The latest development, disclosed in an official blog post by Bing, includes the addition of voice chat for desktop users. The feature is already available for users who use the platform through mobile.

We know many of you love using voice input for a chat on Mobile. It’s now also available on desktop by clicking on the microphone icon in the Bing Chat box, the blog post read.

Access to the feature is facilitated via a microphone icon that desktop users with functional microphones can now select to begin speaking on the platform. According to Microsoft, the new feature enhances the user’s experience with the chatbot.

Notably, the platform offers multilingual support for an array of languages, including English, Japanese, French, German, and Mandarin, with additional languages to be added shortly. Additionally, text-to-speech technology is available, enabling the chatbot to answer user inquiries verbally in its unique voice.

Bing Chat has been receiving frequent updates, some every week, to enhance its usability. The latest update was released in conjunction with Microsoft Build. On June 2, Microsoft extended Bing Chat’s capacity to 30 turns per chat and 300 chats per day. Furthermore, Bing Image Creator’s support was expanded to all modes, and travel inquiries were optimized to provide more visual outcomes.

As a new development, the Vivaldi Browser has implemented a feature that disguises itself as Microsoft Edge on Android devices. The move is aimed at circumventing the browsing restrictions set by Microsoft on Bing Chat. Although the service is designed to be accessible only via Microsoft Edge, it is noteworthy that the browser is built on the same codebase as other Chromium-based browsers, such as Google Chrome, Brave Browser, and Vivaldi.

Via Microsoft Bing

Just like most browsers, Vivaldi is powered by the Chromium open-source project and works perfectly across most sites. However, there have been instances where some users have reported being blocked out from accessing certain websites. The first account dates back to 2019, which prompted Vivaldi to incorporate the web browser’s name, the operating system’s name, and other technical information into its User-Agent strings.

The second account took place this year when the browser started using the new Client Hints standard. Yngve Pettersen, Vivaldi’s developer, further detailed how User-Agent discrimination works:

It’s not only websites that discriminate based on your name. Vivaldi now masquerades as Google Chrome for graphic card drivers, which unlocks graphic card driver optimizations made specifically for Chrome. By pretending to be Chrome, the GPU user uses less memory and resources. It improves battery life, reduces crashes, and improves system stability.

Vivaldi further details that finding workarounds to bypass these issues also opened up new opportunities for users to leverage in a bid to enhance their browsing experience. For instance, on this new version, users will be able to access Bing Chat.

Bing Chat has been available to users for close to four months now. And while Microsoft expanded its availability to more users recently by shipping it to open preview for everyone to try it out, the chatbot is still limited to the Edge browser.

Aside from releasing the chatbot to open preview, you’ll no longer be required to have a Microsoft Account to access it. However, your interactions with the tool will be limited. All these are great steps designed to get more users to interact with the chatbot. However, it’s still limited to Microsoft Edge.

According to the blog post:

Vivaldi masquerades as Microsoft Edge when visiting Bing. This means that you can access Bing Chat using Vivaldi on desktop and Android devices.

The new update is also enhancing the Workspaces feature on the desktop client. The feature is designed to help users with better tab management. Vivaldi has highlighted that users will now be able to navigate between different sets of tabs easily while keeping the tab bar less cluttered. You can also reorder your tabs based on your preference and level of importance.

Additionally, Vivaldi is also making it easier for users to share links, thus making the flow of work easier. “On desktop, you can now select tabs and copy links to all the selected pages,” the company indicated in the blog.

And finally, the company has announced that the browser will be available on iOS soon. It’s already in preview on iOS and iPads and should be rolling out to more users soon.

When asked about the absence of the share button on Bing Chat yesterday, CEO Mikhail Parakhin stated via Twitter that some technical difficulties have already been addressed and assured users that the feature will be back shortly.

There were some issues with it, temporarily disabled, coming back soon.

— Mikhail Parakhin (@MParakhin) June 6, 2023

Meanwhile, towards the end of last week, Bing Chat underwent a few significant enhancements. The chatbot employs Artificial intelligence and is now equipped to accommodate a maximum of 30 turns for every conversation, in distinction to its former cap of 20. Additionally, Bing Image Creator is currently supported in Precise and Balanced modes, unlike before when it was confined to Creative mode. Also, travel-related inquiries will demonstrate more visual outcomes.

