Petal Search
| Developer(s) | Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. |
|---|---|
| Initial release | 2020 |
| Stable release | 10.1.6.305
/ 15 November 2020 |
| Platform | Android |
| Included with | Huawei Phones and Tablets |
| Size | 21 MB (ver. 10.1.6.305) |
| Available in | Multilingual |
| Type | Search engine |
| Website | https://consumer.huawei.com/en/mobileservices/search/ |
Petal Search is a search engine, developed by Huawei in the second half of 2020, it is available on Huawei and other Android mobile devices.
In addition to general search function, users can search for hotels, flights, events, products, restaurants, car and house rentals.[1] It has visual search, voice search, and app search features.
History
In 2019, multinational technology company, Huawei, was affected by the sanctions enforced during ongoing international trade ban. Huawei’s new and upcoming Android smart phones were denied access to Google mobile services. Huawei, to circumvent these restrictions, decided upon expanding the scope of Petal Search, an independent search engine which had been in use for finding mobile applications[2]
Origin of the name Petal
Inspired by Huawei’s logo, the search engine was named Petal as in flower petals.
Functionality
Huawei’s AI Technology
Petal Search uses AI technologies being currently developed by Huawei. Searching by photos taken through mobile phone’s camera, object identification, voice search and similar features are presented to users.[3]
The AI functionality is designed to aid users looking for the information they need.[4] AI search helps users to search through local content in their phone, as well as the the internet at large.
Third-party App Stores
Petal Search is a mobile search engine and also provides users who are searching for mobile phone applications with results from AppGallery (the Huawei official app store) and other third-party app stores. In cases where the user searches for an app, Petal Search includes results from trusted app stores.[5] This feature is integrated with the AppGallery. Third-party software sources include: Aptoide, APKMonk, APKPure, APKCenter ve UpToDown.
Search Channels
Visual Search
Petal Search supports photo search, reverse image search, and text search. Visual search function relies on Huawei’s visual search technology, HiTouch.[6] It can search for and detect multiple objects in an image at the same time. For instance, when the user takes a photo of a sofa with a blanket and a cushion on it, Petal Search can identify all three items at the same time, and deliver search results in a single list.
Voice Search
Petal Search supports voice search feature for English, Spanish, French, Arabic, Turkish and other languages.[7]
Once the user gives a voice command, the AI analyzes the sound to determine what user is looking for. It gets the relevant data from Cloud, and displays the search results.
Natural Language Processing (NLP) is one of the technologies used during the process, and this helps computers to interpret and understand human language.
News Search
Petal Search crawls and lists results from news outlets.
Video Search
Petal Search provides users specifically with video URLs if so chosen by the user. If a general query returns video results it will also be included in search results page.
App Search
Petal Search offers mobile application search functionality.
Shopping Search
Users can search for consumer products on Petal Search. Visual search function supports shopping channel. Users can search for products by taking pictures of objects they intend to purchase.
Travel Search
Flight reservation function is active on Petal Search. Petal Search provides location -and scenario- based localization services specialized for over 20 vertical industries. Users can book hotels or search for the flight information. Nearby restaurants, local tourist spots, local events can be searched via Petal Search.[8]
Design
Petal Search’s logo design is based on the shape of a magnifying glass. The application is currently being developed for mobile devices exclusively, therefore its design is rooted in “mobile-first” approach. It offers “Dark Mode” option.
Mobile First Search Engine
Huawei’s Petal Search is a full-featured search engine.[9]Being developed for mobile devices exclusively, its design and user experience features are optimized for mobile phone users’ needs and use cases.
SERP Mechanism
Petal Search employs a SERP mechanism which allows mobile users to find their desired information. The more relevant results are positioned higher in the hierarchy of SERP. For example, if the user query is an object and Petal Search interprets the intent of the user as “shopping” the shopping channels are prioritized. Depending on the AI interpretation of the user’s inclination with the search, Petal Search may also interpret it as an informational query and feature relevant results accordingly.
Reception
Petal Search is active in different markets of the world, currently focusing its operations in European countries. Namely, Spain, France, Italy, Germany and Turkey. As of November 2020 Petal Search supports 50+ languages and available in 170+ countries and regions around the world.
References
- ↑ Doffman, Zak. "Huawei Launches Search In New Strike At Google And Android". Forbes. Retrieved 2020-12-16.
- ↑ Doffman, Zak. "Huawei Suddenly Gives Millions Of Users This Surprise Google Alternative". Forbes. Retrieved 2020-11-27.
- ↑ "Huawei launches Petal Maps and transforms Petal Search into a Google Lens alternative". xda-developers. 2020-10-22. Retrieved 2020-11-27.
- ↑ "What makes Huawei's Petal Search unique? » Stuff". Stuff. Retrieved 2020-11-27.
- ↑ Friedman, Alan. "Huawei's breakthrough Petal Search app helps users install content banned by the U.S." Phone Arena. Retrieved 2020-11-27.
- ↑ www.digitaltrends.com https://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/huawei-petal-search-google-search-competitor-news/. Retrieved 2020-11-27.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ↑ "Huawei Grows Its Mobile Services Apps with Petal Search, Petal Maps, and Huawei Docs | News | Smartphones". Neofiliac. Retrieved 2020-11-27.
- ↑ Doffman, Zak. "Huawei Suddenly Gives Millions Of Users This Surprise Google Alternative". Forbes. Retrieved 2020-12-16.
- ↑ Hypertext (2020-11-02). "Petal Search: A mobile-first search engine to enrich your Huawei phone". htxt.africa. Retrieved 2020-11-27.
External links
This article "Petal Search" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical. Articles taken from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be accessed on Wikipedia's Draft Namespace.