Weekend Reading: Feb. 24th Edition–Bing Launches Linked Pages, Microsoft Adds a New Board Member, plus a Windows Phone App to Satisfy Your Pinterest Addiction

In this edition of Weekend Reading, we’ve got stories about Bing’s Linked Pages, a new Microsoft board member and Pinspiration, a Windows Phone app that can help satisfy your Pinterest addiction.

Make a good search impression with Bing’s Linked Pages. With people search being such a high volume pastime, we’re taking it a step further by letting you have more control in how you show up on Bing. Beginning today, with Linked Pages, we’re letting you link websites related to you in search results. Now, your friends looking for you online can find what you want them to find. You can also link pages to your friends to help them shine on Bing as well. Read this Wednesday post on The Bing Search Blog for the rest of the story. Below is a screenshot of Bing Linked Pages:

Bing Linked Pages

Microsoft adds a new board member. Microsoft announced on Monday that John W. Thompson, chief executive officer of privately held Virtual Instruments and former chairman and CEO of Symantec Corp., was appointed to the company’s board of directors, returning the board’s size to 10 members. “John has extraordinary technology and business expertise, and we are delighted that he is joining Microsoft’s board of directors,” said Bill Gates, Microsoft chairman. Read this press release for the rest of the story.

And in Windows Phone news this week… Microsoft’s Channel 9 kicked off a new tips and tricks video series for Windows Phone today called “Minute of Mango” that’s fun and worth watching. The series, hosted by the always vivacious Laura Foy, is geared toward anybody looking to save time and do more with Windows Phone 7.5. Check out the first episode on making custom ringtones, then make sure to subscribe or share the series with friends or family. Also, Next at Microsoft Editor Steve Clayton highlights Pinspiration, a Windows Phone app that gives you a way to browse and post to Pinterest on your Windows Phone. Think of Pinterest as a virtual pinboard — a place to catalog and share the things you love. Below is a screenshot of Pinspiration:

Pinspiration

Xbox 360 and the Microsoft Touch Mouse win Engadget awards. On Thursday, we learned that the Xbox 360 won “Game Console of the Year” and the Microsoft Touch Mouse won “Peripheral of the Year” in the 2011 Engadget Awards. Check out this story on Engadget for all the details.

The war on graymail after 90 days. Hotmail introduced advanced features for fighting the war on graymail this past fall, and since then, customers have conquered graymail over 100 million times using features like Sweep and Schedule Cleanup. In this Tuesday post on the Inside Windows Live Blog, we talk about how Hotmail customers are taking control of their e-mail with Sweep, Schedule Cleanup, and Hotmail’s newsletter filter, and we’ll show you how these tools can help you conquer graymail in your own inbox in just 60 seconds.

Browse without being browsed. Privacy is in the news again. Apparently, Google has been able to track users of Apple’s Safari browser while they surf the web on their Apple iPhones, iPads and Macs. This type of tracking by Google is not new. The novelty here is that Google apparently circumvented the privacy protections built into Apple’s Safari browser in a deliberate, and ultimately, successful fashion. If you find this type of behavior alarming and want to protect your confidential information and privacy while you’re online, there are alternatives for you. Windows Internet Explorer is the browser that respects your privacy. Read this Feb. 17 post on the Exploring IE Blog for the rest of the story.

Free Skype Wi-Fi in Spain to celebrate Mobile World Congress. Traveling to Mobile World Congress or living in Spain? We have great news for you! During this year’s Mobile World Congress we’re giving everyone in Spain 2 hours of free access with Skype Wi-Fi at more than 24,000 supported wireless hotspots available in the country – including airports, café’s and hotels. From February 26th thru March 1st 2012, if you are in Spain, you can enjoy up to 2 hours of free Wi-Fi connection (4x30min sessions). Read this Thursday post on The Big Blog for the whole story.

PC Trends for 2012: “Consumerization of IT”. Just when the corporate IT department thinks it’s got everything nailed down, along comes a new technology, gadget or standard that changes everything. Now, more than ever, the hot topic is part technology, part social movement. The so-called “consumerization of IT” may be causing wrinkled brows and sleepless nights for the tech department, but its potential to revolutionize information-worker productivity has generated comparisons to Henry Ford’s impact on manufacturing. Want more detail, check out this feature story and slide show on the Microsoft News Center.

Microsoft’s local language program bridges languages, cultures and technology. In recognition of International Mother Language Day, Microsoft Corp., a strong supporter of language preservation, today highlighted the company’s Local Language Program (LLP), which enables the development of custom language translation. LLP enables 1.7 billion people worldwide to access technology in their own language, while striving to preserve those local languages and cultural identities. For more on this story, read this press release on the Microsoft News Center and this Tuesday post on Microsoft on the Issues.

That’s it for this edition of Weekend Reading! Thanks for stopping by The Official Microsoft Blog!

Posted by Jeff Meisner
Editor, The Official Microsoft

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