The apps on this page serve updated news content and various types of search functionality. All of them are powered by Bing.

 

Bing

 

Bing is the Windows 8 app for Microsoft's own search engine. Like the site itself, the Bing app has a background image that changes daily and contains clickable areas that reveal facts about the image.

 

Search results are presented in boxes that scroll horizontally, fitting in with the new Windows 8 UI very nicely.

 

The corresponding live tile scrolls through the Bing backgrounds as well as the top three trending search terms.

 

 

Finance

 

The Finance app displays the day's financial headlines, as well as a user-configurable graph of various indices.

 

Different exchanges and markets can be tracked, including world currency and commodities markets.

 

 

Maps

 

First and foremost, Maps is incredibly fast and fluid. You can pin locations, switch between road and aerial views, add traffic conditions, and, with location services enabled, receive navigation.

 

The small Maps tile is not a live tile.

 

 

News

 

The News app essentially cycles through the latest stories on Bing news. You can sort by the type of story (U.S., World, Finance, Technology, etc.) or by the source publication.

 

The News tile is live. It displays a cover image and headline together as a large tile, and it alternates between the two as a small tile.

 

 

Sports

 

The Sports app keeps up with the latest news, scores, and schedules. You can also manually choose the teams you want to follow.

 

Also a live tile, you see the latest sports headlines, along with a cover image, when the tile is large. Like the news app, it alternates between those two views when it's small.

 

 

Travel

 

The Travel app helps nail down hotel, local attraction, and flight information. It also offers travel guides, videos, and panoramic photos of popular destinations like Las Vegas and Thailand (Ed.: Both of which are particularly interesting if you're planning a bachelor party).

 

The live tile cycles through images of exotic destinations.

 

 

Weather

 

In case you can't be bothered to check outside, the Weather app gives you the current conditions with an image to really drive home how badly you probably need some fresh air anyway.

 

More usefully, it provides a five-day forecast with highs and lows, as well as an hourly forecast.

 

The live tiles display current weather information.