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Google Demos Search Capabilities Of Android

That Google would make search one of the centerpieces of its new Android mobile phone platform should cause everyone to say "Duh." It went to great lengths to provide the means to search literally everything right from the phone. It recently showed off Android's searching prowess in some videos.

We all know what Google is best at: Search. According to a recent post on the Office Google Mobile Blog, Google's mission in life is "to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful."

Many mobile phones make information accessible and useful, but those tenets of the Google Mission are built into Android's core. Google says, "Every searchable application includes a Search menu option. Some applications (like Maps) support type-to-search. Just start typing, and Maps will automatically open the Search UI for you! Some applications (like Android Market) have Search buttons, while others have Search widgets (like the home screen). Finally, on the T-Mobile G1, there's even a dedicated Search key on bottom row of the keyboard. Just press it and start typing your query."

After using the G1 for a bit last week, one thing that struck me was that the search bar itself isn't built into the phone's home screen. You have to swipe to a secondary home screen to find the Google search bar. Of course, since the home screen of the G1 is fully customizable, you can move the search bar over to the G1's main home screen.

Google also has made sure that its Google Suggest feature is built into Android. Google Suggest begins to offer search query suggestions as you begin to type. Android also will remember searches that you've already typed in, and suggest them back to you if you begin to type the same word or phrase again.

Google isn't leaving third-party developers out to dry. If they want to incorporate search functions into their own applications, Google has provided an API that allows them to do so.

In other words, Android is going to be all about search. Follow this link to see how it all works.

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