In its latest twist on mobile search, Google is going back to its ABCs. The company has introduced a new innovation that enables people to find contacts, applications, bookmarks and other content by
drawing letters on the screens of their mobile devices. Write the letter "A" with your finger using
Google Gesture and all items starting with that
letter will appear on the screen.
In a blog post Thursday, Google said the new hands-on search technique is intended to provide an option when typing might take too long or when voice search
isn't possible in a quiet environment. Don't worry about neat handwriting. "If the "A" you draw looks a bit like an "H", as seen in the bottom left corner of the screenshot, "H" results will be
brought up as well," says Google. A query can also be erased entirely by crossing it horizontally, from left to right.
Google Gesture is also a quick study, improving search results by learning
from a user's search history. The new search app is available through the Android Market, but only in the U.S. and only for phones running Android 2.0 or higher. --Mark Walsh