There’s a definite feeling that Microsoft is bouncing back after a dismal last few years which saw Bill Gates leave the company and Windows Vista hit the shelves. Windows 7 is now with us, its Bing search engine is competing with Google, and the company is also making efforts with online video.
Microsoft Returns
is doing all it can to replenish its tarnished reputation. The release of Windows 7 is huge, and Bing is a search engine which may actually manage to provide competition for the ubiquitous Google.
Silverlight 3.0 is obviously proving popular with media companies seeking to stream video over the Internet but 2009 has also seen a few changes take place in terms of Microsoft’s approach to online video.
MSN Video>Soapbox
Microsoft killed its Soapbox video site off in June after realizing it stood no chance of competing with YouTube. Video sites focused on UGC are fine but stand little chance when going up against the ‘One billion page views a day‘ might of YouTube.
On the other hand, Microsoft launched the MSN Video Player in the U.K., which streams classic TV shows for free in a similar style to the BBC iPlayer and Hulu. Just with less style and options.
Bing Bong
Microsoft launched Bing back in June, and its video search differed from Google by the use of live video thumbnails. In essence, rather than needing to click on a video to watch it, you can gain a preview of the content simply by hovering over the thumbnail.
This had two effects: it meant porn was available to watch from right within Bing, without the need to visit any other sites; it raised questions over the fair use of playing copyrighted content from within a search engine.
MSN Video – Bing Video
Now, Microsoft is in the process of converting MSN Video into Bing Video, using the Bing brand to better show off video content. High quality videos from MSN, Hulu, YouTube, ABC and others are now all combined into the one site.
Bing Video looks classy and has a good range of video content, options, and features. And I must admit to having spent a while finding new video picks I hadn’t yet seen featured on WebTVHub.
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