Microsoft's Bing Starts With A Bang - Online Sportsbook BetUS.com Offers Odds On Search Engine Race

It's a classic sports story: the overpaid, underachieving team drafts a promising rookie and suddenly they start to look like a real threat to the long-time contenders. Software dynasty Microsoft has unveiled its promising rookie search engine. It's named "Bing", and it's touted as being more accurate and user-friendly than current opposition. Although Bing is still barely out of training camp, many search experts are speculating that it might just be enough to bring Microsoft out of third place in the US search standings- ahead of Yahoo, but still behind Google. Never one to miss out on competitive action, BetUS Online Sportsbook is announcing that they will be taking bets on the search engine race. Odds are available on a variety of search-related props. Will Microsoft Bing be in 2nd place for market share by the end of 2009? Will Google acquire Yahoo? Which of the big three will be the first out of the gate with a real answer to Twitter’s popular real-time search? Sports betting fans and search enthusiasts can place their bets on any of these and more. Here are the odds as of June 11th 2009:

Will Bing surpass Yahoo for 2nd overall in the US search market on December 31st?
Bing 2nd on December 31st 6/5
Yahoo 2nd on December 31st 5/9

Will Yahoo be bought by December 31st 2009?
Microsoft 3/2
Google 3/1
Neither 1/3

First to offer real-time search?
Google 1/4
Yahoo! 9/2
Bing 3/2

Will Bing rank 1st in Google's search results for "search engine"?
Yes 10/1

Those looking for the inside scoop on how to read the betting odds, where to wager, and where to get the latest search engine stats should have a look at the Bing vs Yahoo article in the BetUS Locker Room. Let the search engine games...click to read more

Tags: Microsoft, Bing, Yahoo, Google, BetUS, Online Sportsbook, search engine

Microsoft Launches WorldWide Telescope for Space Exploration

WorldWide Telescope, is a rich Web application that brings together imagery from the best ground- and space-based observatories across the world to allow people to easily explore the night sky through their computers. WorldWide Telescope has been eagerly anticipated by the astronomical and educational communities as a compelling astronomical resource for students and lifelong learners, and as a way to make science fun for children. “The WorldWide Telescope is a powerful tool for science and education that makes it possible for everyone to explore the universe,” said Bill Gates, chairman of Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT). “By combining terabytes of incredible imagery and data with easy-to-use software for viewing and moving through all that information, the WorldWide Telescope opens the door to new ways to see and experience the wonders of space. Our hope is that it will inspire young people to explore astronomy and science, and help researchers in their quest to better understand the universe.” The application itself is a blend of software and Web 2.0 services created with the Microsoft high-performance Visual Experience Engine, which allows seamless panning and zooming around the heavens with rich image environments. WorldWide Telescope stitches together terabytes of high-resolution images of celestial bodies and displays them in a way that relates to their actual position in the sky. People can freely browse...Click to read more

Tags: WorldWide Telescope, Bill Gates, Microsoft, astronomy, science