Have you ever worked all night on a PowerPoint presentation, only to discover that a coworker had already created the same presentation and put it on the company server? A new intelligent search tool could help you avoid those Homeresque "D'oh!" moments.
Version 2.0 of the context-sensitive Windows search tool called "Watson," developed by Chicago-based Intellext, will debut this fall. The application monitors what you are working on—be it in PowerPoint, Microsoft Word, or a Web page—and automatically conducts searches in the background. It scours search engines, documents on your PC, and even the corporate server to uncover relevant information.
"Say you're working on a presentation on global warming," explains Intellext CTO Jay Budzik, "Watson will watch what you're doing and find news items, reports from the EPA, and any related items on your desktop."
Watson differs from personal search tools, such as Google Desktop Search, in that it does not build an index or record your behavior. Watson's algorithm reads only what you are immediately working on when it creates its search-engine queries of 10 to 15 words. In informal tests we conducted, results suggest that users will be happy to pony up the $10 monthly subscription fee. Motorola has installed the first version on 60,000 desktops to tap 5 terabytes of data.
The program works only with popular applications, such as Word and Outlook, but Budzik hopes that a Watson-like tool will eventually solve more complex mysteries. "No matter what you're doing, this kind of software could help you, say, by watching what you're watching on TV and offering relevant services," he says. And you thought TiVo's suggestions were annoying.