Bing has released a blog post previewing its new AI-powered search experience — basically its version of Google AI Overviews, but better. Instead of Google’s generated blocks of text suggesting that people add nontoxic glue to their pizzas, Bing’s plans include bespoke spreads of information, including links to sources and further reading.
An example from the blog shows the query “how long can elephants live,” and the AI-generated results begin with the following answer in large font: “Up to 70 years in the wild and 88 years in captivity.” There’s also a link to the source beside it, along with further excerpts from the same webpage. It then branches into related sections like “factors that affect lifespan” and “oldest known elephants.” And at the top left, there’s an index outlining all the topics covered.
All of this is laid out on the left side of the webpage while the right is dedicated to the traditional search results. Microsoft notes that early data suggests this approach doesn’t affect the number of clicks to websites and “supports a healthy web ecosystem.”
What’s exciting about this is the possibility of instantly getting the exact answer to your query without even needing to click anything. This experience does exist with Google in some simple situations — if you search “how old is Biden,” for instance, his age appears at the top of the results page, and it’s great. So, imagine if that was the default for any question you asked — instead of having to click an SEO article and scroll down five paragraphs to find your answer, it’d just be right there at the top of the results page.
As well as being useful for quick answers, the links to further reading and related topics could be great for research and learning. Microsoft claims that Bing “understands the search query,” implying it could also help provide users with the results they want even when their query isn’t very specific. This is something large language models can already do — I’ve used ChatGPT to help me find a Jane Austen quote that I could only vaguely remember the theme of — but it would be great to have this ability embedded right into a search engine.
However, with everyone else struggling so much with accuracy, Microsoft must also be facing the same problems. Requiring generated results to include links to sources will certainly help people fact-check what they’re reading, but getting accuracy rates up is essential if the company really wants this feature to be useful.
Right now, the generative search is still in the early stages, and Microsoft says it will just be delivering the feature to a small percentage of user queries to test and gather feedback. We all feel a bit burned after the trainwreck that is Google AI Overviews, but let’s hope this next attempt from Microsoft will do a better job.
The absolutely absurd idea of putting a touchscreen display on a mouse isn't exactly new. Turtle Beach already did it with its Command Series MC7, which features a 2.25-inch control screen. But apparently, even that wasn't ridiculous enough for Arctic Fox Technologies. Its new Super Mouse looks like someone took the chunky old Atari ST mouse, slapped a touchscreen and scroll wheel on it, and called it an upgrade.
The result is a rather unusual-looking mouse that is now on Kickstarter, starting at $199. And as ridiculous as it looks, some of its features are genuinely intriguing.
Apple is less than a day away from launching its highly anticipated OLED MacBook Pro with a touch-sensitive screen. But it appears that the upgrade is going to cost a pretty penny. According to a report by Bloomberg, Apple is reportedly eyeing a starting price of $2,899 for the 14-inch MacBook Pro, while the 16-inch version could start at $3,399 in the US.
"At $2,899, the 14-inch model would mark the highest starting price for a new MacBook Pro model, surpassing the $2,799 Apple charged for a 17-inch version introduced in 2006," says the report. The report claims that Apple is targeting a minimum price hike of $400 for its upcoming redesigned 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models.
I've spent a good amount of time digging into the spec sheet of the new M6 MacBook Pro (14-inch), and for all intents and purposes, this is a classic Apple "chip and connectivity" refresh. It's not a full redesign. The chassis, Liquid Retina XDR panel, speakers, ports, and battery, all of them carry over unchanged.
However, the M6 brings more cores, stronger on-device AI, higher memory bandwidth on the larger configs, and modern wireless. Here’s the practical rundown of what actually improved, and whether those gains are worth your money.