Submitted by Bob Bhatnagar on
Google has updated the Google Mobile app once again, this time to version 0.7.3.5675. The notable changes are added functionality to the Google Goggles part of the app centering around photo recognition. For those not familiar with Goggles, the app recognizes images and allows users to search using a photo taken with their iPhone camera.
The new version will recognize print ads from August 2010 forward, making it possible to simply snap a photo of a magazine or newspaper ad to get more information about a product or manufacturer online. Not only this, but Google has incorporated a Sudoku puzzle solver into the mix. Snap a photo of the puzzle that has you stumped and Goggles will show you the solution.
According to Google:
Goggles will recognize print ad and return web search results about the product or brand. This new feature of Goggles is enabled for print ads appearing in major U.S. magazines and newspapers from August 2010 onwards. This feature is different from the marketing experiment that we announced in November. We’re now recognizing a much broader range of ads than we initially included in our marketing experiment.
Pretty neat stuff. Google Mobile also includes improvements to bar code and QR code scanning that speed up the process of recognition.These features are in addition to other parts of the app which enhance the mobile search experience. Google Mobile searches the Internet with your voice by recognizing spoken search terms, and searches by location using your built-in GPS. The app supports several different languages and will accept a voice search by simply holding the iPhone to your ear. Your own contacts as well as Google Images, Maps, News or Shopping can all be queried by on the go Google Mobile as an alternative to Google web apps.
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The Google Mobile app also includes quick links to other Google applications, such as Calendar, Gmail, Maps YouTube and Google Earth. As Google improves the Goggles part of the app we can expect that the iPhone camera will become even more useful as a mobile search tool.