The Bing Social Sidebar, after having been updated with fresh features for its web version, has made a jump to the iOS platform, and is now available with support for the iPad. This mobile version is compatible with the Safari browser, and supports all the iPads including the tablet’s new mini cousin. It was only yesterday that we reported about the new changes that have been implemented by Microsoft on the main search engine.
Keeping with the same streamlined design, the iPad version performs identically the same actions. Its main purpose is to grant users the ease of finding people who are related to whatever queries they enter into the search bar. These results are displayed adjacent to the chief search results, and are based on what other people have shared, blogged or tweeted. As for the question of where the Bing Social Sidebar grabs its data from; it does so by going through what users’ friends as well as experts on the topic have shared on leading networks like Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare and Klout.
Folks who’ll be using it on their iPads will need to complete a simple step in order to get it working on their devices. They must visit the search engine, and authenticate with their Facebook profiles. Once that’s done, the process is done and over with, and they will be able to enjoy relevant results shared by their friends as well as from experts and enthusiasts. Microsoft hasn’t revealed whether or not other services like Twitter, Foursquare and Klout will be supported by the feature’s tablet version. Lastly, users will get to experience these traits while holding their iPads in both landscape or portrait patterns.
The new changes that were introduced for the web variant of the service include a redesigned layout of how the results are displayed. Moreover, these options have been left-justified for them to fill up the blank space on the page. A fresh ‘+ see all’ icon has also been granted for those wishing to see additional social results.
The Bing Social Sidebar has already started rolling out for the iPad according to the search engine’s official blog.