Bing Video hits UK beta

Microsoft rebrands its video portal
Microsoft rebrands its video portal

Microsoft has unveiled a new-look video site which touts itself as "a sophisticated online video offering".

Bing Video takes over where Microsoft Video left off, with the company looking to cement itself as 'market-leader'.

"MSN has been leader in online video for some time – we first launched video on our site in the mid-1990's and since then have pioneered the delivery of online video to offer hallmark events to our customers – such as the 2008 Summer Olympics and the Live Earth concerts in 2007 – which was the most watched live event at the time," says the MSN blog.

"Now, MSN is more committed to video than ever. With in-line, high-quality video integrated into its new MSN homepage, immersive video integrated through-out the MSN network, and with multiple links to the new Bing Videos experience."

High-quality clips

Although the UK gets a beta version of the service, we are not allowed a lot of the goodies which seem to be available on the US version of the site. This includes premium shows from snapped up from the archives of Hulu.

There are a number of high-quality clips on show, however, with a music videos, viral clips and a whole load of movie trailers for your perusal.

Each Bing Video also has a 'Dim The Lights' feature, which makes clip watching on a computer screen that little bit easier on the eyes.

To see what the Bing Video beta has to offer. Point your browser to www.bing.com/videos.

Marc Chacksfield

Marc Chacksfield is the Editor In Chief, Shortlist.com at DC Thomson. He started out life as a movie writer for numerous (now defunct) magazines and soon found himself online - editing a gaggle of gadget sites, including TechRadar, Digital Camera World and Tom's Guide UK. At Shortlist you'll find him mostly writing about movies and tech, so no change there then.