Bing is revving it up once again by adding new features to its search functionality.
Among the latest additions to the search engine’s features is a new video portal called Bing Video which offers original programming as well as videos from a variety of sources. It combines content from MSN videos with Bing’s search technology, while also housing web-based videos from sites like YouTube, Daily Motion, Hulu, and MySpace, among others. Also included is content from sites like MSNBC, CBS, Fox Sports, National Geographic, and other providers and sites from which MSN offered original media programming.
Bing Video may just be what Microsoft needs to help add to its current second-place video market share (next of course to YouTube). With videos organized into several categories like News, Sports, TV Shows, Music, as well as sections for viral clips, “Last Night on TV”, and “Best of Bing”, search on Bing Video is easy, with capabilities that enable faster viewing experience and consistent playback.
Another new feature that Bing recently announced is in conjunction with the company’s partnership with Wolfram Alpha, the computational knowledge engine. The collaboration covers the areas of nutritional information and mathematics, and features computational results which Wolfram Alpha is known for.
“At Bing, this journey began with our work on answers, and we continue to try hard to deliver the best answers we can, based on our estimation of query intent,” reads a statement on Bing’s community blog. “So what are we doing? Well, we’ll be providing access to Wolfram Alpha’s advanced algorithms and expertly curated data within the Bing experience.”
With help from Wolfram Alpha, Bing can now help users easily find nutritional information about specific food items via a new Nutrition tab. Nutrition facts labels also appear at the bottom of search results pages. Another new nutritional information tool is the Body Mass Index calculator which users can get directly on Bing. This interactive calculator helps users track workout progress – they need only to enter their height and weight.
The partnership with Wolfram Alpha, moreover, allows Bing to feature a new search box that solves complex math functions. (The kind you can’t do in an ordinary calculator.) It aids users with knowledge about unique math concepts – all within the Bing search interface.
Video, nutrition, and math: with new search features in these areas, Bing seems determined to take the search engine wars to a higher level. Watch out as Bing rolls these out these in the next few days.