The "Bing" outing

Ok. Microsoft is out with its own search engine, oops, they call it a decision engine – Bing.

There will be inevitable exploration of the meaning of the moniker. (Bing has a certain ring to it. It's much better, of course, than the boring "Live Search.") Plus there is the bigger question of whether Bing will make a dent in Google's dominance. But search for clues to another issue Bing brings up: Will it end the Microsoft-Yahoo search flirtation?

Anyways, Bing seems like it would be more useful than a Google or Yahoo search. If you're searching for something you'd like to buy, for example, Bing theoretically will serve up reviews, as well as places to buy the item and related accessories, laid out in a prettier and more organized way than just a simple vertical list of links. On a whole, a big positive for Microsoft: The depth of the searches seems to offer more opportunities for ad revenue.

Of course, people think simple is best, which is part of why Google's so successful. Early impressions suggest Bing will lure some people who want to achieve a specific goal when doing a search, but that users' trust in Google to bring them the most relevant results in the most basic of manners won't wane. The trick will be to get people to think of Bing, too, when they think they might want an enhanced search. Microsoft will be spending a lot of money on the Bing branding campaign, take CEO Steve Ballmer’s word.

So this brings us to what this means for the long-running Microsoft-Yahoo partnership possibility. Is it still going to happen? After all, would Microsoft invest so heavily in Bing if it really thought a deal with Yahoo was imminent?

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Android - Googlization of mobile cloud...?

I’ve read many reviews of Android, the Google-led mobile software developer platform. But Paul Grim’s takes the cake.

So far the reactions to Android have been mixed. The first is that it’s all hype, that mobile platforms are too hard to get right (e.g. Microsoft and Symbian still haven’t succeeded in making a great user interface with their mobile operating systems). Some are even saying that Android is not open enough. The second reaction is that Android will be the mobile operating system of the future, and that a Facebook-style development frenzy is about to kick off.

Android’s opportunity is also WiMAX’s opportunity, Grim thinks. WiMAX technology lets users access broadband internet from the phones and Sprint has championed it. Sprint recently lost its chief executive, Gary Forsee, and its WiMAX plans are uncertain (see this WSJ article for more). According to Grim, Sprint could work with Google as well as Intel, Cisco and the other Silicon Valley companies that have invested hundreds of millions into WiMAX technology.

Grim has previously held a dimmer view of the technology’s chances of succeeding, here.

The vision, according to Barry West, CTO of Sprint is to completely move away from the telco model of selling minutes of airtime and kilobytes of data. Who better than Google to develop an ad-supported mobile revenue model...?

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