Fujitsu has released Xurch, a search-engine plug-in that utilizes the Yahoo Search BOSS open search platform, and allows users to rapidly refine their Web searches. The plug-in can be utilized with news sites such as CNN.com in addition to Google and Microsoft Bing.Fujitsu has released a free application plug-in, named Xurch, designed to help users
rapidly refine their Web searches. The program leverages both proprietary
algorithms developed at Fujitsu Labs of America and the Yahoo Search BOSS (Build
Your Own Search Service) open search platform.
With the plug-in installed, typing a term into a Websites
search bar will generate a window of suggested words for users to refine their
searches. In addition to search-engine sites such as Google, the plug-in can
also be utilized with news and shopping sites such as CNN.com.
Once the user clicks on a term in the plug-ins
suggested-terms window, the search is run again, and then another window is
generated with new suggestions for further search refinement.
For example, if the user searches on Google or Bing for "planting
bulbs," Xurch will offer a list of suggestions ranging from "blooms"
to "containers" and "how to." If the user follows those suggestions and
clicks
on "containers," more granular suggestions could include "clay pots,"
"plastic
planters" and the like.
Xurch supports Internet Explorer 6, 7 and 8, as well as
Firefox running on Windows, Mac OS X and Linux. The list of sites currently
supported by the plug-in can be found here.
Yahoo
BOSS allows developers to utilize an open-search Web services platform to design
their own search products. Over the course of 2009, Yahoo has integrated new
features into the application, including new sorting functionality, integration
with Delicious content, and the ability to filter specific language results.
Yahoo has been making its services more transparent to
developers, including opening access to the structured data pulled by Yahoo
SearchMonkey from Websites via Yahoo Web Crawler.
Like Yahoo, Fujitsu has been prepping for a high-profile
summer, with
plans to roll out a $449 mini-notebook, or "netbook," aimed at the education
market. Netbooks represent one bright spot of growth in a global PC market
otherwise devastated by the recession, and other companies including
Hewlett-Packard, Dell, Asus, Acer, Toshiba and Lenovo have also been crowding
into the space.