In October, Pandia reported that new software for web searching would soon be available from Qintura. The software is now ready in beta and Pandia has tested it.

New search tools always intrigues us here at Pandia. Quintura’s claim is that their software helps a user find the relevant information on the Web easier and faster. In our tests, we did not find Quintura to be especially fast, but it does have a fascinating concept.

How it works
Quintura utilizes natural associative search principles. The idea is that what they call an active semantic net, the technology functions in tune with the human brain.

Quintura provides an interface for conventional web search engines. You can choose to search in Google, Google News, Yahoo!, MSN or Microsoft.com. The search results are displayed on the right hand side of the window. On the left, you find a kind of map, showing the words of your search term and several related terms. By clicking these related terms, you manipulate the context of your search. You can go on adding or excluding words from the map to further refine your query.

If you are in a hurry, Quintura is perhaps not for you. We already mentioned that the search tool is not particularly fast and the process of refining your search by following the associations does take a little time.

Ways to explore the web
But if you are exploring a topic, Quintura might be just what you need. Clicking on the associations and adding or excluding concepts, the map changes. This way you are provided with a visualization of the way your topic relates to other topics and before you know it, you are on a safari of the web guided by the associations provided by Quintura.

There is even an option to reduce accuracy. This may seem like a silly thing to do with your search results, but it is just the thing if you want to extend the area of your surf safari.

As the amount of information of the web just keeps increasing, there will no doubt be need for tools like Quintura.

The final release of Quintura Search 1.0 is expected by the end of 2005 and the launch of online search services in Q2, 2006.