CARLSBAD, Calif – Bing, the new search engine unveiled by Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer today, has many extraordinary aspects. Watching the demo in the ballroom of the Four Seasons this morning, I was blown away by how video search results are displayed.
They appear on a page as thumbnail images, but somehow, as they are scrolled over, the thumbnail plays as a video, it come alive, right there on the results page. This was so extraordinary that many in the room erupted in applause and cheering.
We don’t know how video search works, how which clips come from which sources. And, it’s impossible to know if consumers will cozy to Bing, but for video search and display, this is revolutionary.
Bing goes live on June 3. We will be reporting on this over the weeks to come.
Here's the take by TechCrunch's Erick Schonfeld.
I’ve embedded the video of Ballmer’s presentation at D: All Things Digital, the annual conference sponsored by Wall Street Journal.
Lunching with Martha and Arianna!
Oh, and totally by chance, I had lunch yesterday at the same table with Martha Stewart, Arianna Huffington, private investor Gary Lauder, D.C. power player Heidi Rosen and Six Apart chairman Chris Alden. They were great. Arianna thanked me for blogging on the HuffPo. Wow!
Congratulations to Walt Mossberg, Kara Swisher and their staff for an incredible, illuminating conference. I had a blast and recorded several important interviews. Stay tuned.
Andy Plesser, Executive Producer
