Posted on 03/03/2009 5:28:22 PM PST by Ernest_at_the_Beach
Microsoft has confirmed it is testing a new search engine called Kumo, based on technology from its Powerset acquisition, that is likely to be an early version of a soon-to-be-rebranded Live Search product.
"Microsoft is using the Kumo.com URL for internal testing purposes only," the company said via e-mail through its public relations firm Tuesday. "Given the depth and breadth of our current online service offering, we recognize a need to sharply define and align our online brands."
Microsoft added that it has "nothing new to announce at this time." However, the company has been rumored for some time to be renaming its Live Search "Kumo" based on a December trademark application it made for the name and related URLs it has registered.
Though it would not specifically confirm this move, the company did say Tuesday that the Kumo engine being tested "shows a number of technologies in development and is a very early internal preview of directions we’re exploring" for its search engine.
"While the experience will improve significantly, we believe it is leading us in the direction of a next generation search engine built to meet customers' unmet needs -- an engine that delivers fast, organized and differentiated results that can help people make more informed decisions," Microsoft said.
That more or less describes the reasoning behind the acquisition of semantic search-engine provider Powerset last June. Powerset developed a technology that attempts to understand the full meanings of phrases people type in while searching, returning results based on that understanding.
(Excerpt) Read more at thestandard.com ...
Take that Yahoo.
Knowing Microsoft: are they offering Ultimate, Premium or Basic Kumo?
How much more RAM will I need to run KUMO? Will there be an automatic update for patches and security updates?
LOL!
It’s in the cloud,...so maybe nothing touches your PC.
I was just being /sarc..
(The article has "sea-spider" as a translation rather than just "spider", but I think that would be more like "umi gumo" (literally "sea spider"); as to the "ceiling" translation given in the article, I am not familiar with any "kumo" word associated with "ceiling" --- the most common word for "ceiling" I believe is "tenjou.")
"Now with tetrodotoxin."
Cheers!
Let's type in FUBO and see if it understands.
...this has the potential to make the FBI wiretap/phrase recognition system look like a kitty cat.
Cheers!
Google is coming out soon with the same gig.
Microsoft's next move will be to market a line of vacuum cleaners. It will be their first product that doesn't suck.
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