Google Inc., apparently looking for the right price for its Mini search appliances, unveiled a low-end device in the product line that's 60 percent less than a similar product launched more than a year ago.
The Mountain View, Calif., company's latest Mini for small businesses searches up to 50,000 documents and costs $1,995, including a year of support.
In January 2005, Google introduced a similar 50,000-document Mini that sold for $4,995. A year later, it unveiled new versions with capacities of 100,000, 200,000 and 300,000 documents for $2,995, 5,995 and $8,995, respectively.
Google's latest Mini drops the price of the original by $3,000.
Google also sells an enterprise-level appliance that can search up to 15 million documents. The device starts at $30,000 for searching up to 500,000 documents. That product line in January 2005, sold for $32,000 for searching up to 150,000 documents, including two years of support.