Skip to Content, Navigation, or Footer.
We inform. You decide.
Thursday, March 28, 2024

Two UF alumni are looking to change the way people surf the Internet with their new web app Searchlet.

Mark Fazzini and Spencer Simonsen were featured on TechCrunch on Friday for the app they released in December. Once a user highlights text on any web page, the app pulls up a sidebar of results from multiple search engines relating to the selected word or phrase.

Fazzini, a 25-year-old alternative investments associate for Tampa-based company Raymond James, said the app helps users avoid opening dozens of tabs when researching a topic.

“We thought about how nice it would be to consolidate all the information you needed in one area,” he said.

The search engines currently include Grooveshark, Google and Twitter, but he said the pair plans to add more search options for the app as it progresses. They intend to eventually open the code to the public so anyone can personalize the app.

Jonathan Burnett, a 21-year-old UF computer engineering junior, said he isn’t sure how the two entrepreneurs plan to make money off the app, but the concept is unique.

“This is useful as a research tool and kind of a life hack as far as doing things faster,” he said. “It just doesn’t seem like something I’d use all the time.”

[A version of this story ran on page 3 on 3/10/2014 under the headline "UF alumni create searching web app"]

Support your local paper
Donate Today
The Independent Florida Alligator has been independent of the university since 1971, your donation today could help #SaveStudentNewsrooms. Please consider giving today.

Powered by SNworks Solutions by The State News
All Content © 2024 The Independent Florida Alligator and Campus Communications, Inc.