GuruNet for Windows - Jun/Jul '04

GuruNet for Windows

I bet my computer habits resemble yours in at least one way. My desktop usually has a window displaying a Microsoft Word document. Often there are five more browser windows, each representing an Internet search, and I must rearrange windows so appropriate search results are next to the correct section of the document. Word processors are in a sense disconnected from the outside world of the Internet.

GuruNet for Windows is a partial but practical solution, offering a one-click way to initiate an Internet search within an application. GuruNet doesn’t solve the issue of Internet data in a separate window, but it saves you from copying and pasting words from your document into a search engine. Unlike Google, GuruNet makes intelligent assumptions on the type of information you want and displays relevant data in sensible formats.

GuruNet is a browser-like application, but unlike a traditional browser, it can be triggered from any word or phrase in any application. For example, while reviewing a document, I clicked on “Comcast.” GuruNet, realizing I selected a corporation in the cable industry, presented a multi-tabbed screen, organized into corporate topics. I could view an abstract of the company’s business statement, contact information, stock prices and news. If my questions still were unanswered, a click on the last tab would bring Google results.

Similar mind reading occurs when searching legal terms, acronyms and foreign phrases. In these cases, GuruNet intuits you are interested in a definition and contextual information. Perusing a Federal Communications Commission decision, I came across the term “ex parte.” A click brought up the definition and a Latin derivation. A speaker icon let me hear the word, and clicking on another tab gave me its legal connotation. Standard Internet searches would take longer to achieve similar detail.

GuruNet relies on more than raw Web information to pull this off. With licensed content from Houghton-Mifflin, and other sources, GuruNet is well rounded. There is a legal dictionary and descriptions of important cases and laws. I asked whether the company will license more legal content, and I was told it’s part of GuruNet’s strategy to gear the product toward vertical markets, such as law.

GuruNet Corp.
(845) 818-3988

www.gurunet.com

Price: $29.99 per year

Windows 98/ME/NT 4.0/2000/XP

Reviewed by Andy Green a telecommunications consultant and technology writer/
researcher based in Glen Ridge, N.J.

Jun/Jul '04 Issue

PROS
Search results are relevant and sensibly displayed. Searches are launched within an application.

CONS
Legal bookshelves in its library need to be stocked.

VERDICT
GuruNet’s focused content will save users from wasting time on unrewarding Google searches.