Bing the In thing!

Microsoft has finally unveiled its new search engine, dubbed ‘Bing’.

Formally code-named "Kumo," the new search tool will replace Microsoft's Live Search. It will eventually roll out over the next few days as a beta in the UK, and go worldwide by 3 June, Microsoft said.

Microsoft is the latest to attempt to innovate in the search market, following the launch of Wolfram Alpha last week. The launch of Bing will likely lead pundits to ponder if Bing will be the one to knock Google off its perch, but Microsoft has said it's actually gunning for second place - the spot currently held by former acquisition target Yahoo.

Microsoft noted its latest weapon in the battle with Google wasn’t a fully featured release, but just a beta. It said the “full proposition” would continue to be developed over the next six to 12 months in London, at Microsoft’s new Search Technology Centre which employs about 60 people.

Paul Stoddart, UK search lead at Microsoft, said in a statement: “Many people believe Search today is a great tool, but as the internet continues to develop and grow then the search category requires constant innovation to allow consumers to make sense of the web.”

That said, Bing does of course offer new features above Live Search. Bing includes more relevant information on the search results page itself, and sorts them into categories. It also includes partnerships with shopping and travel sites, including recent acquisition comparison site Ciao, Microsoft said.

The main page is the very opposite of Google’s stark search engine. Bing features massive photo backdrops targeted by geography and even the latest news.

In what could be seen as a dig at leading rival Google, Stoddart said: “The major search engines were developed over a decade ago and we believe the category is still in its infancy."

"In 1997, there were only 100,000 websites compared with over 160 million worldwide today, so it’s important to challenge and evolve the search market and to make it as easy and relevant as possible for today’s consumers," he added. "There is much more that people can and should expect from their search service.”

Speaking at a conference in California, Microsoft's chief executive Steve Ballmer said: "We want to do better."

Ballmer went on to explain why the odd name Bing was chosen. "The name is short, it's easy to say, it works globally."

A disc that can store 500 gigabytes (GB) of data

A disc that can store 500 gigabytes (GB) of data, equivalent to 100 DVDs, has been unveiled by General Electric.

The micro-holographic disc, which is the same size as existing DVD discs, is aimed at the archive industry.

But the company believes it can eventually be used in the consumer market place and home players.

Blu-ray discs, which are used to store high definition movies and games, can currently hold between 25GB and 50GB.

Micro-holographic discs can store more data than DVDs or Blu-ray because they store information on the disc in three dimensions, rather than just pits on the surface of the disc.

The challenge for this area of technology has been to increase the reflectivity of the holograms that are stored on the discs so that players can be used to both read and write to the discs.

Brian Lawrence, who leads GE's Holographic Storage said on the GE Research blog: "Very recently, the team at GE has made dramatic improvements in the materials enabling significant increases in the amount of light that can be reflected by the holograms."

More capacity

The higher reflectivity that can be achieved, the more capacity for the disc. While the technology is still in the laboratory stage, GE believes it will take off because players can be built which are backwards compatible with existing DVD and Blu-ray technologies.

In a statement the firm said: "The hardware and formats are so similar to current optical storage technology that the micro-holographic players will enable consumers to play back their CDs, DVDs and Blu-ray discs."

''GE's breakthrough is a huge step toward bringing our next generation holographic storage technology to the everyday consumer,'' said Mr Lawrence in a statement.

He added: "The day when you can store your entire high definition movie collection on one disc and support high resolution formats like 3D television is closer than you think.''

Micro-holographic technology has been one of the leading areas of research for storage experts for decades. Discs are seen as a reliable and effective form of storage and are both consumer and retail friendly.

However, General Electric will need to work with hardware manufacturers if it is to bring the technology to the consumer market.

The relatively modest adoption of Blu-ray discs sales globally might be an issue with some companies who believe digital distribution and cloud computing is the long-term answer to content delivery and storage.

"This is truly a breakthrough in the development of the materials that are so critical to ultimately bringing holographic storage to the everyday consumer," said Mr Lawrence.