Last month, Microsoft announced significant updates to Bing Chat, some of which have already been implemented. Alongside these updates, the company has introduced minor improvements to enhance the overall chatbot experience. Among these improvements is the ability to copy entire answers for sharing and download messages as PDF, text, or Word documents.

The esteemed technology corporation unveiled other notable updates to Bing Chat, including a chat history feature and the ability to utilize plug-ins. Additionally, the company has publicized that users are no longer required to have a Microsoft account to engage with the chatbot. It is essential to note, however, that conversations without authentication are limited to a maximum of five turns per session.

Via Search Engine Roundtable

According to Microsoft via an email:

Four months after Microsoft introduced the new Bing and began to transform the expectations and experiences of Search, people have engaged in more than half a billion chats, created more than 200 million images with Bing Image Creator, and usage of the Bing mobile app has increased 8x since launch.

The company further cites that despite being able to hit these numbers, users are yet to leverage the tool’s full potential, which is why it’s launching the Bing Chat campaign. “Microsoft’s campaign aims to address this challenge by sparking creativity and curiosity to highlight the new possibilities of asking more fun and compelling questions,” Microsoft told OnMSFT.

The campaign will essentially help users learn how to give prompts, opening them up to a new world with endless possibilities. Here are a couple of illustrations of how much you can exploit the tool’s capabilities to get the exact response you might be looking for:

Microsoft should roll out additional campaign assets across digital, social, and OOH platforms in the next few weeks. You can check out more prompts here.

In the past, we’ve seen reports surface online with several users citing instances where the chatbot had hallucinated or outrightly given wrong responses. Perhaps, this campaign will help users learn how to use the tool properly, ultimately helping them make the most out of it.

How do you make your prompts while using Bing Chat? Share your experience with us in the comments.

The largest change by far is a big internals refactoring in preparation for the large-scale plugin rollout. We are turning everything into a plugin (including different facets of Search!) – and it results in a very significant metrics improvement.

That actually is true. The largest change by far is a big internals refactoring in preparation for the large-scale plugin rollout. We are turning everything into a plugin (including different facets of Search!) – and it results in a very significant metrics improvement.

— Mikhail Parakhin (@MParakhin) May 30, 2023

While it’s unclear if 3rd party browser support will be part of this move to plugins, it is coming, said Parakhin:

Yep, coming

— Mikhail Parakhin (@MParakhin) May 30, 2023

Parakhin further stated:

In addition, larger context size for Balanced, big improvements in disengagement rate (especially for code writing), improvements in Bing Image Creator, hopefully first experiments in enabling third party browsers.

Admittedly, there are a couple of workarounds in place that one could use to get Bing Chat on Google Chrome or Firefox, but it wouldn’t work quite as well as it does on Edge.
Obviously, once Bing Chat support is available in third-party browsers, more users will be able to leverage its capabilities to enhance their browsing experience. It will also evidently provide users with a smooth and seamless experience compared to the already available workarounds.
It’ll be interesting to see how this update will affect Microsoft’s 100 million daily active users in Bing in the long run, and the competitive advantage it might have over Google’s AI chatbot, Bard that’s currently available in 180 countries without a waitlist. Perhaps, Bing Chat’s June update will feature the “first experiments in enabling third-party browsers.”
via Neowin

And while we hit a huge chunk of these announcements, we’re now going to recap some of our favorite sessions as well as announcements that you might have missed in the past few days. Here’s everything that you might have missed:

Windows Copilot for Windows 11

Panos Panay, Microsoft’s executive vice president unveiled that the company is getting ready to unveil Windows Copilot in preview next month. A tool designed to provide centralized AI assistance for customers.

It was further disclosed that the tool will ship with a shortcut in the Windows 11 taskbar, which will feature a pop-up window. Users can ask any questions they might have pertaining to the operating system via this window. Additionally, users will also have the capability to dock the AI-powered assistant in a side pane.

