Microsoft Edge is getting built-in price comparison and Meet Now integration

Microsoft has just announced some important updates for its Edge browser with useful new features for the upcoming holiday season. First of all, the new Chromium-based browser a getting a built-in price comparison feature this month that will integrate with the existing Edge Collections.

To try it, you’ll need to add products to a Collection and then click “compare price to other retailers.” The browser will then display a list of prices for your items across online retailers with direct links to store listings. “This is just the beginning of the shopping journey. Microsoft Edge will continue to bring you features that help you save time and keep more money in wallet like more proactive price comparison and coupons,” wrote Liat Ben-Zur, CVP of Modern Life and Devices at Microsoft.

The integration between Edge Collections and Pinterest that Microsoft announced earlier this year will also reach general availability this month. For Edge users who add regularly add items to their Collections, this integration will suggest related Pins at the bottom of the Collections pane, which can easily be added to a Collection. When enabled, the integration will also make it possible to export an Edge collection to a Pinterest board.

In addition to these shopping-related features, Microsoft Edge is getting a bit more customisable this month with the ability to upload any picture to use as a background image in the new tab page. To customize the new Edge tab page, you’ll need to click the wheel in the top right corner and then click on custom page layout to see the upload button.

To help users stay connected with family and friends during the holiday season, Microsoft has also started rolling out a new Meet Now button on the new tab page that will help users quickly launch a Skype video call. “This experience will start to roll out to Edge this month, and will be available in Outlook on the web and on the Windows 10 taskbar in the coming weeks,” Ben Zur said today. Windows Insiders in the Dev Channel can now see this Meet Now button in the taskbar.

Starting today, the built-in PDF viewer in Microsoft Edge will also let users quickly navigate PDFs using the table of contents. This has been a top-requested feature from users, and it should be really helpful for navigating really long documents using the web browser.

The Web capture feature that is currently in testing with Edge Insiders will also help users to quickly capture online content without the need for a separate app. “We’ll add in an inking toolbar and the ability to capture full webpages with a single click in the upcoming releases,” Ben-Zur said today.

If you’d like a handy solution for chatting with your friends while watching a movie online together, a new Teleparty (formerly Netflix Party) browser extension can now do that with support for Hulu, Amazon Prime, HBO GO, Disney+, Netflix and more. You can install Teleparty from the Microsoft Edge add-ons site.

Last but not least, the company announced some Bing updates for the holiday season. In the US, Bing Rebates will display cashback offers right in the search results, and the company is also curating a list of deals on its Rebates offers page.

To take advantage of Bing Rebates on your purchases, you’ll need to join the Microsoft Rewards with your Microsoft account. Give with Bing, an extension of Microsoft Rewards that lets users donate points to causes they care about is also being expanded this month to support include over 1.4 million organizations across the globe.