If you combine the total traffic of Yahoo and Bing (since Microsoft does run the search algorithm and ads for both), you would have a powerful force with an entire – 25% of the market. The rest, of course, belongs to Google. That’s to be anticipated in many ways (Google does a lot right, and they’ve been the leader in multiple important fields for some time now), but it’s also sad in other ways. One reason for this element of tragedy is that many aren’t exposed to impressive Bing features, such as Bing Maps. To help remedy this, Bing has enlisted (in part unintentionally) the help of competitors in the Imagine Cup 2011.
The Imagine Cup, a Microsoft creation, brings together students from around the world to compete for $40,000 in total cash prizes ($25,000 going to the first place winner), not to mention an all-expenses-paid trip to New York City for all finalists. Each group has to create an innovative software project that meets to competition’s theme: “Imagine a world where technology helps solve the toughest problems.” Several major projects this year, including multiple regional winners, utilized Bing Maps as the back-end foundation for their project. These projects include:
- A crowd-source information mapper than lets mobile phone users know when their bus is coming.
- A one-button solution to broadcasting your current location to social networks, in case of an emergency.
- A malaria risk topographical mapper.
Those interested in keeping track of the details of the competition can, or learning more about the projects, can visit the official Imagine Cup site.
[via the Bing Blog]
