Google plans to launch a version of the Google Mini, half the size and weight of the current one, but able to process 25 queries per second, up from 1 query per second.

The Search Appliance and Google Mini are hardware devices loaded with search engine software, designed to let companies index and retrieve information stored on corporate servers.

The Search Appliance upgrade includes a feature called OneBox, which lets the engine identify the overall intent of certain queries, compile and present certain data at the top of the search results list that may satisfy the user's information needs.

OneBox, which already exists on the Google.com search engine, is meant to save users from having to click on search results by presenting them with a digest of data.

Google has worked with several leading enterprise software and hardware companies - including Oracle and Cisco Systems - in order to attempt to break into a market that is dominated by Autonomy, Fast Search and IBM. Software licenses generated $75mn for the company in 2005, less than one per cent of its total revenue.

The Google Mini starts at $1,995 (about £1,125), with a capacity to index as many as 50,000 documents, while the Search Appliance starts at $30,000 (£17,000), with a 500,000-document capacity.

Further information can be found at http://mini.google.com.