Visual Search is the perfect solution if you’re trying to find info on an NFL quarterback but can’t remember his name, or if you need a quick refresher of Billboard number ones for the past few decades. And since it’s built using Microsoft Silverlight technology, the search process flows seamlessly and provides a visually entertaining experiment.
After careful inspection, you’ll also notice that one of Bing’s image galleries exists to make it easier for you to search and find iPhone apps. Yes, Microsoft has developed an arguably better interface for finding and exploring applications for their competitor’s device.
Listed towards the bottom of the main page, “Top iPhone apps,” includes 500 iPhone apps that you can sort by popularity, price, release date, or name. You can also filter to view applications in these categories: top 10 free, top 10 paid, newest, most expensive, games, entertainment, and social networking.
There’s even a way to narrow apps by their store category, price range, or publisher, with options for adding and removing multiple criteria to your visual search. You can also use the scrolling bar on the right to visually breeze though thumbnail app images. Mousing over any of the images in the gallery will highlight an individual app’s metadeta, displaying its category, price, rank, and release date immediately under the search box.
We never thought we’d say this, but Microsoft has built one truly impressive way to browse iPhone apps. Though not perfect — iTunes links would be desirable — Apple could certainly stand to learn a few things from the multi-criteria search functions.
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