Every smartphone can search the Web to find information. Most smartphone platforms have a myriad of applications that help you do targeted searches for specific things. Unified Search on BlackBerry 6 takes search to a new level by allowing you to search both the Web and your BlackBerry at the same time.
Why Unified Search Is Important
If you are searching for a restaurant or movie time, you can use Poynt. If you are searching for a location, you can use any of a number of mapping applications. If you're searching for a video, you can use the YouTube application. But what if you need to search for one thing in multiple places? You could launch several applications and enter your search criteria over and over again.
Luckily, however, you don't have to. RIM's introduction of Unified Search in BlackBerry 6 changes the way you search your device and opens up a whole new world of search results.
When you click on the magnifying glass icon in the upper right corner of the BlackBerry's main screen, you are greeted by a simple search box. Once you enter your criteria and hit enter, Unified Search displays results within your personal data on your BlackBerry and from all of the applications that are integrated with Unified Search on your BlackBerry.
For example, if you search for a contact with whom you communicate frequently, in addition to their contact information, you may find email messages, Facebook messages, calendar items, and links to search for them on Google, YouTube, and Poynt.
Saving Time and Building Super Apps
Doing one search and finding everything you were looking for obviously saves time, but it also leads to more useful applications. RIM has been emphasizing the development of Super Apps in recent news. A Super App should be highly integrated with not only the operating system, but it should also be integrated with other applications. By making application information searchable through Unified Search, developers bring their apps one step closer to being Super Apps.