Update 2: LiveSide who shared that tweet about Microsoft saying Kumo was only a test name is now saying they made an error and the tweet didn’t actually come from Microsoft. So…disregard that. Let’s just say there’s no certainty one way or the other.
Update: Ok, definitely is a strong word. Now LiveSide is pointing out that kumo.com, kumo.it, kumo.co.uk, kumo.se were all registered by Microsoft, which leads one to wonder what the point is if Kumo’s only an internal test name. Microsoft had also applied a trademark on the name. Still, it doesn’t seem like a very good branding tactic to insist that it’s not really the name and that have it end up being the name anyway.
Original article: Last week we saw a screenshot of Microsoft’s upcoming re-branded search engine Kumo. It looked quite similar to the current incarnation of Live Search.
Microsoft has never officially come out and said the name was going to be Kumo, but there it was on the screenshot with a giant dragon. Of course only Microsoft employees were able to access it. Now the company (via Twitter) has come out and said that Kumo is definitely only a testing name.
Microsoft tells us we’re going to like the new features, but it is still unclear just what they are, aside from the small visible changes in the screenshot, and according to one Microsoft employee’s tweet, a search history on the left side.
Microsoft Search Director Stefan Weitz says the update will only come with small tweaks(not including any real-time search features). He says they don’t want to scare anyone off with any big changes.
If I was Microsoft, I’d be more worried about drawing people in than scaring them off, but I’m not going to criticize Kumo (or whatever it’s called) too much until we all get to see it in action. Perhaps socks will be knocked off.
