High-tech blog TechCrunch claims to have picked up hints from multiple people "that Apple is working on a search engine of some sort." However, the publication almost immediately discounts the notion, citing little evidence to back up the claim.
"If Apple were building a search engine, theyâd be hiring search experts and engineers," the report states. "Weâve talked to a ton of them at all the big companies, and while some of them heard the same rumors, none have lost search employees to Apple, or heard of any specific hirings."
Therefore, speculation is that the rumor, which is believed to "have a nugget of truth" to it, more likely pertains to plans on the part of the iPhone maker to build "a radically different user experience which is much more visual" than today's search engines.
Presumptions are that the actual data search would still be performed by existing search engines, such as those belonging to Google, with the results presented more appropriately for Apple's growing array of mobile devices.
TechCrunch promises more information as it becomes available.
19 Comments
Or it could be they're finally developing a Spotlight-like global search for the iPhone and Touch? Could be visual. Could include web searching...
Bleh.
Google's search results are awful; too tiny to read and not formatted for the small screen. You have to zoom in and pan around to read the results. However, hasn't anyone used Yahoo! search on their iPhone? It is optimized for the iPhone (mobiles) and looks so much better than Google.
Just go to Settings -> Safari -> Search Engine, then select Yahoo!
Michael
Or you could just use Informant from the App Store. Does the same thing.
Google's search results are awful; too tiny to read and not formatted for the small screen. You have to zoom in and pan around to read the results. However, hasn't anyone used Yahoo! search on their iPhone? It is optimized for the iPhone (mobiles) and looks so much better than Google.
But Apple says it is the real internet on the iPhone, not the cut down mobile version, either you or Apple are wrong, which one is it?