Why aren’t you built in: Search thanks to AllFinder
By Stefan Constantinescu on Wednesday, January 3rd, 2007 at 5:35 PM PST In Ideas and rants
AllFinder is a search engine for your phone. Now I don’t use the built in email application on my E61 since I prefer Google (NSDQ: GOOG)’s Java implementation but this app searches not only email but contacts, calender entries, text messages, and basically any piece of data residing on your device. Why isn’t this built in? Sure Nokia (NYSE: NOK) can implement search at the application level if it wanted too, but this goes a step beyond that and goes through everything. It’s Google Desktop search for your mobile. I want it, built in.
Actually Nokia has developed universal Search application. The unofficial release has been available on the Internet for quite some time. Check Tommi’s blog here, http://blogs.s60.com/tommi/2006/10/nokia_search_unofficially_avai.html
Ah thanks Antony, but I still have to ask the question: Why isn’t it built in?
That’s a good question. I guess this application will be built-in into future S60 devices.
You may know that there is a complicated process before an application can be bundled into Nokia’s devices.
Why does everything have to be built in! (Sure, it is a bit of a drag if a must-have application isn’t freeware.) Isn’t it the freedom of 3rd party/additional software that people can install the applications they want and need? There are quite a lot of pre-installed applications on phones as it is. (Someone at S60.com blogs wrote about the large-ish number of pre-installed applications with a kind of “sheesh” feel, I think. I couldn’t find the post I’m referring to, alas.)
People have too many different needs for pre-installed software; Nokia or someone else can’t cater for all.
The out of box experience should be complete don’t you think?
But is it really made complete by having 101 pre-installed applications that someone on the globe might maybe possibly want? (I’d like a Sudoku and good old 2D Snake, would you?)
Why not provide a little information leaflet on all the great things that are available? If Nokia doesn’t develop something itself, does it hurt if it promotes 3rd party applications? Catalogs is already quite useful for this. Or how about the CD that comes with Nseries at least?
I wish it could search other documents in addition to standard ones but it seems the platform doesn’t allow this.