Bing Smart Search has been designed for an even better experience on the new Windows 8.1 platform. This is specifically built for touch, allowing users easy searching with just a touch or swipe. Whether you are looking for a website, a document on your computer or an image gallery you saved on the cloud, Bing Smart Search makes searches smarter, faster and easier than ever.

If you’re on Windows 8.1, Bing Smart Search would be a good addition to your platform.

Here are some of the new improvements on Smart Search:

Improved Search Engine

Let’s be honest – not everyone is tech-savvy. Some have issues with their devices, especially if it’s a new device. Sometimes, you just don’t know where to find your device’s settings, the serial number, or how to take a screenshot. With Bing Smart Search, you can find anything you need right from the search engine.

Bing’s improved search engine allows users to search for more than just apps, settings and files. Now, in Windows 8.1, Bing allows you to search globally or limit searches to your files, settings, applications and images or videos on the web.

For example, let’s say you want to install Skype to your PC. After entering ‘skype’ into the search box, the dropdown suggestion box will display sample files, applications and then settings. Beneath these, you will see Bing Smart Search results like ‘skype for desktop’ or ‘skype download’.

Natural Language

Bing has also improved their search capacity by being able to intelligently search for results as based on ‘natural language’. This is different to the method of using keywords. Let’s say you want to know how to install a printer. Instead of using a keyword such as ‘printer’, you can type ‘install a printer’. After entering your search, ‘Device Settings’ will automatically come up in the search results.

Bing Apps for Windows 8.1

Aside from some improvements in the way you search, Bing also unraveled their new apps during the Windows 8.1 Preview. These are the Food & Drink and Health & Fitness apps.

Food & Drink App

Whether you’re a chef or a ‘never-been-in-the-kitchen’ type, Food & Drink is perfect for everyone. The app offers access to numerous recipes from top culinary wonders, best-selling cookbooks and popular food blogs from all over.

Signature recipes from world-renowned chefs like Wolfgang Puck and Tom Colicchio are also available from the app. That, and information on over 1.5 million bottles of wine, this app is your one-stop platform on everything delicious.

The Bing Food & Drink App also includes features such as the hands-free cooking mode which allows you to turn a page with just a hand gesture. There are also shopping guides, kitchen tips, how-to guides and cooking techniques that will help you turn your kitchen into a 5-star dining haven for you and your loved ones.

Health & Fitness App

Bing’s Health & Fitness App features a diet tracker, a health tracker and an exercise tracker. All three trackers help you gather information on your progress (in exercise and dieting) and your health in general. All trackers may be synced with Microsoft’s HealthVault to consolidate your medical records and other third-party tracking tools such as blood glucose monitors, among others.

The diet tracker helps you keep tabs on the food you eat, how many calories you’ve consumed and how many you’re supposed to have each day. The exercise tracker, on the other hand, helps you track the progress you have made with each workout you get into. It tracks the calories you’ve burned, the distance you’ve run (walked or jogged) and the duration you work out each day.

The health tracker features information on your height, weight, cholesterol levels, blood glucose levels and vaccinations. There is a running tally to show you a visual on your overall health.

Bing’s Health & Fitness App also includes Get Fit tutorials and videos, 3D Body Maps, a Symptom checker and Conditions & Treatments for easy access to everything you might need to improve your health and fitness.