[How To] Restore on-device search to your Galaxy S III

No on-device search?!

As we previously reported, Apple succeeded in getting an injunction placed against the Galaxy Nexus in the US on the strength of a patent on a Unified Search Field – Or, as we know it, the Google search box that brings up a myriad of results, both online and on-device. This was ‘fixed’ by simply removing the on-device search function, reducing the Google search box to web-only results.

Samsung has since taken a proactive stance, bringing the same update to (Or, more accurately, removing the same functionality from) its US Galaxy S III variants as well as the Galaxy Nexus. Although Apple has not yet taken Samsung to task for this particular patent outside of the US, that hasn’t stopped Sammy from stripping the functionality away from the international Galaxy S III as well – As of yesterday, the XXLG6 update had started rolling to open market UK handsets, and sure enough, no more contact/bookmark/Twitter/et cetera on-device searching for those who’ve updated.

Google Search update brings new UI, prematurely-posted features from last year

It's new! It's from Google!

Google Search is an integral part of Android smartphones. Indeed, it's Google's core product. For many devices, it's only a single dedicated button-press away. So it's a little odd that we've not seen a substantial update to so core an application for quite some time - until today, that is.

Our favourite search company have released a new version of its core app to market for Froyo (2.2.x) and above - Read their official report here, and download the app from the market here. Click on past the break for our report, and an interesting link back to August of last year..