Additionally, the assistant will also be integrated with Bing Chat thus allowing users to access third-party services using ChatGPT plugins. Keeping in mind that Microsoft’s adoption of open plugin standards, which in turn avail ChatGPT plugins across Bing, Microsoft 365 Copilot, as well as Windows Copilot.

Microsoft adopting open plugin standards for Bing and Copilot

During the developer conference, Microsoft announced that it will be transitioning to an open plugin system. As such, users will now be able to use a single platform to build plugins for commercial and consumer artificially led services across Bing, ChatGPT, Dynamics 365, and more.

Essentially, this means that when the developers hit the ground running and start building applications featuring AI capabilities using the new Azure OpenAI Service, they’ll automatically be compatible with the new set plugin standard. As we speak, Microsoft currently expanding its support to services like Kayak, Refin, and more.

AI-powered Microsoft Store

Microsoft is also shipping AI capabilities to its Store app. Per the announcement, the AI Hub will provide users with a curated experience featuring AI-powered apps in the Microsoft Store.

Additionally, Microsoft Store will also feature a new capability that will help users summarize customer reviews for apps. This will in turn make it easier for users to get a general idea of the app’s user experience based on the feedback provided.

Discoverability for apps in the Microsoft Store will also be enhanced significantly. App developers will soon be able to suggest search tags for their apps. The new improvement will leverage AI capabilities to consume the app’s metadata and signals, ultimately enhancing its discoverability in the Microsoft Store.

Microsoft 365 Copilot integrated into Edge

In March, Microsoft debuted Microsoft 365 Copilot. A tool designed to help people with generating emails, documents, and more. The tool is powered by OpenAI’s GPT-4 and ships with Copilot for Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Teams, and the Power Platform. And this week, the company announced that it was incorporating third-party plugin support into the tool.

Alongside this new addition, Microsoft will further integrate the tool in Edge. Essentially, this will help incorporate and enhance work-related functionalities in the browser’s Sidebar. As such, users will have access to powerful tools that will come in handy when it comes to answering questions, and completing tasks ultimately enhancing productivity.

And while the tool is still in private preview, Microsoft recently unveiled a paid early access program earlier this month, thus granting more users access to the tool which in turn will help them reshape and transform work.

Microsoft also announced Edge for Business within the Edge browser in preview for managed devices. The new experience is powered by Azure Active Directory (AAD) and is designed to mitigate issues that arise when it comes to hybrid work by separating personal and work browsing.

Bing Search integrated into ChatGPT

During the developer conference, Microsoft also announced its extended partnership with OpenAI and unveiled that the integration of Bing into ChatGPT as the platform’s default search experience.

Microsoft’s CVP at Modern Life and Devices Group, Yusuf Mehdi, indicated that:

ChatGPT will now have a world-class search engine built-in to provide timelier and more up-to-date answers with access from the web. Now, ChatGPT answers can be grounded by search and web data and include citations so you can learn more—all directly from within chat.

Windows becomes more appealing to Developers with AI

It’s very apparent that Microsoft has been busy at work making efforts to provide a suitable environment for developers across its ecosystem, particularly in Windows. During Build 2023, the company further affirmed its commitment to this cause with AI capabilities.

Microsoft announced notable additions coming to Windows 11 for developers like the ONNX runtime for Hybrid AI Loop, and Dev Home. The company further indicated that it is working towards enabling Hybrid AI Loop in Windows 11 via ONNX runtime. As such, it’ll be possible for third-party developers to make use of the same tools leveraged by the company’s high-ranking engineers to run AI models across Windows, iOS, Android, and Linux.

Additionally, the company also announced that it will be incorporating GitHub Copilot X into Windows Terminal. This way, users will be able to leverage natural language AI in inline and chat experiences right from the command line. In turn, it will be easier for developers to code as they’ll now get command suggestions, explanations for errors, and more.

Wrap up

These are some of the key announcements, we only hit the highlights. We invite you to head over to the Build 2023 website for more information and details pertaining to the announcements made. Do let us know which sessions you like best and what features you’re anticipating most in the comments.

The company is now making good on its investment by bringing the new Bing to ChatGPT. “ChatGPT will now have a world-class search engine built-in to provide timelier and more up-to-date answers with access from the web,” Microsoft stated.

