InstantPreviews
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Google brings Instant Previews to iOS 4.0+
Google announced on Tuesday that it added Instant Previews to its mobile search results. Originally a desktop feature, Instant Previews provides users with a glimpse of a website within the search results. It is extremely useful as it lets you see a page from a website without navigating to the site. You can use this feature to separate the wheat from the chaff without clicking on multiple links. The desktop version display the previews within the search page, but the mobile implementation takes a different approach. Rather than cram all the info on the search results page, Google has added a magnifying glass next to each search result. Clicking on the magnifying glass pops open a light-box style preview window that lets you view a snapshot of each result. You can swipe through these previews and click on the site you want to visit directly from this preview window. You can test this feature out for yourself using your mobile browser or watch it in action thanks to a Google-produced video available after the break. Instant Previews is compatible with Android 2.2+ handsets and iOS devices running iOS 4.0 or greater.
Google brings Instant Previews to mobile, makes them seriously useful (video)
We've never had a use for Google Instant Search on mobile, so we didn't expect much when Google's Instant Previews invaded the smartphone realm as well. You know what? They're actually surprisingly useful. Instead of trying to cram additional information into Google's already-crowded mobile website, Instant Previews adds a little magnifying glass next to most every result instead, and clicking on the magnifier brings up a series of cached thumbnails of each page that you can scroll through in portrait or landscape modes. It's a very visual way of finding what you're looking for, and more importantly, it's quick even over 3G, saving time and mobile bandwidth that would otherwise be spent clicking through links one by one. Rather than decipher that long-winded explanation, though, why don't you try it out for yourself or watch our video demonstration after the break?
