Search Engine Showdown: Google vs. Bing

Google has been synonymous with search for years, and Bing—poor Bing—quickly became synonymous with sarcasm about why anyone would ever use Bing. Believe it or not, though, the two search engines aren’t as different as the jokes would have you believe.

We’ve talked about Bing’s biggest strengths before, but people often ignore that Bing also does a lot of things just about as well as Google. Is it better? Probably not, but I decided to give the two a real side-by-side comparison to find out how they stacked up.

The Contenders

You’re probably familiar with the two search engines already, but just for a refresher, here’s what we’re talking about:

Google: By far the most used search engine in the world, Google Search has been around since 1997 and is constantly improving with new smart results, advanced features, and integration with other Google products. As of February of this year, Google currently has 64.5% of the US’s search market share.

Bing: Bing is the latest name for Microsoft’s search engine, previously called Windows Live Search and MSN Search. Bing brands itself as a “decision engine”, aiming to present results with more real-world context than just finding text on a page. Bing also powers Yahoo’s search, which, coupled with Bing, serves 32.6% of US internet searchers.

Basic Layout and Search Features

Both sites look and feel remarkably similar when it comes to basic search results. In fact, except for the font and the logo at the top of the page, it’d be easy to confuse one for the other. Here are the main differences I’ve noticed after poking around in each:

Bing’s video search is significantly better than Google’s. This is the biggest difference between the two (and why Bing has a bit of a reputation as “the porn search engine”). Instead of giving you a vertical list of videos with small thumbnails, it gives you a grid of large thumbnails that you can click on to play without leaving Bing. For some videos, it’ll even give you a preview if you hover over.

Bing gives more autocomplete suggestions than Google does in most cases. Google only gives four, while Bing gives eight. This is particularly useful if you’re using autocomplete to find alternative products or to get wildcard suggestions.

Google’s shopping suggestions show up more often than Bing’s do, and they’re generally much better. So if you’re trying to find out which stores carry a certain product, or where to find the best price online, Google will be better than Bing.

Google’s Image Search interface feels a bit smoother when you use it, though Bing has one or two more advanced options like “Layout” (which lets you search for portrait or landscape images). Bing’s image search also lets you remove certain parts of your search term with one click, which is kind of cool (I wish it did this for all searches).

Bing puts related searches and related image searches to the right of your search results, while google puts them near the bottom. This isn’t really a good or a bad thing; it’s just a difference.

Bing has also adopted many of Google’s “smart searches”, like movie showtimes, unit conversions, local weather, information about famous people, and stuff like that. Most of this stuff is remarkably similar, though Google has a few things that Bing doesn’t, like health info and release dates for movies and video games. If you’re relying on smart searches, go with Google. (One exception: if you’re searching for flights, Bing has a neat feature that predicts whether ticket prices will go up or down.)

Source : lifehacker.com

Chinese robot makes Guinness world record for walking 134 km

A China-made quadruped robot today walked its way on to the pages of the Guinness World Records book for covering over 134-km in 54 hours, beating a previous record held by an American robot.

Four-legged robot ‘Xingzhe No 1’, made by a research team in southwest China’s Chongqing University of Posts and Telecommunications, circled an indoor track from October 24 to 27, taking 340,000 steps before it had to stop and recharge.

It covered a distance of 134.03 km in over 54 hours and used 0.8 kwh of power, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.The distance the Chinese robot covered was more than twice as much as that by the former record holder, Ranger, which was developed by a team at Cornell University in the US, and the speed was 1.18 times faster.

The US-made robot had walked 65 km in 30 hours consuming 0.5 kwh.Professor Li Qingdu, who led the research, and his team began developing the robot in November 2014. The first prototype was produced in January.

Li said that the overall task was not simply to extend the length the robot can trek, but rather, to study electrical efficiency, increase the robot’s reliability and possibly, enabling the robots to perform dangerous, remotely controlled missions in place of a human being.“We can apply the technology and processes involved to a wide range of robotic devices, to make them more efficient, durable and reliable. In the future we could begin to use these robots for dangerous or remote tasks,” Li said.

