Webaroo is a free software service that lets you select and save web content you’d like to search and browse unplugged. You can search web pages and view web sites anytime, anywhere, without an Internet connection, on your handhelds and laptop computers.

This is done by scouring the web and creating thematic “Web Packs”. When you have downloaded the web packs you can search the content anywhere, without a connection. Next time you are online, you can sync your device to get updated content.

Two processes make this possible. Step one is selecting themes for the web packs. Step two is selecting just the right web content within these themes. A huge number of web pages are gathered and analyzed. Then a subset of pages is selected that maximize content density.

Content value is determined based on the diversity and quality of the pages. The more diverse the set of pages, the more queries they are likely to be able to answer. And high quality web pages contain meaningful information for users. It is not clear form their web site how Webaroo determines diversity and quality.

These thematic subsets of the Internet, optimized for diversity and quality, are what make up the web packs. Even though Webaroo is still in beta, there are hundreds of packs to choose from. We especially like the one containing the entire Wikipedia. There are packs for all kinds of sports teams and celebrities or you might want to catch up on some Middle East news.

Webaroo only works on Windows XP SP1+ or Windows 2000 SP4 computers and Windows Pocket PC 2003 SE or Windows Mobile 5.0 for Pocket PC. The software and service is free, but the content packs are sponsored by advertisers.