Google Brings Quick Search Box To Mobile Phones
- by Mark Walsh @markfwal, October 12, 2009
As with the desktop version, the new tool also allows users to search both the Web and their phone. That includes everything from applications, contacts, and browser history to Web content like personalized search suggestions, local business listings, stock quotes, and weather.
It also learns from someone's habits and provides faster access to items you search for and used most frequently by moving them higher on the suggestions list. The Quick Search Box (QSB) also allows voice-based searches activated by tapping the microphone icon next to the box.
The new service is also being extended to third-party apps. "One of the coolest things about QSB is that it's not limited to searching what we think is useful -- third-party apps can also include suggestions in the list, making it faster to access the content you want from those apps, too," stated a post on the Google Mobile blog. "Look on Android Market for apps that support QSB, and enable their suggestions from the system search settings."
The introduction of Quick Search Box for Android 1.6 follows the extension of Google Search Options -- allowing people to dig deeper on searches -- for Android, iPhone and WebOS phones last week. If the new mobile search tool works as billed, it's a natural fit for cell phone users looking for information quickly on the go.
It also offers a closer rival to oneSearch, Yahoo's mobile-tailored search engine geared toward delivering local search results. Based on several user comments posted to the Google Mobile blog, Quick Search Box is getting mixed reviews. "I love this feature. But its terribly slow on my G1, even with 3g or wifi," read one. Other commenters mentioned that the new search offering didn't seem to search Google's calendar app. Eric Schmidt, are you listening?
