Feature
In this week's Mobile App of the Week our focus is on the iPad version of Izik, a tablet search application.
There are a variety of searches engines that can be used with tablet devices, such as Google and Bing, but these search engines were introduced well before tablets. Spam-free search engine, Blekko has recently introduced Izik as a search tool that is completely optimized for the tablet experience.
Founded in 2007, Blekko has primarily worked with decreasing the amount of spam that can litter search results. When looking at results from an NDP Display Search, the company found thatby the end of 2013 over 80 million people in North America will own a tablet, which means that consumers are no longer relying on more traditional computing means, such as laptops and desktop computers when looking up information.
With this in mind, Blekko set out to create Izik.
The Features of Izik
As a a search engine that has been created specifically fortablet devices, there are a few key features that Izik offers its users.
- Categorized Results: As with Google, Izik's results are categorized by type, but unlike Google the categories are search specific. For example, if "iPad" is searched users will see category titles for Apple and technology as well as more general terms such as top results and images.
- Swiping: Instead of the traditional vertical search display, results are displayed horizontally. When swiping vertically users will see more categories relating to the topic.
- Quickboxes: With this feature users can automatically see what the top results are without having to shift through an abundance of information.
- Sharing: Users can easily share information with their Facebook and Twitter pages by “pinching” the result.
Learning Opportunities
Webinar
Jun
6
The Future of Social Media: Emerging Trends and How to Stay Ahead of the Curve
The impact of emerging technologies like AI on social media
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7
The Building Blocks of Personalization
This webinar will explore how personalization can create powerful ecommerce shopping experience.
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8
Attracting—and Keeping—Your High-Net-Worth Investors
Join PwC to dissect their recent survey findings on a specific customer subset — high-net-worth investors.
Webinar
Jun
13
The Future of Contact Centers with AI at the Helm
Learn how to balance human intuition and interaction with the potential uses of AI to create delightful and lasting CX
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Jun
13
Learn How to Deliver Dynamic Video Experiences at Scale
Learn how to convert existing assets into video experiences in near real-time.
Webinar
Jun
20
3 Steps to Unlock Your Customer Data and Drive Revenue
Discover how Twilio Segment’s #1 Customer Data Platform helps implement data-driven strategies.
Availability
Izik is a free app that’s available for the iPad users who are 17 years and older, if they have an iOS 5.0 or higher.There's also an Android version available in the Google Play storefor users with version 2.3.3 or higher. It has a rating of 3.8.
Final Thoughts
As a tablet user it can sometimes be hard using a touch screen on a platform that was based on key strokes and an external touch pad or mouse. Despite these challenges, Google and other search engines have transitioned into the tablet world without much trouble. Even though Izik is optimized for tablets devices and is easy to use, there isn't much with this initial release that sets it apart from the other search engines.
The search engine parent company, Bekko appears to be relatively unknown in this Google-based world, so even its name isn't even enough to entice long term usage, when compared to products released by Google.
Overall, Izik is worth a try, despite its only extremely unique quality being the idea behind its creation. If you are more comfortable with your current default search engine when using your iPad or android tablet, then maybe stick with that.
