Bing search engine arrives on iPad – Blancer.com Tutorials and projects

Machines that go ‘Bing!‘ now include your iPad.

Microsoft’s search tool has surfaced in the iOS App Store, and a first look at Bing for iPad (free) shows it to be a solid and well-designed competitor to Google and the parade of news, weather, and search apps that have appeared for Apple’s tablet in the last year. The app has been available for iPhone and iPod touch for quite a while and is now in version 2.1.

Although there’s probably no truth to the rumor that Bing stands for “Bing is not Google,” the search service has been steadily gaining market share (usually at the expense of Yahoo!) since it first appeared in 2009. The iPad app should help Microsoft’s plans for domination of the search world, and give them a good solid grounding in how to design apps for future Windows-based tablets.

Launching the app displays a changing photo, with small transparent squares on it that appear when you tap on the picture. Each of those squares links to a search result for a fun topic; today’s photo of the John Day Fossil Beds in Oregon had links to a map, a paleontology song by They Might Be Giants, and a gallery of beautiful photos of the area.

Gallery: Bing for iPad