gadget!

Microsoft wants developers to make Bing a central part of their apps, and it’s powering that with a new developer platform unveiled today at Build. The Bing kit will let programmers tap the search engine’s wealth of knowledge, providing direct information and translations when they’re relevant. It should also grant access to natural interfaces, such as gestures, as well as real-world map data. Microsoft showed the platform at work in both Windows 8.1 and Windows Phone 8, so it’s clear that developers who want Bing’s resources won’t be locked into any one device type.

Filed under: Internet, Software, Microsoft

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Over the course of the past 12 months, the internet has witnessed negotiations between big-name sites, taken us inside the minds of social media innovators, and even given us a front row seat to what could be the biggest privacy-related story of the decade. Thus, it should come as no surprise that the Internet Society decided to debut its Internet Hall of Fame in April of last year, bringing on influential people like Vint Cerf and Al Gore as part of the first set of inductees. Now, it’s time for the Class of 2013 to shine, one which ushers in 32 new members who will join the Father of the Internet and former US Vice President in the list of illustrious names “instrumental in the early design and development” of the web.

This year’s individuals include the late Aaron Swartz under the Innovators category and more than 30 others spread across the Pioneer Circles and Global Connectors sections. President and CEO of Internet Society, Lynn St. Amour, tells us this is a way to celebrate the accomplishments of these visionaries, adding that she and her organization are always working with the utopian belief of everyone wanting to “participate fully in making the internet a platform that will continue to encourage innovation, communication, commerce, and social interaction for the benefit of people all around the world.” The 2013 Hall of Fame ceremony’s due to take place August 3rd in Berlin, Germany, but since we have the inductee list in the PR after the break, that means you won’t have to wait until then to find out who made it in.

Filed under: Internet, Alt

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Source: Internet Hall of Fame

Earlier this month we heard about Google’s Project Loon, which was touched on in a leak back in May. Under the project, the company plans to offer inexpensive Internet in areas where connectivity is poor or unavailable, doing so at a reasonable rate. While its plans are certainly ambitious, another company has already taken the

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We’ve come to know Square for its efforts in making it easier for small — and not so small — businesses to get paid in real life with card readers, iPad registers and apps, but its latest project is trying to help them sell online as well. Square Market has just opened up, and features storefronts from a number of retailers selling good and services online. Of course, in 2013 launching a website isn’t that difficult and others like Etsy and eBay have been in this segment for a long time, so what does Square have to offer? According to the company, anyone can open up a store for free complete with photos and a business profile. There’s no charge for item listings either, however a 2.75 percent fee is collected on each sale. It’s too early to tell if the simple approach will cut into its competitor’s market share, but for merchants already using its physical products (or thinking about it) it may provide an easy portal to customers worldwide as well as local.

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Source: Square Market

Microsoft’s Xbox Music will launch on the web “next week,” a company representative confirmed to Engadget this afternoon. The service was previously only available to folks using various Microsoft devices and operating systems, from the Xbox 360 to Windows 8 / RT / Windows Phone 8, but the service is going wide online for its next step. The web-based service is expected to launch at music.xbox.com, and looks significantly different from the layout seen above.

The company isn’t sharing more details just yet, but a report on The Verge citing unnamed sources has a few more tidbits. Apparently the service will function similarly to Spotify’s web version, offering streaming and playlist management through your favorite web browser. Additionally, the Windows 8 app is reportedly getting an update with Windows 8.1, which both changes its look and adds support for SD cards. It’s very likely we’ll have even more details on Xbox Music’s upcoming updates from Microsoft’s Build developer conference this week, so keep an eye out!

Filed under: Internet, Software, Microsoft

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