As a part of its Rome release, Microsoft"s Live Search team has launched a new Live Search News, a direct competitor to Google News. At this time, Live Search News looks like a simplified version of Google News. The layout and design are aesthetically pleasing and will be familiar to Techmeme readers.
The orange breaking-news bar on the top is a decent feature of the site and only appears when big news is happening. The breaking-news information, unfortunately, appears only to be provided by MSNBC and not automatically generated by trends. Even considering this, it is still a good way to call attention to important stories.
While Microsoft is not providing a specific number of sources that are included in Live Search News, it appears, at this point, to be significantly less than Google News" 4,500. Google News definitely has more customization and alert options than Live Search News. Despite those differences in features, I prefer the design of Live Search News over that of Google News, and simplicity does a lot for readability. In addition, I love the video preview integration, along with the breaking news.