Bing Market Share is Increasing Faster and Faster

Bing!

Earlier in 2009, Mircosoft released their new search engine, Bing. It was a complete overhaul of their old search engine Windows Live search. Bing has had a great year in 2009 and if the last six months hold any clue to the future, it looks like Bing will have another great year. Without boring people too much, check out the growth rates of their respected months:

• December, 2009: 49.4%
• November, 2009: 46.0%
• October, 2009: 30.8%
• September, 2009: 30.7%
• August, 2009: 31.8%
• July, 2009: 15.6%
• June, 2009: 11.6%

Every month since Bing came out, it has had an larger growth percent than the previous month! Google and Bing both are growing, but poor Yahoo is shrinking. I am sure Microsoft is glad they didn't end up getting Yahoo...

Check out the full story over at TechCrunch.

Share

SRG Unplugged

I wanted to remind everyone of the wireless Internet we have here at SRG: SRGunplugged.

SRGunplugged is the quick and easy way for all of us here at SRG and for our clients to reach the Internet with as little hassle as possible. The wireless Internet runs on its own system separate from our wired system so although you may not be able to access your documents on the server, you can always connect via VPN and access them that way. Note that although we don't secure our WiFi , our VPN client establishes a secure connection when you connect to our network, so all of your files are completely secure.

Plus its the perfect solution for clients because our WiFi doesn't require any password or login information. This way clients can hop onto SRGunplugged and get to the Internet without any help or hassle.

So the next time your clients need Internet access or you're roaming around the halls in need of the Internet, think SRGunplugged!

Share

Cool Interactive Maps

This map at singletrack.com is pretty sweet. On the surface it looks like so many other Google Maps implementations. It shows mountain bike trails throughout the world, as indicated by the markers with numbers in the center (showing how many trails there are in a given region). As you zoom in, the number of flags increases, to indicate specific trails in specific areas. Essentially you are not only zooming in on the map, but you are also zooming in on the relevant data.

This next one is a little more relevant to our business. Click on any state to see what produce is fresh and in season in your area, then drill down further to see descriptions and recipes.

Share

Mix Tapes - 21st Century Style

I think everyone who grew up in 80s and 90s got a mix tape from someone at some point. With the digitization of everything on ipods and hard drives across the globe, the beloved mix tape has long since died. Until now. With the advent of streaming services like Rhapsody (paid) and Grooveshark (free) the mix tape lives on. With these service you can build playlist that can then be shared with others online. Because Grooveshark is free with no login required, playlists can be emailed or embedded in your favorite blog. Check out this blog for a collection of embedded playlists (aka 21st century mix tapes).

Share

Google in China

Some incredibly fascinating events have transpired surrounding Google's presence in China that you can read about here. One paragraph stood out as clear, easy, and sensible ways to stay safe online:

"In terms of individual users, we would advise people to deploy reputable anti-virus and anti-spyware programs on their computers, to install patches for their operating systems and to update their web browsers. Always be cautious when clicking on links appearing in instant messages and emails, or when asked to share personal information like passwords online. You can read more here about our cyber-security recommendations."

It's a dangerous virtual world out there. Stay safe everybody!

Share

Will History Repeat Itself?

I've been thinking a lot lately about the battle for mobile device supremacy. It's no secret that the iPhone is the ruling platform these days. With a game changing interface, innovative apps storefront, and widespread global adoption the iPhone is still the mobile standard bearer. However, the iPhone is receiving stiff competition from several directions, most notably the many flavors of devices that run Google's Android OS. Seeing this storm brewing takes me back to the days of IBM 286 and the Mac Classic. It was a philosophical difference really. Steve jobs was committed to the idea of marrying the OS with hardware because in his view it ultimately makes for a better user experience. Over in Redmond they built an OS that would run on any hardware that met a certain set of requirements. While Jobs' philosophy made for a better user experience, Gates' philosophy made for an experience that could be widely replicated across just about any hardware. This of course led to Windows dominating the desktop computing space to the current day. It was also nearly the death of the beloved Mac. Fast forward 25 years and we are seeing the same thing happening with mobile handsets. Will the iPhone be relegated to the technically elite? Will Android dominate? Only time will tell.

Share