Bing Maps just keeps getting cooler -- some would say more so than Google Maps -- and the latest trick will appeal to star gazers and armchair astronomers alike. Evolving from a client-based app to a Silverlight web-based implmentation, the WorldWide Telescope (WWT) project is now a Bing Mapps app.

"The WorldWide Telescope application allows you to view most of the features available in the Silverlight client right in Bing Maps," Chris Pendleton a Bing Maps Technical Evangelist for Microsoft, wrote in a blog post. "Yes, the WWT provides real time information about how the space is moving over the Earth. This provides context for where celestial entities are in real time if you were to look up at the night sky."

To try it out for yourself, just head over to Bing Maps and click the Map Apps button in the lower left. Select WorldWide Telescope (first row) and start gazing! If you want to jump straight to the stars, click on Start Here and drop the telescope icon anywhere on the map. As you drag the map, Bing will tell you which constellation you're looking at.

"Now, if you want the SUPER COOL effect you saw Blaise Arcas y Aguera demonstrate at TED you can just click on one of the collections which zips you down to Earth and changes the map stype to Streetside (where available)," Pendleton explains. "Once you're on the ground, just look up!"

Super cool indeed.

Let’s just assume that you prefer not to trust the big G with your data. Where are you supposed to go for your online mapping needs? As it turns out, Bing Maps is a perfectly acceptable alternative. With the most recent update, it’s gotten potentially even more useful thanks to the addition of about 6.7 million square kilometers of aerial imagery.

 We’ve always had a fondness for Bing’s visual style, which is frankly more polished than Google Maps. It is a bit slower than Google, but that’s just a small tradeoff. The aerial and bird’s eye views are some of the coolest features, and we expect they’ve been helped by the addition of all that image data. The vast majority of the new data is for the aerial view (a top down angle). There’s much less for the bird’s eye view (an oblique angle). It’s good to see Microsoft continuing to invest in their Bing Maps, but is anyone really using it over Google? If you prefer Bing Maps, let us know why in the comments.

In January, there were murmurs of Bing replacing Google as the default search provider on the Apple iPhone. The Gregorian calender has moved to March at its traditional pace and nothing has happened on that front. But Google Search is now on the verge of getting snubbed on its own turf: Android. If you are unaware, Android is coming to AT&T in the form of the Motorola Blackflip, which is scheduled  to hit stores on March 7, 2010. But Google will be a little less excited about the launch now, for the carrier is said to have removed Google as the default search provider “throughout” the phone and opted for Yahoo instead.

“Yahoo has replaced Google as the default search provider throughout the phone. It's crazy: the home screen widget, the browser, everything's been programmed to use Yahoo. We love us some irony, but golly, we'd prefer Google searches most of the time,” Engadget's  Chris Ziegler wrote on the blog after unboxing the phone.

It is no secret that Google is the world's most popular search provider by a long distance. It is difficult to imagine why smartphone users may want to use Yahoo or any other search engine over Google. However, in case there is even an iota of doubt over Google's popularity among smartphone users, it is best to leave the choice to the users themselves. Search engine ballot, anyone?

No sooner did Microsoft settle its antitrust woes with the European union, than it turned around and allegedly threw Google under the very same bus. Up until now little has been known about Redmond's involvement, but ZDNet blogger Mary Jo Foley has confirmed Microsoft executives have been in contact with EU regulators in recent months about Google's monopolistic position in search. In addition to direct involvement, they even owned up to encouraging others to come forward to register similar complaints. As many commenter's are likely to point out, the irony of Microsoft's complaint isn't lost on us. Based on all the antitrust woes they have been forced to endure in the past, they seem likely a pretty unlikely candidate to spark this debate against Google.

For its part, Microsoft is trying to explain its viewpoint with its "On The Issues Blog", but it's a pretty thick read full of legalese. The closing arguments however do a pretty good job of summing it up. "Microsoft would obviously be among the first to say that leading firms should not be punished for their success. Nor should firms be punished just because a particular business practice may harm a rival-competition on the merits can do that, too. That is a position that Microsoft has long espoused, and we're sticking to it. Our concerns relate only to Google practices that tend to lock in business partners and content (like Google Books) and exclude competitors, thereby undermining competition more broadly."

This could be the start of a very public, very bloody war between Google and Microsoft.

Speculation has been rampant that Apple was seeking alternatives to their close relationship with Google. Some have insinuated that Microsoft’s Bing could replace Google on the iPhone. But at Mobile World Congress a Google spokesperson said that Apple was still a “close and valuable partner”.

Tensions seem to have risen since the release of the HTC built Google Nexus One. Apple CEO Steve Jobs is reported to have mocked Google’s “don’t be evil” mantra, and Google recently added full multitouch to the Nexus One. Apple would do well to think things through before making any brash movesm though. By some estimates, the search deal with Google nets Apple over $100 million each year.

