If you have used Google in the past few months, you’ve no doubt likely seen your social information integrated into the search engine. Results from Google+ are lined up across the top, offering you a look at searches that are related to your terms, but also your social networks. Now Bing is following in Google’s footsteps by providing linked pages that link directly to you.

As you can see in the screenshot above, LinkedIn, a personal blog, and Quora are all linked into a person’s relevant Facebook account. While these features are pretty neat, I’ve never seen a use for them in Google, which often has much better search results for me. Even still, if social is your thing, maybe this will excite you.

[via Microsoft News]

You can tell Mobile Word Congress is almost here because almost every article has to do with the huge event next week in Barcelona. We’re expecting Nokia to have a big presence at the show, maybe even bigger than the one they had at CES last month. Rumors have suggested Nokia may be unveiling as many as 6 phones at the event.

Reuters has “confirmed” at least two Nokia devices for MWC, the Lumia 610 and a global Lumia 900. The Lumia 610 is expected to be a low-end device possibly running Tango. The global Lumia 900 is exactly what it sounds like, a Lumia 900 that can be used outside the U.S. No pricing or carrier availability was mentioned.

[via Reutuers]

If you’ll be in Barcelona next week for Mobile World Congress and you’re eager to get your hands on the new Windows Phones that are introduced, the fine folks over at WMPU are offering 10 tickets to the Microsoft Party where hands on fun with the phones will be available.

Of course, the tickets are solely for the party, so there’s no point in entering if you won’t already be in Barcelona as it’s not a full trip. Still, if you’re interested, head on over here and check out the contest to see if you’ll win.

Ben Rudolph, otherwise known as Ben the PC Guy, is the face of Windows Phone for a lot of consumers. That’s because it’s his job to show people what Windows Phone can do. His official title is Director of Windows Phone Evangelism. That may sound like some kind of church, but it actually has to do with marketing.

Ben sat down with Microsoft Advertising and talked about things like the new phones announced at CES, and also the Smoked by Windows Phone campaign. Ben says the next wave of focus is going to be on the great hardware coming out, like the Lumia 900 and Titan II. He talked about showcasing the integration with SkyDrive and the seamless transition from phone to PC as well. Ben is a great guy to get the Windows Phone name out there.

[via WMPU]

The Lumia 800 launched about a month ago in Sweden on January 23rd and already it’s chalked up enough support to make it in the top ten list of phones sold in the country. This is good news for the United States, as you saw yesterday the reports of poor adoption here.

The chart is compiled from data of 85 Telia stores around Sweden. We’re hoping to see something similar to this in the United States once the Lumia 800 and 900 launch over here. The Lumia 710 has been available on T-Mobile for some time, but as it’s considered an entry-phone, we didn’t expect it to gain much traction.

[via IDG.se]

Nokia has posted the above teaser video to hype up their announcements for Mobile World Congress. The video includes things such as Pure Depth, Pure Detail and Pure Definition, obvious indications of something with a Pure Camera. The only question is whether this device will be for Symbian or Windows Phone. There have been rumors suggesting both, so we will have to wait and see on this one.

UPDATE: The Windows Phone 7 Lead in Finland Tweets that he is excited for this phone. That could be a very good sign that this device will be running Windows Phone.

[via WMPU]

As the release date for the Windows 8 Consumer Preview approaches (Feb. 29) more leaks of the new Windows Store are popping up. The most notable discovery today is a screenshot that includes a Bing Maps app in the Windows Store. This should come as no surprise to anyone. Bing Maps is an integral part of Windows Phone, so it’s only natural that it would be included in Windows 8. However, it is interesting that it’s in the Windows Store and not a preinstalled application.

We’ll have much more information about the Windows Store and Windows 8 in general after Microsoft’s event at MWC next week.

[via Neowin]

We covered a Sega emulator a while ago by the name Sonic’s Jewels 7, but unfortunately it was removed from the Marketplace due to a copyright claim by Sega themselves. The claim had to do with the unauthorized use of Sonic the Hedgehog in the title and in graphics throughout the app.

Since then the developer has been working on a new version that should avoid any copyright claims. The rebranded app is called Blue Tomato, and is free of any Sega copyrights. The developer posted some screenshots of the app that is currently going through the certification process. The good news is that people who bought the old app will not be recharged for Blue Tomato. We’ll keep you posted on when this app shows up in the Marketplace.

[Facebook via WPCentral]

As always, rumors should be taken with a grain of salt, but we’ll be watching the conference closely to keep you up to date on the Windows Phone ecosystem.

Yesterday we told you about the changes Microsoft is looking to make to its SkyDrive service, but those changes would encompass the whole service. Today, Microsoft has provided a few more details on how the cloud service will work on Windows 8.

According to Microsoft, the next version of SkyDrive will integrate with LiveMesh to allow file storing and web service into one app, similar to Dropbox. The service will see SkyDrive integrated into the Explorer desktop, with the ability to fetch remote files directly from SkyDrive.com.

The desktop app will allow synchronization of files up to 2GB in size and will have an easy drag and drop interface. It’s obvious Microsoft is taking cues from competitors such as DropBox, which allows for a minor degree of Explorer integration right now through the use of Libraries on Windows 8.

We’re looking forward to seeing SkyDrive in action and only time will tell if it will lure people away from Dropbox, which has gained widespread use for its easy syncing of files across desktop and mobile environments alike.

[via BGR]