Bing Japan is live

Jul 15, 2010 09:22 GMT  ·  By

Microsoft is slowly expanding the focus on the search market to include additional countries worldwide. It is the case of Japan, whose users can now take advantage of the full Bing experience. The Redmond company removed the Beta tag from the Japanese version of its search/decision engine earlier this week, delivering a few hints prior to actually confirming the move officially. First off, the software giant used Japanese symbolic imagery for the background image on the Bing.com homepage. And then, Microsoft also produced a new Bing’s Best theme, featuring a variety of Nippon content. The Bing’s Best: Japan themepack is currently available for download via the Windows Personalization Gallery, free of charge, of course.

“You may have noticed that Bing’s Tuesday homepage was a tribute to a celebration in Japan. We were celebrating as Bing Japan removed its beta tag, launched a new product feature and became a contender in the Japanese search market,” revealed Alison Fisher, from the Bing team.

Users in the United States were the first to enjoy the full Bing experience, while Microsoft’s search/decision engine, continued to remain in Beta stage for the rest of the world. Subsequently, the Redmond company removed the Beta tag from the UK version of Bing. And now it’s Japans turn to get the complete flavor of Bing.

“There were many new features to show the crowd but to showcase our focus on entertainment; we hit the city with Yoshimoto Entertainment Company, one of the most prominent celebrity agents in Japan. The fans lined up to attend the launch event and were able to laugh the day away! Yoshimoto’s comedians gave live, impromptu impressions of Bing while highlighting some of their favorite Bing features. The group had a great response to the new homepage, shopping and celebrity information,” Fisher added.

Windows 7 RTM Bing's Best: Japan Theme is available for download here.

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