oops, a bit quick on the submit button.
When it comes to actual non-human/librarian search engines I urge all of you to look beyone G. That means look to see what Ask, Yahoo, and MSN are up to. One of the best things about my job at Ask is that I can talk freely about the good and bad from everyone. However, I would be remiss if I didn't say that just getting people to look at what Ask.com is up to is a challenge. For example, are dynamic maps, are new blog and feed engine, are new image engine, etc. Plus lots and lots of Smart Answers like:
+ inline images
http://www.ask.com/web?q=images+san+francisco&qsrc=0&o=0
(Something Ask has been doing for three years)
+ answers for academy award winners (again 3 years old)
http://www.ask.com/web?q=oscar+best+actor+1972&qsrc=1&o=0
+ real time financial info
http://www.ask.com/web?q=outstanding+shares+f&qsrc=1&o=0
+ music info
http://www.ask.com/web?q=rolling+stones&qsrc=1&o=0
+ or the SA for the now complete World Cup
http://www.ask.com/web?q=world+cup&qsrc=1&o=0

I could go on but not here.

Yahoo has done a great job with Audio Search
http://audio.search.yahoo.com/

as has SearchforVideo and TVEyes

http://www.searchforvideo.com
http://www.tveyes.com

and from the sound of it, Skyline Globe is going to be way cool.
http://www.directionsmag.com/article.php?article_id=2212&trv=1

Apps?
Look to Zoho Writer (sign-up, no waiting) and Zoho Sheet.
http://www.zohowriter.com
http://www.zohosheet.com
and more: http://www.zoho.com
and Kiko
http://www.kiko.com

The point, a variety of tools and resources is what makes web search and web research so exciting. Plus, all of the subject focused databases out there.

cheers,
gary

p.s. Don't forget the World eBook Fair is well underway. Over 300,000 full text books (in PDF form) available. All free.
http://www.worldebookfair.com
The fair celebrates the 35th anniv. (no, ebooks are not new) of Project Gutenberg.