If you need any more proof that Google Android is definitely going to step up to take the iPhone down, Google is coming out with Google Goggles. Okay, that product name kind of reminds me of a website that used to infect unsuspecting users with loads of malware, but trust me, Google Goggles is different. Way different.
Google Goggles basically is mobile search taken to a different level. Instead of using words, use your Android phone’s camera to take a picture, and Google Goggles will process and attempt to recognize the image, and will return relevant search results.
Okay, since Google Goggles is still in its infancy, we’re going to definitely run into a coupe of caveats when using it. Books, business cards, artwork, places, logos and landmarks are going to work brilliantly, but take a picture of food and other things, we’re going to end up with gibberish results, if any.
Actually, the first glimpse of Google Goggles is actually a video showing animated caricatures of Google engineers presenting a cartoon demo of Google Goggles. So it was vaporware and all, and we weren’t expecting Google Goggles to go live for a while.
I was pretty surprised to see a live demo of the experimental software on a yet-to-be-released phone. The Sony Ericsson Xperia X10, the other Android phone other than Nexus One that I want to get my hands on in the future, has got Google Goggles installed on it. Here’s a video demo of the much-awaited android app, and this time it’s not a cartoon:
I’m pretty impressed with Google Goggles. Tell me what you think!