Method and system for processing queries initiated by users of mobile devices

1. A method, comprising:

receiving an incoming message from a mobile device, the incoming message containing a query and a query type indicator, the query and the query type indicator being distinct pieces of information specified by a user of the mobile device, the query including a user-specified keyword for a search, and the query type indicator identifying at least one category of content to be searched based at least in part on the user-specified keyword;

extracting the query from the incoming message;

determining a type of the query based at least in part on the query type indicator;

forwarding the query to a search engine selected from a plurality of search engines based at least in part on the type of the query, wherein the selected search engine is associated with the type of the query;

obtaining a result of a search from the selected search engine, wherein the result of the search is based at least in part on a search of content by the selected search engine for the user-specified keyword; and

creating an outgoing message with the result of the search for delivery to the mobile device.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the incoming message is any one of a Short Messaging Service (SMS) message, a Multimedia Message Service (MMS) message, and an email message.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the outgoing message is any one of a Short Messaging Service (SMS) message, a Multimedia Message Service (MMS) message, and an email message.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the query initiated by the user of the mobile device is entered by the user on the mobile device.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the query initiated by the user of the mobile device is a voice query.

6. The method of claim 5 wherein the voice query is processed by a speech recognition module of the mobile device.

7. The method of claim 5 wherein extracting the query from the incoming message comprises processing the voice query using a speech recognition module.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein obtaining the result of the query comprises:

receiving the result of the search from the selected search engine.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein the type of the query is any one of a yellow page type, a driving direction type, a phone book type, a product price type, a calculator type, a glossary type, a headline news type, a help request type, a stock ticker type, a map type, and a spell checker type.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein determining the type of the query comprises:

evaluating the syntax of the query.

11. The method of claim 1 wherein creating the outgoing message comprises:

determining that the search result exceeds a predefined size;

splitting the search result into a plurality of result portions; and

creating a message for each of the plurality of result portions.

12. The method of claim 11 wherein the message for each of the plurality of result portions includes an indicator of a sequence of said each of the plurality of result portions within the search result.

13. An apparatus comprising:

an incoming message parser to receive an incoming message from a mobile device, the incoming message containing a query and a query type indicator, the query and the query type indicator being distinct pieces of information specified by a user of the mobile device, the query including a user-specified keyword for a search, and the query type indicator identifying at least one category of content to be searched based at least in part on the user-specified keyword, and to extract the query from the incoming message;

a query result receiver to determine a type of the query based at least in part on the query type indicator, to forward the query to a search engine selected from a plurality of search engines, the selected search engine being associated with the type of the query, and to obtain a result of a search from the selected search engine, wherein the result of the search is based at least in part on a search of content by the selected search engine using the user-specified keyword; and

an outgoing message creator to create an outgoing message with the result of the search for delivery to the mobile device.

14. An apparatus comprising:

means for receiving an incoming message from a mobile device, the incoming message containing a query and a query type indicator, the query and the query type indicator being distinct pieces of information specified by a user of the mobile device, the query including a user-specified keyword for a search, and the query type indicator identifying at least one category of content to be searched based at least in part on the user-specified keyword;

means for extracting the query from the incoming message;

means for determining a type of the query based at least in part on the query type indicator;

means for forwarding the query to a search engine selected from a plurality of search engines, wherein the selected search engine is associated with the type of the query;

means for obtaining a result of a search from the selected search engine, wherein the result of the search is based at least in part on a search of content by the selected search engine using the user-specified keyword; and

means for creating an outgoing message with the result of the search for delivery to the mobile device.

15. A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising instructions, which when executed on a processing system, cause the processing system to perform a method comprising:

receiving an incoming message from a mobile device, the incoming message containing a query and a query type indicator, the query and the query type indicator being distinct pieces of information specified by a user of the mobile device, the query including a user-specified keyword for a search, and the query type indicator identifying at least one category of content to be searched based on the user-specified keyword; extracting the query from the incoming message; determining a type of the query based at least in part on the query type indicator; forwarding the query to a search engine selected from a plurality of search engines, wherein the selected search engine is associated with the type of the query; obtaining a result of a search from the selected search engine, the result of the search being based on a search of content by the selected search engine using the user-specified keyword; and creating an outgoing message with the result of the search for delivery to the mobile device.