Bing cooking up instant search, HTML5 features
Microsoft is said to be close to unveiling a new version of Bing that serves up results based what users type. Google launched the same feature late last year.
Microsoft is preparing to make searching Bing an instantaneous affair.
According to blog Winrumors, which was tipped off to a preview program Microsoft is running, the company is planning to roll out a special version of Bing for users with HTML5-compatible browsers. Those users will get a few extra flourishes like instant results as they type queries, as well as animations and transitions between pages.
This new version is said to be launching around the same time as the final release of Internet Explorer 9, which Microsoft is expected to announce at the South by Southwest conference kicking off Friday. Microsoft is holding an invite-only, Internet Explorer 9-related media event on Monday, March 14.
A Microsoft representative declined to comment.
Microsoft has long been expected to bring instant results to Bing, despite knocking the feature when it waslaunched by rival Google back in September of last year. In an interview with USA Today shortly after Google Instant's launch, Bing director Stefan Weitz said while the feature was "slick," Microsoft's mission was to attack what users would be able to do with the results to make the task at hand take less time. Even so, instant results have proven to be a success for Google, with the company saying last week that just 2 percent of users had opted out of using the feature.