Mobile web searching has evolved. Introducing Searchme–the first search engine designed specifically for the iPhone and iPod Touch.
Searchme lets you see web pages without having to click through. This makes searching the web considerably faster. Results are presented in a stack of pages that you can flip through or expand with your finger, so you no longer have to wait for them to load into your browser. Once you find what you’re looking for, just double tap the screen to open the page.
Searchme’s patent pending “category suggest” technology understands your query and suggests appropriate categories as you type, allowing you to get only the results you want.
Searchme works on the Edge network, but a 3G or Wi-Fi connection is recommended for best results.
Access Searchme from your iPhone or iTouch
Streamline your searches with the category suggestions
Ability to see what each site looks like before opening a browser
By Ramya Sridharan, Spouse of Prasanna Ranganathan.
I first heard about Searchme a year ago from my excited then-fiancé, who was starting work there. He would not tell me much apart from some cryptic details here and there, which only served to pique my interest. Ever since the beta launch, I have been a constant visitor to the site, and their innovations to web search continue to amaze me. Almost every feature is spectacular – the visual interface, the category suggest and the latest fascinating feature, stacks.
I have always wanted to meet the people behind this web site, and I got that opportunity at the recent Searchme picnic. Las Palmas park was thoroughly enjoyable - a lovely place with its fountains and playing field. The doggie park was something that I enjoyed a lot! But, most importantly, the people that I met on that day were all wonderful. It didn’t feel like an office gathering at all; it felt more like a bunch of friends catching up and having an entertaining get-together! The recreational soccer matches, the exciting water balloon and dart fights, and the delicious barbeque lunch were all marvelous.
There is always an incredible team behind every innovation in technology, and I for one can attest to the fact that it is true in the case of Searchme.
We really have to thank Kyle Stich at Rogue Writer for his thoughtful four-part Searchme.com Assessment, which concludes today. After reviewing various features and experiences, he comments:
As someone with the right hard/software, I absolutely love searchme.com. The presentation of screenshots, embedded videos, and images in a rolodex style makes for a truly unique searching experience.
Thank you, Kyle. We really appreciate your in-depth look at our site.
Working at Searchme is and always has been a lot of fun. I am not talking about tackling challenging problems on a daily basis, the catered lunches, the weekly massages, or beating your colleagues to the checkered flag on a Mario Kart race. I am talking about the wonderful lot of people you get to meet, mingle with and work with on a daily basis.
Therefore, we were all extremely excited and delighted when the first annual Searchme picnic was announced. Given the fact that we are rapidly growing and have multiple locations – SF and Mountain View – sometimes it does take a while to meet the new additions to the Searchme family. What better occasion to meet everyone than at a picnic with strict guidelines – have as much fun as you can?
And so we gathered at Las Palmas Park in Sunnyvale on a beautiful, bright and sunny Friday morning for our picnic, and have fun we did. There was everything you could ask for and more – wonderful food, a Nerf gun war, a water balloon fight, softball, soccer, etc. - I could go on and on about it. I would also be committing a terrible mistake if I did not mention that the MV team trounced/obliterated/demolished (I am running out of adjectives here) SF in soccer. I considerately am holding back the final score ;).
The best part about the picnic, though, goes back to what I mentioned in the beginning. Getting to meet all the wonderful folks with their family in a relaxed setting was simply priceless. And it is indeed what makes Searchme special – the people.
(Editor’s Note - Prasanna cheats at soccer. I have the bruised shins to prove it.)
Here in the SF office, we’ve all become big fans of the video-on-demand site Hulu.com. The site offers a big range of free movies and TV shows with minimal commercials – everything from old classics like “Some Like It Hot” and “Ghostbusters” to newer films such as “Coffee and Cigarettes” and “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.” Neil Patrick Harris chose the site to unveil his truly hilarious new project, “Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog,” and because the site is owned by NBC, there’s finally a spot on the web to watch clips from “Saturday Night Live.” In the San Francisco summer, there’s not much else to do after work aside from curling up with a warm laptop and Hulu. Here’s a stack of some of my favorite offerings!
Universities, libraries and research centers seem to be among Searchme’s early enthusiastic adopters. Librarians are finding that the site helps academics to quickly find, organize and view information. Thank you to all the students, faculty, researchers and librarians who are using Searchme - we’re glad it’s useful! - and here are a couple mentions from today:
“Be careful! You may become addicted to the very cool new search engine called SearchMe.”
The National Snow and Ice Data Center Information Center & Analog Archives also mentioned us in today’s FrostByte Newsletter–
“Despite the heat, we continue to work diligently here in the library, researching and cataloging donations from Roger and others, making room on the shelves and in the vertical files for them, and in general, doing library work. Since none of this is really newsworthy, we have added the latest search tip [about Searchme] from Mary Ellen Bates for your reading enjoyment.”
In less than a month, Black Rock City opens its gates for another week of community, radical self-expression, and radical self-reliance. Burners are feverishly rushing to produce costumes, build mutant vehicles, polish installation art, hoard bottled water, and dust off camping gear.
“Trying to explain what Burning Man is to someone who has never been to the event is a bit like trying to explain what a particular color looks like to someone who is blind,” says founder Larry Harvey.
Obviously, this statement was made before Searchme was born. Enjoy Burning Man through my stack— you’ll miss out on the sandstorms, extreme desert temperatures, dust-encrusted cuisine, and non-stop thumpa thumpa music, but you’ll get a clear picture of what I think is the ultimate American vacation.
I’m a contractor who works out of LA, and yesterday at approximately 11:42 AM I was prepping for an upcoming Searchme meeting in my favorite cafe when all of a sudden the earth gave a long shake and the ground started rolling. As I’m sure you’ve heard by now, it was a 5.4 earthquake and it lasted, like, an hour and half (OK, 15 seconds).
It was totally scary. I jumped out of my chair and bolted for the door along with everyone else in the place. (Not the smartest thing to do, but better than sitting next to the giant plate-glass window or the steaming espresso maker.)
Anyway, once it was over and my heart rate went down, I went back to my computer and hopped online, along with everyone else in the greater LA area. I went straight to Searchme and sure enough, there was a picture of the USGS web page showing the epicenter of the earthquake - a big angry red box. It was at this moment that I (yet again) appreciated Searchme - seeing the web page itself instantly let me know that this was the site I was looking for, whereas a link would have just given me the name of the site without letting me know if it contained up-to-the-minute information.
I emailed my colleagues in SF to let them know about the quake and my subsequent experience on Searchme, and got a flood of responses asking me if I was OK, if I had water stored away, and if I had considered the fact that this might just be a pre-shock (thanks!) I also got one asking me if I were looking for combat pay.
I’m not, and trust me, this isn’t the kind of product testing I’m eager to do, but, hey, there it is - yet another reason why I really like visual search.
As an original contributor to The San Francisco Examiner and a man with a storied past, Ambrose Bierce had this to say about San Franciscco:
‘Careful now.
We’re dealing here with a myth.
This city is a point upon a map of fog;
Lemuria in a city unknown.
Like us,
It doesn’t quite exist.’
Writers have often equated San Francisco to Shangri-La, denoting it as a mythical place where reality is all in the eye of the beholder. On a day like today - foggy, cool and quiet - Bierce’s words ring even more true.
