Thursday, October 6, 2011

How an iPad Browser Could Change the Way You Search

Lots of companies have reasons to want to reduce the role "search" plays in helping people find things, for obvious reasons. They compete with Google in some way, so changing the value of traditional search will weaken Google. But end users might have other needs that open the door. Touch screen interfaces might make possible different ways to find information.

Carlos Bhola, the founder of a startup called Kikin hopes to replace it with a “touch to learn” search — one that opens within the page you’re on. touch to learn

Users of Kikin’s new iPad browser simply touch any word or phrase they want to learn more about. A small box appears with a list of search results pulled from a variety of engines such as Google, Wolfram Alpha and the Amazon database. Tapping on a hotel name in a Kayak listing, for instance, immediately pulls up price listings from other travel sites.

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