Source : financialexpress.com

You might want to read Snapchat’s updated privacy policy before downloading

Snapchat recently updated its terms of service, and if you’re a frequent user of the platform, you probably want to take notice.

Snapchat users are being asked to accept the updated terms after downloading the new version of the app, but the details of the new privacy policy arent immediately visible.

By signing up to the app, each user gives Snapchat a license to “publicly display that content in any form and in any and all media or distribution methods (now known or later developed)”.

It also adds that it might “share information with entities within the Snapchat family of companies”. Even so, the rapid change of mind for Snapchat, which first billed itself as an ephemeral messaging service where all content is deleted after a day of being sent, has gotten it caught in the ire of a few privacy-minded users.

Just because Snapchat has the right to do that doesn’t mean it will, however.

Instagram has a similar clause in its terms of service as does Facebook, providing your content is published under the “public” setting.

We will use this license for the limited objective of operating, developing, providing, promoting, and improving the Services; researching and developing new ones; and making content submitted through the Services available to our business partners for syndication, broadcast, distribution, or publication outside the Services.

But the fact remains that Snapchat is not secure enough to protect your messages from the eyes of its staff, nor whoever its staff care to share those messages with. Also see: Best Android apps 2015/2016.

All claims and disputes arising out of, relating to, or in connection with the Terms or the use the Services that cannot be resolved informally or in small claims court will be resolved by binding arbitration on an individual basis, except that you and Snapchat are not required to arbitrate any dispute in which either party seeks equitable relief for the alleged unlawful use of copyrights, trademarks, trade names, logos, trade secrets, or patents.

But let’s get real. For that reason, Snapchat is popular for “sexting”, meaning that lots of sensitive material is sent using the app. So now use it with the knowledge that whatever you share could end up in the hands of complete strangers. Be careful about what you share – if you have nothing to hide you have nothing to lose.

Source : www.tjcnewspaper.com

Instagram Launches New Video Channels To Challenge Snapchat

If you’re an Instagram user in the U.S. then you might have noticed a new feature added to the app yesterday: A curated list of Halloween-themed videos submitted by users. It’s the first of several planned experiments designed to surface the best clips on the network, and it can be found by heading through the Explore tab inside the app.

The introduction of the new video channels haven’t been officially announced by Instagram but were first reported by Wired. They’re similar to Snapchat’s Stories in that they give users a way to find interesting content centered around a particular event or celebration — this weekend Halloween was the focus, but in the future music festivals or even news events might get their moment. As on Snapchat, the channels last for 24 hours before they disappear from view.

It’s not just a shot across the bows of Facebook, either: It’s also a push to try and capture some of Twitter’s share of the breaking news market. Instagram continues to pull away from Twitter in terms of user numbers (400 million vs 320 million), but Twitter is still the place many people go to when they want to monitor something live and in the moment. 

Source : techgignews.com

Techradar launches its November How-To Challenge

November is here and as the temperature drops and the nights grow longer it's the perfect time to give the technology in your life an overhaul, which is why techradar has launched its November How-To Challenge month.

Throughout November we'll be showing you how you can improve your tech, giving you expert advice as well as tips and tricks to help you get the most out of your gadgets.

Each week has a different theme, with the first week concentrating on improving your computers. We'll show you how to make your PC run faster, how to improve Windows 10 and a whole lot more.

In the second week we'll move on to looking at how you can improve your smartphone – including essential tips on how to give its battery life a boost.

Week three will concentrate on technology that can revolutionise our lifestyles. We'll show you how to get fit using gadgets, as well as turning your home into a high tech wonderland.

The final week of the November How-To Challenge will focus on brushing up your photography skills. We'll have advice from professional photographers that will help make your shots look better than ever before.

