##Partnerships## With $$MIMV$$ In particular,
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In particular, Microsoft has just invested in Klout; a social media reputation start-up that has created a buzz with its service that works with several social networks. Microsoft has also started to integrate Klout data into Bing search results. The size of Microsoft's investment was not disclosed, but Klout CEO Joe Fernandez revealed in a blog post that "Microsoft has made a strategic investment in Klout and that we have signed a multi-year agreement where Bing will become one of Klout's most significant partners." Microsoft's investment in Klout will allow Microsoft to leverage its strategic investment partnership with Facebook .
Klout works by allowing users on social networks to rate each other and based on these ratings assigns users a score for their social media influence. If users have a Facebook (FB) account Bing will now include these Klout scores in the social sidebar that it displays. This investment and partnership with Klout in the social search niche, underscores Microsoft's commitment to enhancing Bing and Microsoft's overall search and recommendation capabilities.
Last month Mimvi (MIMV.OB), a leading mobile app search and recommendation provider, announced a partnership and investment deal with Microsoft which is designed to enhance overall search and recommendation on Microsoft's Windows Azure and Windows Mobile 8 platforms. Mimvi has announced the launch of Mimvi ECHO™, the first in a series of mobile app products and services designed to help all mobile search engines, mobile app developers and app stores monetize with greater efficiency. Mimvi ECHO™ combines the Company's proprietary search and recommendation technology with a pre-built social community comprising tens of millions of active mobile users. At its core is a set of proprietary search and relevance algorithms and technology enabling social reach. Based on its newly formed partnership with Microsoft, Mimvi will be working closely with the Microsoft Azure team to advance Mimvi ECHO™ algorithms and apps initially with deployments across Windows Azure, Microsoft's Cloud Platform.
Microsoft also recently announced that its Windows Azure Mobile Services platform would enable developers to add a cloud backend to its Windows 8 application, with support for mobile platforms including Windows Phone, iOS and Android to follow shortly. In addition to Mimvi ECHO™, Mimvi is likely to develop search tools for mobile apps and data stored on the cloud using Microsoft's Windows Azure Cloud Services platform.
It appears that Mimvi will also work closely with Microsoft's Bing team to combine mobile app search with general web search, enabling users to go to a single location to find both mobile and general web search results. This will be a huge bonus for Microsoft's Windows 8, which promises to make it easy for developers to build mobile apps that run on the desktop as well as on mobile devices.