As Microsoft inches nearer towards the anticipated June rebranding and launch of the latest iteration of its lookup engine, company officials are sharing selective bits and items of what the Redmondians are preparing.In an April 8 Wall Street Journal story about Microsoft;s search-branding problems ,
Office Professional 2007, Yusuf Mehdi,
Microsoft Office Professional 2010, the Senior Vice President of Microsoft’s Via the internet Audience Enterprise Group,
Office 2007 Keygen, talked about “Kiev.” Kiev,
Microsoft Office 2007 Professional, a codename I first heard about by way of LiveSide, seems to be the uber-brand for Microsoft;s upcoming search release. Kumo, the codename for the search-engine component, is one piece of Kiev, Mehdi confirmed along with the Journal.(Other Kiev components, I;ve heard, include the vertical lookup areas where Microsoft has been focusing its attentions — product lookup, celebrity lookup, travel and healthcare. I;m not sure what the codenames are for the next releases of each of those elements….or if each vertical has a separate codename.)From what I;m hearing from various quarters, “Kumo” is looking less and less likely to be the final new name for Live Search. Users,
Office Professional 2010, current and potential, just don;t seem that keen on it. Bing is now sounding like the leading candidate. (But Bing also could end up as the new brand for Microsoft local search/mapping, based on how Microsoft recently applied for the Bing trademark.)Unless Microsoft has yet another lookup name hidden away, I;m now betting Bing is not just a “Plan B” but is likely to be Microsoft;s new search brand.