14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft is working to improve Bing’s search capabilities, and since the company is betting big on touch-capable devices, it was only a matter of time until its own Google rival got new enhancements in this regard.
Today, Microsoft has announced that Bing image search is a bit more touch-friendly with the help of new options that enable users to quickly hover over the results, with the image to be then expanded to the full width of the screen.
The searching experience would indeed be made faster and easier with this improvement, and Microsoft says that everyone should get it in the coming weeks.
All desktop browsers and tablets in markets across the world should be able to search the web with the new image search engine in a few weeks, the company says, while Android tablets and Kindle should also receive these improvements very soon after that.
Adjustable to every screen resolution
One of the best things about the new search option is the automatic detection of screen resolution, so the results will look good no matter the resolution of your display.
“With the recently released hovering feature, you can expand any one of the results for a closer look, without leaving the page. Image results will now expand to the full width of your screen, with exploration suggestions placed dynamically according to screen resolution,” Microsoft adds.
“And with people increasingly getting to Bing from a wide array of devices and screen resolutions, the image results now reflect one cohesive, touch-friendly experience across desktops and tablets.”
Everything is optimized for the touch, Microsoft says, which makes Bing’s image search the first search engine in the world which can be used with a tablet.
Also working on iPads
Microsoft claims that both Windows 8 and iPad users would get the exact same experience thanks to the touch-optimized interface of the Bing image search option, with the feature to become available to both of them at the same time.
“The experience is great with touch. On your Windows 8 device or iPad, try swiping through one of the inline carousels or clicking on an image and swiping your way through more. Everything is touch friendly, responsive, fast and fluid – look out for a post next week detailing Bing’s touch and iPad friendly features. These improvements will soon come to Kindle and Android tablets as well,” it states.
Despite all these frequent updates, Bing continues to be the second search engine in the world after Google, with statistics indicating that Microsoft’s service currently has a market share of approximately 17 percent, as compared to Google’s 67 percent.