Didn't Apple patent the Cover Flow? Yes, they did. Does this violate the patent? Probably not, else they wouldn't have done it, would they?

Searchme is a new search engine that's built on a pleasing visual interface and a 'category suggest' feature (see top buttons).

Type in a query and see the results pages load in a cover-flow-like menu. And in the same fashion, you can scroll through the results and view what's on the page without clicking it. Something like a Snap Preview but better.

After that, narrow down your search by selecting one of the categories above. You can also switch between the visual search view or a traditional list view or both.

Currently, they have about a billion pages indexed so far, and it's still a closed beta, so get in line.

Previously Microsoft also dipped their feet in some visual search with Tafiti, using Silverlight. But it was little more than a search engine in a shiny shell.

On the subject of patents, Searchme claims they have several patents " that relate to vertical search technology, our user interface, and our base search engine."

Searchme looks promising, and genuinely has something different to offer. Look out for it.