Two years ago I asked whether you’d be willing to pay a subscription fee to use an ad-free, privacy-focused search engine that doesn’t collect your data. While many respondents to my wholly unscientific poll were receptive to the idea, the search engine startup that inspired the question found that not enough people were willing to pay to […]
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Lilbits: The AI-ification of search has begun
OpenAI’s ChatGPT caused quite a stir when it launched in late 2022. Nominally a chatbot that could answer your questions and hold conversations using natural language, it didn’t take long for people to realize it could also answer many of the questions you’d normally turn to a search engine for. It’s information is at least […]
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Microsoft is experimenting with a Search widget on the Windows 11 desktop
Windows 11 brought the return of widgets to Microsoft’s desktop operating system, but for the most part they’ve been confined to a Widgets board that slides out from the left side of the screen when you want to use it and hides away when you don’t. Now Microsoft has introduced an experimental search box widget […]
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Firefox 75 puts an emphasis on search
It’s been a few years since Mozilla combined the Firefox search and URL bars into a single address bar. You can type a website or search term into the same bar, and Firefox will automatically figure out what it is you’re trying to do (and offer suggestions as you type). Now Mozilla is rolling out […]
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Microsoft is splitting up Search and Cortana for Windows 10
The latest Windows 10 preview build brings improvements to font management and the Start Menu. But the thing I’m most excited about is that Microsoft is separating Search from Cortana. Starting with Windows 10 Insider Preview Build 18317, users will see two separate items in the Windows taskbar: a search box and a Cortana icon. […]
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Non-Cortana voice assistants could become first-class citizens on Windows 10
Windows 10 ships with Microsoft’s Cortana virtual assistant software baked in. There’s not even a separate search icon in the taskbar — currently you can choose between a Cortana/Search box or a Cortana circle icon. But a recent Windows 10 preview build offers a new look: separate search and Cortana icons. Folks who have dug […]
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3 Comments on Google is bringing big changes to its search engine (more pictures and videos, Google Lens, etc)
Google is bringing big changes to its search engine (more pictures and videos, Google Lens, etc)
3 Comments on Google is bringing big changes to its search engine (more pictures and videos, Google Lens, etc)Google Search turns 20 this year. And while Google was just a search engine in 1998, these days it’s also the home to YouTube, Gmail, Google Maps, the Chrome web browser (and operating system) and Android, among other things. But the company still has a search engine that you may use from time to time… and today […]
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Microsoft releases Office 2019, unveils unified search, and a bunch of enterprise and IT features
Comments Off on Microsoft releases Office 2019, unveils unified search, and a bunch of enterprise and IT featuresMicrosoft Ignite is underway, and the company started its conference for developers, IT professionals, and enterprise customers with a few big announcements. Office 2019 is now available. Microsoft Search is getting a major overhaul in Windows, apps, and on the web. There’s a new cloud-based Windows Virtual Desktop available through Azure. And the Surface Hub […]
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EU fines Google $5 billion for antitrust violations related to Android
European Union regulators say Google has abused its dominant position in the smartphone operating system space to pressure phone makers into including Google Search and the Chrome web browser on their devices, stifling competition. In response, the EU has fined Google 4.34 billion Euros (about $5.04 billion US) and ordered the company to end the […]
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Vivaldi web browser lets you change default search provider for Private browsing
Most modern web browsers let you choose your own default search engine. But Vivaldi is going a step further by letting you set two different default search providers: one for normal browsing, and another for private browsing. The Vivaldi blog post announcing the feature focuses on the fact that the latest version of Vivaldi sets […]