Software update: Watson 2.2

Intellext has released version 2.2 of its Google Desktop Search competitor Watson. This program automatically detects what the user is doing and offers search results automatically, without the user having to enter searches manually. The consumer version is free to download, but is ad-supported and offers some unique features, according to the makers. For example, Watson would be able to recognize the context of a document, as we wrote earlier. In addition, Watson is now also able to recognize products and, thanks to an agreement with Amazon and eBay, immediately display potentially interesting offers. This means that a user who is studying pricing information for an iPod will see related ads, including from eBay and Amazon, while someone viewing, say, a technical paper on the Xbox 360’s video capabilities may not be interested at the time. in the purchase of this console and therefore will not be presented with such advertisements. These context-sensitive capabilities use AI technology developed at Northwestern University. The makers also emphasize that no data is stored on the company’s servers, unlike when using Google’s search program.