kumo

Microsoft has begun to broaden the testing of its next-generation search technology.

For the past two months, Microsoft has been running an internal test of the technology, which is code-named Kumo. However, some of the design changes that are part of that update are now in limited public testing.

Enthusiast Ryan Rea said on Friday that he got a Live Search result that looked a lot more like screenshots of Kumo than it does to Microsoft's standard search results (see screenshot above). Of particular note is the left-hand navigation pane, a key feature of Kumo.

Rea said he started … Read more

The rumor mill has been all atwitter about a link from Seeqpod's newly sparse home page to the search page for Microsoft's Web site. (Not to be confused with Live Search, Microsoft's Internet search engine.)

Seeqpod was a playable search engine for music files--essentially, its crawlers scoured Web sites looking for MP3 files, then it transformed those MP3s into streamable audio files. It offered its own user-facing Web page, as well as APIs for third-party sites, and was used as the back-end for Songerize (which no longer works) and Bandloop. After being hit by copyright infringement lawsuits … Read more

Microsoft for years has been warning the world not to use open-source software. Apparently, its Kumo search team didn't get the memo.

As The Register reports, Microsoft's new Kumo search technology is filled with open source and, in fact, the Kumo search team, formerly Powerset, "tr(ies) to use open-source software, if it is available."

In other words, open-source software appears to be the default choice for the Kumo team, not proprietary software. It looks like Microsoft's anti-open-source bubble really has burst.

Indeed, reading through the Powerset-turned-Microsoft-Kumo team's description of its approach reads like … Read more

Microsoft has reportedly put up a clock in one of its buildings with a 40-day countdown to the launch of its next-generation search engine, code-named Kumo.

Enthusiast site LiveSide noted on Sunday that a reader on Neowin, another enthusiast site, said that Microsoft had a TV in one of its search buildings with the countdown clock.

The software maker has been testing its search engine internally since last month, but has not said exactly when the service would launch. The countdown appears to roughly coincide with a speech from newly minted online boss Qi Lu, who is slated to speak … Read more

Microsoft said on Wednesday that it has combined its product search engine with its Live Search Cashback, a product that gives users a rebate on certain purchases made directly after using Live Search.

"The new site unifies Live Search Products (the shopping vertical within Live Search) and Cashback to make it easier for you to research, compare products, and save money," Microsoft said in a blog posting.

The move also reflects the fact that on the back end, Microsoft has shifted the underlying engine for Cashback over from technology from its Jellyfish acquisition and onto the primary Live … Read more

Microsoft's challenge to grow its share of the search business isn't just a global issue. It's also a challenge within its own walls.

Despite investing five years and hundreds of millions of dollars on its search product, Microsoft has struggled to get people to use its service, even those whom it employs. Microsoft Senior Vice President Yusuf Mehdi said the company's share of the search market--even internally--has been disappointing.

"That's true," Mehdi said in an interview last week.

At a company meeting about a year ago, one Microsoft worker recalls hearing that four-fifths … Read more

Microsoft reportedly plans to spend up to $100 million in an ad push aimed at trying to reposition the company's search efforts.

According to a report in Advertising Age, the company is likely to tap ad giant JWT for the campaign. Microsoft declined to comment on the report.

Having failed to strike a search deal with Yahoo, Microsoft has been working to revamp its own search efforts.

Microsoft has been testing changes to its search under the Kumo brand but still won't say for sure if that's what it will go with.

The software maker clearly needs … Read more

A company says it has made a virtual reality helmet that will give you sights, sounds, temperature, and even smell. Which makes us wonder if that's a good thing. Would you want to see movies with smell? We also talk about a new Internet TV box that's 50 bucks and carries major studio movies and TV shows. Is it the one?

Kumo coming? Live Search headed for overhaul, rebranding http://arstechnica.com/microsoft/news/2009/03/live-search-rebranding-is-coming-will-it-be-kumo.ars

Amazon offers e-books on Apple devices http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-10187752-93.html … Read more

As I noted earlier on Monday, Microsoft plans to start internal testing later this week of Kumo, the rebranded version of Live Search. Now I have a screenshot to share.

Also, here's the text of an e-mail that search executive Satya Nadella just sent to his staff. Keep in mind, even though he talks about checking out the site, his e-mail is to Microsoft staff with access to it. Us outsiders will have to chew on the screenshot (see below). From this screenshot (and two others I have seen), it appears the biggest change in Kumo is the way … Read more