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"This post is part of Mashable's Spark of Genius series, which highlights a unique feature of startups. If you would like to have your startup considered for inclusion, please see the details here.  The series is made possible by Microsoft BizSpark.\nName: Kikin\nQuick Pitch: The pioneer of user-centricity, Kikin is changing how people find and consume information and defining the phrase: \u201CMy Web Always With Me.\" \tGenius Idea: Kikin is a browser plugin for Safari (Mac), Firefox and Internet Explorer (Chrome support is coming soon) that adds some context and rich media to your searching and surfing experience.\nEven as different search engines try to cram in more relevant information into the top of search results, getting data from networks and places you trust isn't consistent. Kikin adds consistency. You can choose what sites you want Kikin to scour for your searches \u2014 stuff like iTunes, Amazon, Facebook, Twitter, Hulu, Google Reader, Wikipedia, YouTube, Bing and so on, and then when you search for a topic \u2014 like let's say a band, you get this at the top of your results page:\n\n\n\n\nWhat we like is that if you connect your Facebook or Twitter account, you can see not only public comments from those services, but just comments from your friends that are related to the topic in question. Context is key, and we like that you can focus that context.\nFurthermore, if you go to view a YouTube video or look at an album or movie on Amazon.com, a Kikin bar will appear at the top of the page (you can easily close it), showing you recent searches for that item, feedback from Twitter and Facebook, and other options.\nFor media searches in particular \u2014 stuff like movies, music and TV shows \u2014 Kikin offers a nice bit of context and a very easy to navigate menu that actually is more convenient than going to individual sites or even using some of the search engine-specific aggregation services.\nYou can also easily share content you find on Twitter, Facebook or e-mail, which is a nice touch. Mac users, be aware that if you want to use Kikin in Safari and you run Snow Leopard, you'll have to run it in 32-bit mode \u2014 so our recommendation would just be to use the Firefox plugin as it works the most reliably.\nDo you use any search-enhancement plugins to learn more about media items? Let us know!\nSponsored by Microsoft BizSpark\nBizSpark is a startup program that gives you three-year access to the latest Microsoft development tools, as well as connecting you to a nationwide network of investors and incubators. There are no upfront costs, so if your business is privately owned, less than three years old, and generates less than U.S.$1 million in annual revenue, you can sign up today.\nEntrepreneurs can take advantage of the Azure Services platform for their website hosting and storage needs. Microsoft recently announced the \"new CloudApp()\" contest - use the Azure Services Platform for hosting your .NET or PHP app, and you could be the lucky winner of a USD 5000* (please see website for official rules and guidelines).\u201D"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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