Compared to other large language models, ChatGPT is more user-friendly. Additionally, it provides users with “human-like responses” rather than the usual links related to the query made. And with Bing now making its way to ChatGPT, users making queries via the tool will have access to detailed and well-structured responses from the web courtesy of the “world-class search engine.”

According to Microsoft:

Now, ChatGPT answers can be grounded by search and web dataand include citations so you can learn more—all directly from within chat.

This new experience is rolling out to ChatGPT Plus subscribers starting today. Microsoft has further announced that the experience will be available for all users for free soon.

In March, OpenAI debuted its latest iteration of the chatbot, bumping it to ChatGPT-4. It’s “multi-modal” meaning that it accepts both text and image inputs. thus opening up the platform to a world of endless possibilities. We already know that Microsoft has been leveraging OpenAI’s technology as well as the Prometheus Model in the new Bing.

And more recently, the company enhanced the tool’s accessibility by allowing users to leverage its capabilities without a Microsoft Account. However, the company placed a five chat turns per session cap to limit the user’s interaction and engagement with the tool. You’ll therefore be required to sign in to the chatbot with a Microsoft Account to access all its features.

As it happens, Microsoft has shipped yet another significant update to Bing Chat designed to enhance interaction and engagement for users. Microsoft’s CEO of Advertising and Web Services, Mikhail Parakhin took to his Twitter Account to announce that the company was bumping Bing Chat’s character limit from 2,000 to 4,000 characters.

It's one small step for Bing Chat… pic.twitter.com/JpP3BUrW5J

— Mikhail Parakhin (@MParakhin) May 20, 2023

While debuting Bing Chat, Microsoft encountered some setbacks that impacted the tool’s user experience. Some users made reports that the tool was hallucinating and outrightly giving incorrect responses to queries. Microsoft quickly responded by putting measures in place which stunted the tool’s experience, among them limiting Bing Chat’s character limit to 2,000.

This move was received with a mix of emotions. On one hand, some users cited improvements and were generally happy with the entire experience, while on the other hand, technical users with intentions to generate in-depth and long-form content weren’t as impressed. Essentially, this meant that they’d be required to break down their queries into smaller parts.

Some users even devised crude methods to increase Bing Chat’s character limit up to 25,000 characters. And while this new update is a small bump, it’s a step in the right direction. Users will now be able to make longer queries, all with one go.

Microsoft has already started rolling out one of Bing Chat’s most requested features, Chat saving support to users. This is on top of the weekly press release updates.

Are you excited about Bing Chat’s increased character limit? Share your thoughts with us in the comments.

via Neowin

The newly introduced feature allows for seamless copying, downloading, and sharing, with an additional ability to conveniently convert to Word or PDF format. This was confirmed by Jordi Ribas, Microsoft’s CVP, Head of Engineering and Product for Bing.

We recently upgraded Bing Chat with export and share features. We’ve also improved the copy and paste experience. Below is an example of the tool tip which includes copy, download and share with download to PDF in action. Stay tuned for more export options. pic.twitter.com/vEgaDY4dqb

— Jordi Ribas (@JordiRib1) May 17, 2023

The update is expected to be favorable for individuals who do not possess a Microsoft account or prefer to avoid the authentication procedure. However, there is a caveat. The newly introduced unpermitted entry solely permits the exchange of five questions. If the conversation needs to be more extensive, then signing in is necessary.

Also, just a brief reminder before we proceed to the other latest updates, the Bing Chat has entered the open preview phase, which implies that there’s no requirement to register yourself on any waiting lists to test it out. The newly introduced feature will enable you to archive your conversations, aiding in easy retrieval at a later time.

Moreover, The New Bing has recently undergone a revamp to offer a more visually stimulating search experience. The integration of charts, graphs, and improved formatting to enhance user engagement when seeking answers to queries.

Apart from enhancements in the visual aspect, Microsoft has introduced the Chat History feature, too. The functionality has been gradually reaching users over the past few weeks. Furthermore, the tech giant has extended the features of SwiftKey’s AI and introduced the option to pin Bing Chat to the home screen on Android and iOS. Additionally, the Edge mobile apps have undergone a substantial update.

Via Twitter