Google has made it clear that the Nexus One won’t be the only Google-branded handset they sell. While the Google-Apple love may survive this little spat, no one knows if it will endure the next one.

There’s a ton of money to be made with a search engine these days. The seriousness of the market, which is starting to show signs of new competition, is underscored by the recent spate of feature enhancements. Yesterday, it was Google adding social networking hooks. Today, it is Microsoft adding financial data to Bing.

The Bing team has decided that one thing that will help to simplify our day, other than a recipe for chicken marengo, is investment data. In particular, reports for U.S. stocks and funds. According to the Bing Community Blog, all you need do is “enter a ticker in the search box e.g MSFT. Note our "Instant Answer" on top which provides basic data about the firm. If you click on the "Investor Data" tab on the left you go into our finance page.”

And, sure enough, checking out a few company ticker symbols, Bing dutifully reports stock results at/near the top of the search results. (It will appear under sponsored sites, if there are any.)

This addition to Bing already exists on Yahoo!, and, albeit a bit hit-and-miss, on Google. While this will make life “easier” for Bing users, whether it is enough to differentiate Bing from the search engine crowd and attract new users is an open question.

Image Credit: Microsoft

Bill Gates is a many-faceted man. On one hand, his full-time job these days is to run a charitable foundation that provides vaccinations to poor children. On the other hand, he is still the Chairman and largest stock holder in Microsoft. There are times when he is called upon to comment on the tech industry and we see the old Billy Boy shine through.

In a recent chat with the New York Times, Gates commented on Google’s place in the business. When asked if Google was a monopoly Bill responded, “I wouldn’t call anyone a monopolist.” He went on to explain that Google was just in the club of “hyper-successful” companies that include Microsoft, IBM, and AT&T.

Gates seem unconcerned with Google’s huge lead in the search market. He stressed confidence in those working to increase Bing market share. As for Google’s recent confrontation with China, Gates affirmed his resounding indifference. “They’ve done nothing and gotten a lot of credit for it,” Gates said. To the founder and former CEO of Microsoft, Google has a lot to ground to make up before they’ll get his respect. He said in closing, “Now, if Google ever chooses to pull out of the United States, then I’d give them credit.” We’re sure Bill would love that.

Bing has been successful in holding its own in the online search market mainly due to the fact that it is more than just a new facade for a dilapidated building. The same could not be said about Microsoft's previous attempts at reviving its online search business, though. Now, Bing has added another useful feature to its search results: Bing Recipes. Searching for your favorite recipes on the internet just got simpler with the introduction of this new feature.

Every query for a food item or its recipe is now greeted with recipes from popular recipe websites. The recipes are listed in a very neat manner along with their user ratings and a simple calorie meter to make the post-meal choice between the staircase and the elevator easier. The menu on the left of the screen can help sort the recipes based on convenience, occasion, ingredients, user ratings, cuisine, course and/or cooking method.

Between Google goosing up its search with synonyms and Micrrosoft all giddy over its Silverlight integration with Bing, there's been plenty of search news this morning, but what about on the mobile front? There too, we have something to report, and it involves two unlikely partners: Apple and Microsoft.

That's right, the same two companies who trade blows on TV on which is superior, a Mac or Windows-based PC, may end up working together in the smartphone sector. Citing "two people familiar with the matter," BusinessWeek says the two companies are in talks about replacing Google as the default search engine on the iPhone and replace it with Bing. It's a discussion that's been underway for a few weeks now.

"Apple and Google know the other is their primary enemy," says one of the antonymous sources. "Microsoft is now a pawn in that battle."

Interesting way of putting, considering pawns have the potential of become the most powerful piece on the chess board. And with so many advertising dollars at stake and a lot of search market share ground to make up, this has the potential to be huge for Bing.

There aren't any details to go on at this point, and this is far from a done deal, but should it happen, it may mean that iPhone owners would automatically see Bing as the default search engine. For those wanting to stick with Google, it would mean digging down into the system settings.

Microsoft's Bing Maps Silverlight version is growing up fast, so much so that Microsoft is taking it out of beta, the Redmond outfit announced this week.

Not everyone will see the changes right away, and instead, Microsoft is planning a slow rollout. Within a few weeks, everyone in the U.S. should see the Silverlight maps by default. In the meantime, the AJAX site will still work, and users will be able to toggle between the two versions.

This is a pretty big step for Bing, one which some would argue puts the search decision engine ahead of Google in the maps arena. Because it's powered by Silverlight, it's a more robust experience than Google Maps, allowing users to seamlessly switch between maps, satellite images, and detailed aerial photos. But is it a Google Maps killer?

Not quite. Google Maps still has some features that Bing doesn't, like better local searches with Place Pages. And while Silverlight is what gives Bing Maps an edge, it also means installing a plug-in that you might not have otherwise wanted.