Last year, we introduced Bing on Xbox, a new way for you to search movies, TV shows, games, music and apps with the sound of your voice. With more than 65 voice-controlled TV & entertainment apps from leading brands such as HBO, Netflix, and ESPN available on the console, Xbox literally offers millions of entertainment options. By combining all this content with the power of Bing’s deep search expertise, voice recognition technology and the magic of Kinect, we provide instant access to the expansive catalogue of entertainment options on Xbox.
With this week’s updates, we are releasing a set of improvements to Bing on Xbox that make it even easier for you to discover the entertainment content you want. Not only have the overall voice recognition capabilities and accuracy of Bing on Xbox been improved, but we’ve also added the following features to help refine your searches even further. Search the Web from Your TV: With the addition of “Internet Explorer,” you can now search across the web, as well as the content on your Xbox, to find the most relevant results. Bing on Xbox also searches YouTube for web original video. So, if you’re searching for a film with Jason Statham, you not only get results for his movies from within Xbox, but you can also view related web content within the same search.
Music Search: With Bing as the search service for Xbox, you can search the new Xbox Music service for your favorite artist, song or album, and then sit back and enjoy. Similarly, Bing will power the search in the new Xbox Music app for Windows 8.
Genre Search: In addition to searching by actor/artist, title or game, you can now search by genre to find all content within specific categories like action, comedy, romance, drama or sci-fi. How does it work? Simply say: “Xbox, Bing, Action,” and you will see a list of action movies across Xbox.
Expanded Availability: Last year we brought Bing voice search to Xbox for the US, UK, and Canada, so you could use voice to search for movies, TV shows, actors, directors and artists. This year we will expand Bing on Xbox to additional markets, including: Australia, Brazil, Germany, Italy, Spain, Mexico, France, Canada (FR), Ireland, Japan, Austria and Switzerland (FR and German).
In many ways, Bing on Xbox helps solve the same problem in the digital living room that modern search has addressed for the wealth of content on the web, making it easier for you to spend less time searching and more time doing the things you enjoy. You can read more about the updates here.
– Michelle Holtmann, Program Manager, Knowledge, Information & Discovery Team, Bing