Blinkx Update Merges Search Results

Startup Blinkx on Monday updated its desktop search client by combining search results into one view and adding new security features.

The San Francisco-based company released Blinkx 3.0, an update that revamps the way the client displays results for keyword searches. The software integrates results from a users hard drive with results from the Web, online news sites and video programs.

While the latest release focuses on improvements to keyword searches, Blinkx Inc. is best-known for its approach to contextual search. The Blinkx software also includes mini toolbars that appear atop applications and display search results based on the context of what a user is viewing or doing at any given time.

On Friday, Blinkx also announced that it had signed a content deal with Reuters Group Plc. to expand the amount of video content available from Blinkx TV. Blinkx TV, released in beta late last year, is Blinkxs video search service. Reuters is providing Blinkx with access to its television content in order to make it searchable.

/zimages/3/28571.gifClick hereto read more about Googles plan to accept submissions to its video search engine.

To tackle desktop-search security, Blinkx 3.0 provides support for Windows security profiles. The support means that multiple users of the same computer can use Blinkx without being able to access other users content.

With the release, Blinkx also has increased the number of file formats it can index to about 200. Most notably, it has added support for Lotus Notes e-mail and files, Blinkx announced.

Blinkx 3.0 currently is available for Windows. The company is waiting for the next release of the Mac operating system, code-named “Tiger,” to develop an update of Blinkx for Mac, said Suranga Chandratillake, co-founder and chief technology officer at Blinkx.

In other search news:

• Yahoo Inc. has expanded its push into travel search. On Monday, it announced a beta release of a hotel search service on FareChase, the travel search engine it bought last year.

Yahoo, of Sunnyvale, Calif., already had revamped the way flights could be searched on FareChase. The hotel beta lets consumers search across hotel chains and online travel agencies for available hotel rooms.

• Oodle Inc. last week launched its vertical search engine for online classifieds. To provide results, the service aggregates classified listings from newspaper sites, Craigslist, eBay and national sites such as Monster.com and Cars.com.

A beta version of the service is available for the Chicago, Dallas and Philadelphia markets. San Francisco-based Oodle said it plans to roll out about a dozen local versions throughout this year.

• Blingo Inc. last week officially unveiled its search site, which attracts visitors by giving away prizes. The San Francisco-based company previously ran a five-month beta of Blingo, during which it said it gave away about 2,000 prizes.

Blingo randomly awards prizes ranging from iPods to movie tickets to visitors as they conduct searches.

With the full launch, Blingo announced that Google Inc. is powering its Web search results. The company also added a feature that lets users invite friends to the service and share in any prize winnings.

/zimages/3/28571.gifCheck out eWEEK.coms for the latest news, views and analysis on enterprise search technology.