Get competitive

Each week we'll be encouraging readers to show us proof of how the guides are helping improve your tech and we'll also be picking one overall winner for the whole month who smashed all of our challenges.

They'll get a special techradar prize that isn't normally available to the public, and you can also share your own tips and tricks which we'll put together in a special "best of" article at the end of the month.

So if you want to improve every area of your tech in just one month, make sure you log on to Facebook and subscribe to our November How-To Challenge event.

Source : techradar.in

The US wants to regulate drone ownership

There’s been a lot of news about how drone users are flying their drones irresponsibly, like that case of a man flying his drone near KLIA. In the US, flying your drone in a residential area could also be seen as a form of trespassing. With cases such as these on the rise, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in the US is planning to get drone users to register their drones.

Porting this effort include DJI, Amazon and Google, and retailers such as Walmart and Best Buy. This isn’t a simple task though, as the FAA is tasked with coming up with a system that’s in accordance with federal law, and at the same time does not inhibit the growing industry.

David Vos, a co-chair in the committee for this effort has suggested that all drones be fitted with a collision detection system, similar to that used by passenger aircraft. Others are in the opinion that you’ll just need to register a drone much like how you’d register a car.

In Malaysia though, it looks like there’s still no form of regulation over drone ownership. If you do want buy a drone in the near future, make sure to read what you can and cannot do with it in this article. On that note, look forward to GoPro's upcoming drone(s) if you're indeed planning to get a drone.

Source : gizmodo.com

3 must-have mobile apps (and gadgets) for fall 2015

 

Automatic makes your car smart(er)

Automatic ($100) is a dongle that plugs into your car's OBD-II data port. (If your car was built after 1996, it very likely has one of these ports). The dongle provides a link via Bluetooth between your car's onboard computer and Automatic's Android and iOS apps. After an easy installation (at least in my experience), your "dumb" vehicle becomes a moderately "smart" car.

Using Automatic, you get visual feedback and a score of up to 100 based on your driving habits. Hit the brakes or the gas pedal too hard, for example, and you lose points. Automatic also estimates your miles per gallon and fuel costs, and displays your car trips on a map. If you forget where you park, Automatic's in-app map can remind you. And you can easily tag any trips as "business" for tracking or expense purposes.

Your smartphone doesn't even have to be in the car with you for Automatic to record a trip. On that note, if your significant other (or anyone else) uses your car, you should let them know that all trips are recorded. 

Beddit quantifies your sleep, without a wearable

Not everyone wants to quantify their sleep, but if you do, Beddit Smart Sleep Monitor  is well worth its $150 price tag. Unlike, say, a Fitbit Charge HR, you don't have to wear anything to track ZZZs. And unlike some other devices, including ResMed S+, you don't have to push any buttons to start or stop Beddit tracking.

You simply place the Beddit sensor strip on your mattress under the sheet, plug it in, and connect it via Bluetooth to an Android or iOS device. Then just fall asleep. When you awake in the a.m., you'll have some fairly detailed data in Beddit's smartphone app (and on its website) about how long you slept and the quality of your rest.

Beddit's not perfect — I occasionally find some odd gaps in my recorded sleep time, for example. But for ease of use, it's ideal.

Never wait for your Starbucks order again

Starbucks signpoolie

Some friends roll their eyes at my Starbucks addiction. They try to convince me Peet's and Philz are superior, and that I should support local coffee shops instead. They raise good points. But I love Starbucks coffee, and it's a conscientious company that I'm proud to support. (Starbucks covers employees' tuition costs to Arizona State University, for starters.)

The coffee chain recently made me an even more loyal caffeine junkie by adding an "order ahead" feature to its Android and iOS apps. Since the feature debuted, I've used it more than a dozen times. Only once did my order go awry — a barista fixed an iced latte for me instead of a hot one. In nearly every instance, ordering ahead prevented me from standing around waiting for my fix. You just walk in, grab your cup o' Joe, and go.

Source : www.cio.com