EMERYVILLE, Calif., Dec. 15 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Ask Jeeves(R), Inc.
(Nasdaq: ASKJ), a leading provider of information retrieval brands, today
introduced a beta desktop search application. Fast, relevant, and flexible,
Ask Jeeves Desktop Search(TM) makes it easy for people to find information on
their computers or the Internet. The product is available free for download
this afternoon at http://download.ask.com/desktop.
Ask Jeeves Desktop Search helps people overcome the challenges of
information overload by enabling them to quickly and easily search the
hundreds, even thousands, of files, word-processing documents, presentations,
spreadsheets, photos, music and video files, applications and email messages
on their computers.
"Ask Jeeves Desktop Search extends our world-class technologies and
user-centric approach to search beyond the Web, to the information located on
people's computers," said Jim Lanzone, senior vice president of search
properties at Ask Jeeves. "Ask Jeeves Desktop Search will complement our
recently-introduced MyJeeves(TM) personal search service and is an important
step in our personalization strategy. We look forward to receiving feedback on
the beta release, as we continue to develop the product in line with people's
needs."
Product highlights include:
- Fresh, Full-Text Index: Upon installation of the small (750K)
application, Ask Jeeves Desktop Search creates an index of the information
stored on a person's computer. This process enables users to search by file
name, as well as by file content. The application currently supports a wide
range of file types, including Microsoft Office files (Word, Excel,
PowerPoint), simple text files, Microsoft Outlook email messages, and image,
music, and video files. Ask Jeeves Desktop Search constantly monitors the
computer (with minimal impact on system resources) for new and deleted files
and email messages to ensure the index is always kept up to date.
- Fast, Flexible Search: Like searching the Internet, users simply type
key words into a search box to let Ask Jeeves Desktop Search scour their
computer for matching results. Users can narrow their searches by selecting
categories like Office Documents, Music, Pictures, MyJeeves, News and others,
or they can sort results by a variety of parameters. Controls are also
provided for users to define how much of their computers they want Ask Jeeves
Desktop Search to index, as well as the speed (and thus the amount of
bandwidth devoted) with which they want it indexed.
- User-Centric Design: Ask Jeeves Desktop Search is very simple to learn
and use. The program takes search beyond the paradigm of 10 blue links and
returns results in a two-panel interface where previews are displayed for easy
review. (This is especially useful for browsing photos and email messages.)
Users will also find a search box conveniently added to common Windows file
dialog boxes, such as Insert/File or File/Open, where the process of finding
files is frequently required.
Ask Jeeves expects to add new functionality prior to the formal launch of
the product in 2005. Some of these features include expanded support for
Outlook, integration of desktop results and Web search results, and PDF
support. A Feedback menu is provided directly on the application interface to
make it easy for users to submit comments and requests for new features.
Ask Jeeves Desktop Search works with Windows 2000 or XP, Office 2000 or
higher, and Outlook 2000, XP and 2003. The program requires a minimum of a
Pentium III computer running at 400MHz with 128 MB RAM (1 GHz and 256 MB RAM
recommended).
About Ask Jeeves, Inc.
Ask Jeeves, Inc. provides consumers and advertisers with information
retrieval products across a diverse portfolio of Web sites, portals and
desktop search applications. Ask Jeeves' search and search-based portal brands
include: Ask Jeeves (Ask.com and Ask.co.uk); Ask Jeeves Japan (Ask.jp, a joint
venture); Ask Jeeves for Kids (AJKids.com); Excite (excite.com); iWon
(iwon.com); My Search (mysearch.com); My Way (myway.com); My Web Search
(mywebsearch.com) and Teoma (teoma.com). Ask Jeeves also owns the search
technology Teoma, proprietary natural language processing technology, as well
as portal and ad serving technologies. In addition to powering several of the
Ask Jeeves brands, the Company syndicates its technologies to help companies
increase revenue through powerful search. Ask Jeeves' advertising division,
AJinteractive, provides advertisers with targeted tools to reach a broad base
of valuable customers. Ask Jeeves, Inc. is headquartered in Emeryville,
California, with offices throughout the United States, as well as in London,
England and Dublin, Ireland. For more information, visit http://www.Ask.com or
call 510-985-7400.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements. All statements
regarding the future are forward-looking statements, including those
statements regarding the planned release of Ask Jeeves Desktop Search, the
planned improvements to the desktop search application and its anticipated
benefits. The matters discussed in those statements are subject to risks and
uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from the
results expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. As a result of
these risks and uncertainties, Ask Jeeves' actual results in the future may
differ materially from management's current expectations. Although
management's expectations may change after the date of this release, Ask
Jeeves undertakes no obligation to revise or update the statements above.
NOTE: Ask Jeeves, Ask.com, Ask Jeeves Desktop Search, Teoma, My Way, My
Search, My Web Search, iWon, Excite and MaxOnline are trademarks or registered
trademarks of Ask Jeeves, Inc.
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