The intelligent search engine of Firefox OS, a technology to imitate

Thematic search implemented in Firefox OS simplifies navigation on the smartphone and allows more direct access to content.

One of the newest features of Firefox OS is its thematic search engine, aimed at offering the user what they are looking for more directly. This happens by dividing the results into intelligently organized categories, depending on the term in each case. It is a technology that other mobile platforms will very likely soon begin to imitate, due to its usefulness.

The general operation of Firefox OS It is similar to that of other mobile operating systems, such as iOS and Android, but when you slide your finger to the right from the main screen, a completely differentiated and, until now, unique space appears. This left part contains the smart search engine that Mozilla has built for the platform.

In this space, the commitment to HTML5 stands out, since the search engine does not only show applications but it is not a common engine to search the Web. Is based on a thematic or category system that shows the apps most adapted to what has been searched, which includes any Internet website that has implemented specific lines of code so that Firefox OS can access the site.

In such a way that if we search for the title of a song, the search engine will perform several actions. First will recognize that we are referring to a song and not to anything else. From there it will classify the search within the category ‘music’ and it will give us results designed to satisfy our specific interests. In this case, the first services that the search engine will offer us will be YouTube, because it interprets that the most logical thing is to want to listen to the song, or Grooveshark. But we will also see other services such as Metro Lyrics (to review the lyrics) or Ticketmaster (to buy tickets to a concert).

A plus of intelligence for Firefox OS

Firefox OS not only processes a search to return results, but also interprets it to find the most suitable applications for the terms that have been entered. Of course, not all searches within each category are the same. If we look for a classic jazz song from the 30s, the same services will not appear as if we write the title of a song played by one of the groups that performed in the last Benicassim.

In the first case, the search engine will interpret that apart from listening to it we want some context, with which more informative results will appear. In the second example, the deployment will be more focused on buying tickets, including music in digital format. In addition, the platform also takes into account the local aspect when solving queries.

The effect is instantaneous, so once the user begins typing, Firefox OS begins to return results, which are modified as the query completes. It is a new way of organizing information and access to web services, offering a more direct input, since when executing any application it opens with the content searched. Especially in the field of mobile devices, this functionality saves time and shortens navigation, so it is to be expected that it will soon be imitated by other platforms.

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