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Microsoft tries to get school kids hooked on Bing with free Surface RTs

Published Aug 21st, 2013 6:45PM EDT
Microsoft Surface RT School Giveaway

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Microsoft has come up with a clever way to get rid of some of the millions of excess Surface RTs it has in its warehouses: It’s giving them away to schools who agree to use a safe, ad-free version of Bing as their primary search engine. As AllThingsD notes, Microsoft is telling schools that sign up for the program that they’ll have to “use a special edition of Bing that’s free of advertising and outfitted with enhanced privacy protection measures and adult-content filters” before they get free tablets. The one-two punch of pushing Bing and the Surface in schools is part of Microsoft’s broader initiative to nudge Google aside as the top search engine for educational institutions.

Brad Reed
Brad Reed Staff Writer

Brad Reed has written about technology for over eight years at BGR.com and Network World. Prior to that, he wrote freelance stories for political publications such as AlterNet and the American Prospect. He has a Master's Degree in Business and Economics Journalism from Boston University.