Blinkx (www.blinkx.com) announced on April 4 the newest version of its PC search software, which combines search results from a user's hard drive and from the Internet in a single results list. Blinkx 3.0, which recognizes more than 200 file formats, and which can be downloaded for free at www.blinkx.com, also features improved security, a document-preview function and the ability to index new files, such as Lotus Notes e-mail messages and attachments. The improved security comes in the form of support for Windows security profiles. The Blinkx tool will now recognize if more than one person uses a PC and index their documents separately, restricting access to the appropriate user.
DocSoft (www.docsoft.com), a provider of XML software solutions, announced on April 1 that it is seeking qualified beta participants for its XML search engine, called X3.NET. The software being developed using Microsoft's .NET Framework, will be optimized for Windows Server 2003. It will also provide the capability to index formats such as HTML, Microsoft Office documents, CGM and PDF, while still providing context searching of XML-based documents. DocSoft plans to start public beta testing of X3.NET on May 15.
The search engine giant Google Inc. (www.google.com) announced on April 1 that a year after unveiling its free e-mail service with a full gigabyte of storage, it is doubling the capacity of each account so that Gmail (www.gmail.com) users will be able to store up to 2 gigabytes of e-mail and attachments for each account.
The search engine LookSmart (www.looksmart.com) announced on March 29 the launch of five vertical search engines designed to provide search outlets for niche audiences ranging from teens to parents. The five new search engines include three homework-related sites, including Teenja.com (www.teenja.com), Gradewinner.com (www.gradewinner.com) and 24hourscholar.com (www.24hourscholar.com). In addition, LookSmart has developed two search engines aimed at parents: Parentsurf.com (www.parentsurf.com) and Gobelle.com (www.gobelle.com).
The New York-based GuruNet Corp. (www.gurunet.com) announced on March 29 that it has launched in beta a mobile version of its Answers.com search engine (www.answers.com). The new search engine is available through cellular phones and other mobile devices with Internet access by going to an Answers.com site tailored for small-screen gadgets.
The search engine giant Google Inc. (www.google.com) announced on March 29 that it has agreed to acquire Urchin Software Corp. (www.urchin.com), a Web analytics company, for an undisclosed sum. The deal is expected to be completed before the end of April.
Elixir Systems (www.elixirsystems.com), a Scottsdale, Arizona-based search engine marketing and optimization company, announced on March 28 an agreement with Maintenance Made Simple (www.m2simple.com), a provider of home repair franchises, to provide search engine marketing services to increase their search engine rankings. Maintenance Made Simple is a resource for homeowners who are looking for competent contractors to do a specific home repair or remodeling job. The aim is to make the task of finding a qualified tradesman simple.
The search engine giant Google (www.google.com) announced on March 28 that three Indians, including one based in Singapore, are among the top five winners in the first contest organized by Google in India. Ardian K Poernomo of Singapore and Pascal Alfadian of Indonesia won the first two places at the Google Code Jam contest, while the Indians, Rajsekar Manokaran, Nishant Redkar and Sreeram Ramachandran, won the third, the fourth and the fifth places respectively. The first two winners received Rs 300 000 ($6900) and Rs 200 000 ($4500), while the Indian winners received Rs 125 000, Rs 75 000 and Rs 50 000.
The search engine giant Yahoo Inc. (www.yahoo.com) announced on March 25 the launch of its new Creative Commons Search Beta (http://search.yahoo.com/cc) where users can find content they can "use for commercial purposes" or content that they can "modify, adapt, or build upon". According to Yahoo, this search will help people find content on the Web – text, books, educational material, etc. – that is free to share or build upon, as well as content that users can use to build a website with. If a user is searching for a specific artist or subject, the results will be limited to relevant information on the appropriate license as well as specific usage rights and conditions. The resulting information can then be used, mixed, or repurposed by students, musicians, writers, educators and other content creators to ultimately create new content.
The search engine giant Yahoo Inc. (www.yahoo.com) announced on March 23 that it is quadrupling the amount of storage provided with its free e-mail accounts and upgrading its desktop search software. Yahoo will provide 1 GB of storage for each free e-mail account. The current limit is 250 MB. The expanded storage will be available in mid-April.
