New “topic view” and interests features make sure you stay on top of the news that matters

We know it’s hard to find time in your day to catch up on the news—from the latest innovations like HoloLens to Seattle’s big win in Arizona (sorry, getting a little ahead of ourselves there). The Trending Topics feature in Bing News has always been a fast way to get caught up on current events. All the key stories are right there, allowing you to quickly scan for the latest updates, or click-through for a deeper read.

We have just introduced “Topic View”, the newest feature on Bing News, which gives readers an at-a-glance view at what news stories are getting the most attention right now. The most-read articles show up at the top of Topic View, with related picture galleries from a variety of news sources.

In “Topic View”, you can quickly scan through the top stories by clicking on the left or the right arrow on each side of the page. If you prefer jumping between the trending topics, the carousel at the top of the page may work better for you.

We all have news topics that pique our interest, where we want to be actively kept up-to-date. You can now click the blue “stay up-to-date” button to the right of the headline in the Topic View photo. That news item will be added to your interest-tracking list on Bing which means that it will be right there when you visit the Bing home page or visit Cortana.

Bing News Trending Topics brings readers the latest information on a wide range of subjects. Enjoy the news as sorted by Bing, or customize your Topic View to get what matters most to you. Try it out!

Bing helps you earn Rewards faster on Chrome and Android

The Bing Rewards program is about giving back—our “thank you” that lets you earn rewards while searching on Bing. We’d like to make it easier and faster to earn and redeem rewards everywhere, so we’re bringing new features to Chrome and Android.

Check and redeem Bing Rewards any time in Chrome

With the new Bing Rewards Chrome Extension, every Rewards offer is just a click away. Click on the “b” icon in the upper right corner of your browser to view all your current offers and, if you’re a Gold member, it lets you know how many searches you need to do to maintain your status. It’s a simple, speedy way to complete offers and track your status, no matter where you are on the Web.

Installing the Extension on your PC or Mac is free and easy. One click and it’s up and running.

We also want to make sure you reach your goals faster with Bing Rewards, so we make Bing your default search engine at the same time.

With the Chrome Extension, you get:

• Credit balance and status any time
• Instant access to Rewards Dashboard and Redemption Center
• Easy access to daily offers
• Visibility of your progress on redemption goals

Android users can now rack up Rewards credits on the go—and earn special Android-only perks.

In addition to the standard ways of earning credits, the Bing Rewards Android app provides new ways to earn credits. Android users can redeem credits for gift cards or weekly sweepstakes. Just visit the redemption center to redeem credits or track sweepstakes winners.

Here are a few highlights from the app:

Look out soon for even more great features coming to the Bing Rewards app.

We’d love to hear what you think of the Rewards app for Android. Let us know what you like, how we can improve, or features you really want to see. Your input is our inspiration.

Drop us a line at rewardsapps@microsoft.com.

New ways to find photos and files with OneDrive and Bing

Bing and OneDrive have come together to offer a new way to find files and pictures through search tags and object recognition. Search for documents and PDFs by text inside of them and photos based on time, location, or text from the image themselves. For example, you’ll be able to quickly search for Office documents and PDFs by the text inside of them and photos based on time, location, or text that is extracted from images themselves, to find things like “people,” “dogs,” “whiteboard,” “beach,” “sunsets,” and dozens of other terms based on the content of your photos. For more details, check out the OneDrive blog post and try it out for yourself!

– The Bing Team