Microsoft has launched a new MSN app for the iPad. The company says it features the same content as found on its redesigned MSN UK site (unveiled in November).

It’s split up into six main channels: News, Sports, Entertainment, Lifestyle, Cars and Video. As far as search, it comes with Bing obviously. Given the popularity of the iPad and iPad apps, this could be a new opportunity for Bing to grab a bit more market share.

“Just like its desktop counterpart, the MSN iPad app uses Bing to search the web,” says Microsoft’s Leena Shah. “The Bing search box can be found at the top of your screen. To perform a search just tap into the Bing search box located at the top of the app. Don’t worry about having to exit the app, Bing will perform a web search without leaving the app – just hit ‘search’ on the keyboard to begin. When you’re done, tap the blue ‘Done’ button to close the search window.”

As others have pointed out, the design of the app bears a striking resemblance to the popular Pulse news reader app.

The app is currently available to download (for free) from Apple’s iPad App Store and iTunes.