Microsoft to launch 'Kumo' search

Microsoft is expected to unveil Kumo, the company's new search engine and successor to Live Search, at a conference on Thursday.

Speculation about Kumo has been mounting over the past few months, however Microsoft has closely guarded details about its new search project.

Although it is expected to be made available publicly today, Microsoft has not revealed whether it will keep the Kumo name or go with one of the reported alternatives, such as Bing.

Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer is due at All Things Digital, a tech conference in California, where he is expected to unveil Kumo.

Kumo's imminent launch quickly follows that of Wolfram Alpha, a new "knowledge engine" capable of computing search queries.

Wolfram Alpha: A First Look

Google, by far the most dominant search engine in the UK and the US, has also unveiled new innovations in search.

Microsoft captured less than one per cent of searches in the UK in May according to web-analytics firm Hitwise. In comparison Google was used for more than 90 per cent of searches for the same time.

Web User will bring you the latest information on Kumo as soon as it is released.