Quickly Grab In-Page Search Results With Bing For iPad's New Lasso Search Feature
July 5, 2011
Microsoft released the first update to the Bing app for iPad, adding a single major new feature, two minor new features, and tons of small improvements to an app with plenty of very positive reactions already surrounding it.
The big new feature is a search lasso. The lasso makes searching for words or phrases within pages immensely quicker than the typical copy and paste method normally used. Nestled between the export options action button and the refresh button, the "lasso" looks like a dotted line magnifying glass.
While reading a news story within the Bing app and you come across a word, phrase, name, etc that you're interested to find out more about; tap on the lasso button, then use a single finger drag motion to draw an oval around the specific word or words to search -- the same method used for the ellipse tool in many photo editing apps -- then release to begin the search.
Two smaller features brought along with the v1.1 update include the ability to view multiple showtime days and theaters for movies and being able to choose amongst (using a swipe) the current and past five Bing homepage images for the "home" screen background. Finally, as with most updates, the app provides several small fixes and tiny improvements to a handful of areas.
Bing for iPad is compatible with iOS 4.2 or later, and available in the App Store as a free download.
