We talk about Bing as a “decision engine” that anticipates your intent and surfaces search results to help you quickly make an informed decision. Built into this concept is the assumption that productivity is your chief goal. The Socio-Digital Systems group in Microsoft Research Cambridge has been studying how people use the internet for functions rather than getting things done, where it’s more about the journey than it is the destination. 

This week at Techfest, Microsoft Research is demonstrating its Microsoft Translator Hub
which allows any individual or group to create a custom machine translation
system between virtually any two languages. This is a powerful tool for those
interested in both preserving the language heritage of the world and connecting
to the Internet the billions of people who don’t speak one of the world’s major
languages.

With most digital cameras these days, you can shoot still photos or video. The critical question, then, is which one to use when you’re at your child’s soccer game or out with a group of friends: a picture often won’t do it justice, whereas shooting video can be quite challenging for the average person. A group of Microsoft researchers has now rendered that decision moot with a new interactive app called Cliplets. 

Posted by Steve Clayton

I’ve learned to track the work of Hrvoje Benko from Microsoft Research quite closely. This week at TechFest, he has been showing his latest project.

Posted by Rob Knies

With March 2012 upon us, you could say that, from a calendar perspective, the drama of this leap year already has passed. February has enjoyed its quadrennial enhancement. The ides of March are nearly upon us. A change of season is a couple of weeks away.

But those are simply timekeeping trivia. If you’re looking for real, substantive advancements, consider Microsoft Research’s TechFest 2012, the annual celebration of computer-science technology.

At Microsoft Research, with its proud tradition of groundbreaking technological explorations extending over 20 years, every year is leap year.