If Synergy is all about collating your data onto one device, Universal Search is webOS’ attempt to make finding information more straightforward.  We’ve already seen how the Pre automatically takes you through on-device content; today, we’re thinking about how Palm may leverage internet and guided-searches for off-device content.

First, a recap on how searching on the Pre will work out of the box.  As you start to enter a search query, the Pre first checks it across your contacts, then against local applications and settings (Calendar, Bluetooth options, etc), and finally gives the choice of searching Google or Wikipedia in the browser.  Palm have confirmed that new search providers will be added to the Pre, though so far we’ve no official word on which engines they might be.

Firstly, a streaming music search would answer a few of the biggest criticisms levelled at the Pre so far.  Much comment has been made about the smartphone’s “limited” onboard storage – around 7GB available to the user, and no way to expand it – so providing intelligent shortcuts to internet radio or streaming services like Spotify would bypass the need for picking and choosing which tracks deserve to take up precious capacity.  There are several subscription-based offerings out there, as well as music services run by carriers (like Sprint) themselves; if webOS can integrate cloud-based music with local tracks in the Pre’s media player, so that there’s no difference to the end-user in queueing them up and playing them, that’s one significant drawback flipped into a positive.

All our talk of shopping on the Pre yesterday prompted the second obvious possibility: Amazon.  The online retailer already has a mobile site especially formatted for smartphones, but a deal with Palm to make Amazon the default choice for Pre shopping would give users a huge catalog and maybe even bring in some sponsorship for Palm.

Thirdly, once Flash hits webOS we’d expect to see YouTube video search.  Palm have already shown their link with Google in the existing search options, so a shortcut to the company’s streaming video service seems a likely progression.  If they’re clever about it, Palm can tie the whole YouTube experience into the Pre in a way far more integrated than the iPhone’s standalone viewing app.

Of course, a sensible path would be allowing users to add their own search engines to the Pre, in the same manner that desktop browsers allow customization.  When we asked Palm about that possibility back at Mobile World Congress, they told us it would not be an option when the Pre first launched.  Further down the line, though, we’d expect to see at least some custom flexibility in this way.

What custom search offerings would you like to see the Pre offer?  Remember, we’re talking about cutting down the steps between searching for information and finding it, together with making the most of a small screen and mobile connectivity.  Let us know in the My Pre forum.

Palm Pre: 26-minutes live demo!