Microsoft tries to take on Google Lens with Bing’s new Visual Search

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Microsoft has set their sights on Google, with the release of a new Visual Search capability within the Bing app. This will give the app similar functionality to Google Lens and Apple’s Enhanced Visual Search, where it can identify objects in photos and give relevant information about them.

Users will be able to take a photo of an object, such as a plant or animal, and Visual Search will try to identify it and offer extra information and links to resources. It can also be used for shopping, where it will identify home furnishings or clothes, and if you upload a picture into the Bing app search box it will show similar products with pricing and purchase details.

CloudApp CEO Tyler Koblasa had this to say about the release:

“As people move more and more towards using visuals and images to ‘speak’ to each other in daily communication (Instagram, iMessage, messaging apps), and photos become almost a replacement for text-based communication or history of events, it becomes increasingly more difficult to find the content you want at the right time, particularly with so many photos being created annually. Photo search is an essential and standard feature any photo or video sharing app needs to adapt to keep up with the pace of content creation.”

Visual Search is built on Bing’s “Intelligent Search” functions which use artificial intelligence to compile data from multiple sources to ensure the accuracy of the search results.

The update to the Bing app containing Visual Search is available now on the app stores for iOS, Android, and Microsoft Launcher. Microsoft is also bringing the functionality to the Edge browser for Android, iOS and the Bing.com homepage.

Microsoft has pledged support for Visual Search and has said they welcome input on the product.

Do you use Bing? Will you use this new feature? Let us know in the comments.

For more tech news, see:

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• Apple finally admits their MacBook keyboards kind of suck

Joe Rice-Jones

Maker, meme-r, and unabashed geek with nearly half a decade of blogging experience at KnowTechie, SlashGear and XDA Developers. If it runs on electricity (or even if it doesn't), Joe probably has one around his office somewhere, with particular focus in gadgetry and handheld gaming. Shoot him an email at joe@knowtechie.com.