Microsoft launches Bing Pulse to power CNN’s 2014 Elections coverage

Fahad Al-Riyami

Microsoft launches Bing Pulse to power CNN's 2014 Elections coverage

Live in the US? It’s election season! And what would Bing be if it wasn’t there to help you make informed decisions about who to vote for. Following the launch of Bing Elections last week that is designed to aggregate the latest news on political perspectives, and offer you predictions on who could be the next state governor, Microsoft’s prediction engine now offers an interactive TV companion experience for people to voice their opinions with the new Bing Pulse.

In collaboration with CNN, the service will be included in the news network’s coverage of this year’s elections till the conclusion of the 2016 Presidential elections. According to a recent post from the Bing Blog:

“Bing Pulse will give viewers the ability to give real-time feedback on political events happening ahead of Election Day. People can join the conversation by “voting” every five seconds on their reactions to what is happening onscreen.”

Additionally, the CNN Magic Wall used by the news agency’s Chief National Correspondent John King has received a significant update thanks to the Microsoft partnership. Upgrades include a redesigned look, dynamic graphics, and new features that dig into a pool of expanded data resources.

Microsoft launches Bing Pulse to power CNN's 2014 Elections coverage

It doesn’t end there, along with the Internet Explorer team, a new companion website called ‘My CNN Magic Wall’ is available now at CNNmagicwall.com. The website is built using the latest HTML5 and WebGL standards as part of IE’s Rethink campaign, which was established to showcase the best that the web has to offer. The end result is a fast, fluid, and plug-in free experience. It also happens to be rather elegantly designed with good touch functionality giving you the ability to flow through the aforementioned pool of expanded data resources to your heart’s content.

Microsoft has gone a step further by handing CNN some of those gorgeous – yet elusive – Perceptive Pixel displays to be used on-air, so even if you’re not into politics, it would be interesting to see how these devices work and whether or not they actually add to the experience. It’s great to see Microsoft devices and services getting coverage like this, and we wouldn’t be surprised if CNN ends up purchasing Surface’s in bulk if they’re satisfied with what Microsoft has to offer. Tune-in to CNN’s coverage of the Florida gubernatorial debate at 7pm EST tonight to see Bing Pulse in action.