SnapTell Explorer – Review

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On November 22, 2008

App Type: Uncategorized

SnapTell Explorer – Review

Our rating:

By:

Version #:

Date Released: 2008-11-09

Developer:

Price: 0.00

User Rating:
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Okay, this app is just cool. You snap a picture with your iPhone’s camera  (sorry iPod touch users), send it to the server automatically, and within seconds get back information on it.

Okay, it’s a little bit limited right now. It’ll only identify books, CDs, DVDs and video games. And it’ll only get information from Barnes & Noble and Amazon.com. But that doesn’t reduce the amazement when it provides information just from a picture. Moreover, it’s able to use pictures that are rather blurry. I know, because I tried and the only time it didn’t return the proper information was when I moved the camera very quickly in the middle of the picture.

Here are a few examples  that I tried this morning.

While this isn’t an application I see myself making a lot of use of in the real world it is something that is worth experiencing just for…  the experience.  and when the database expands to include all whole host of other products this will really be neat. Just imagine —

You go into a brick-and-mortar electronics store (assuming they still exist after this holiday season).  You see something that interests you. You snap a picture and within seconds find out that while the price is okay you can do better if you go down the street just a mile. And that’s what you do.

Sure, you could pull out your iPhone, start the Google app, lift it to your ear, and say "what’s the best price on X"  and get the same information but hey, that’s so last week.

Quick Take

Value:  Very high for the cool factor but I’m not sure how much  I would actually use it. Then again, it’s free.
Would I Buy Again:  Sure
Learning Curve:  this is about as simple as it gets. If you can take a picture with your iPhone you can use this application.
Who is it for:  People who buy a lot of books, CDs, DVDs or video games or individuals who just want to see a really neat application of the  IPhone’s technology.  (in fairness it works with any camera phone)
What I like: It actually works
What I Don’t:  includes only a limited selection of products and ultimately you still have to pay for them

Final Statement:  This is a neat application that once again shows the power of the iPhone and "always connected" technology. Why don’t trust of using this particular application I can see this technology evolving into some incredibly useful things.

 

Read the Developer's Notes:
Snap a picture of the cover of any Book, DVD, CD, or Video game and within seconds see a rating, description and links to Wikipedia, IMDb, Barnes & Noble, Google and more. Use this app while shopping in a store to quickly find more information, compare prices, buy the product or leave a reminder to look at the product later. Currently, items sold in the US are supported but we are adding support for international items soon. This unique application uses advanced image recognition technology developed by SnapTell (https://snaptell.com) to instantly match an image against millions of product images in the database. For faster results, please use a WiFi connection if available. Feedback, suggestions, or problems? Please e-mail [email protected]



Updated:

Version 1.1 adds major improvements to performance and usability. 1. Latency of image queries has been reduced to a few seconds in most circumstances including when the iPhone is on the EDGE network. 2. Significant usability improvements are included, including the following: * An info dialog with version number and buttons to send feedback or a problem report. * Ability to save an image query when not connected to the network (to send it later). * Ability to select an image from the saved photo gallery to send as a query image. * A "share" button to share an item with a friend. * An improved screen to display item details. * In case of music CDs, a link to iTunes has been added. This allows for easy purchase. * The browser view now allows navigation and bookmarking. 3. Several bug fixes.
O U R   T A K E . . .

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danc has written 224 awesome app reviews.