In October, Bing received access to the Twitter “firehose” and launched a specialized Twitter search site at bing.com/twitter. Now, a new search portal is launching, Bing Social Search, available at bing.com/social, and it will feature both Twitter posts and publicly available Facebook posts too. …

In March, Microsoft announced the Windows Phone 7 “Rockstar” Award, a contest for student developers looking to build a top-of-the-line mobile application for the upcoming Windows Phone 7 platform, using either Silverlight or the XNA framework. Since the contest’s launch, 131 teams submitted…

With the launch of Office 2010, there are a number of new features found in the popular productivity programs, including Word, PowerPoint, Excel, OneNote and others. From a now fully-customizable ribbon interface that extends across all programs to a whole new way to copy-and-paste (preview before…

Microsoft is sponsoring a new Windows Phone contest called “I Need this App!” which lets anyone pitch their Windows Phone 7 app idea for a chance to win $5000 and a free Windows Phone 7. Even better, the winning application will actually be built and then made available as a free download on the…

Bing is going to release a World Cup badge on the location-based mobile “check in” service Foursquare which can only be unlocked by those who follow the Bing account on the service, reports TechCrunch.  To earn the badge, Foursquare users have to check into local hotspots like bars,…

On Bing’s Facebook page, there’s a new application for World Cup fans called “Fan Flair.” With this app, you can decorate one of your own Facebook photos with “flair” that shows your support for your national team. Decorations include a flag, a ball with your flag’s colors and a scarf.   You…

On June 13th at the E3 gaming conference, Microsoft revealed, among much spectacle, Project Natal, which shall now be known under its official name, “Kinect.” The new gaming system, which will arrive as a separate controller for Xbox 360 systems, lets you play video games controller-free. You just…

The Photosynth team is calling out for synths of the action from the World Cup, the sporting event taking place in South Africa from June 11th to July 11th, featuring 32 teams from around the globe. Of course, the team itself is getting into the spirit with synths of their own. They’ll be covering…

Thanks to a tweet from Microsoft MVP Alvin Ashcraft, I’ve discovered a new tool that almost makes me want to return to I.T. (OK, not really, but it’s still cool): RDCMan. This updated Remote Desktop management program is an improvement upon the Remote Desktops MMC Snap-in which I used exclusively…

Bing’s latest map app is a Facebook friend explorer application called “My Friends.” Once loaded, you can view all your Facebook friends plotted out on the Bing Maps interface, where, instead of pushpins, small icons featuring their Facebook profile photo are used. To try this application, you have…