Like Shazam...but for products

[OrangeCuse44]

New app called SnapTell. Take a photo of a product and it looks it up for you. Free download and seems promising.

http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=291920403&mt=8

Edit: It only works for books, DVDs, video games, and things of that nature.

 

[ryanwarsaw]

I am not sure of the point of this, if I have the product in my hand couldn't I just read the label? Maybe I am missing something here.

 

[pb30]

I am not sure of the point of this, if I have the product in my hand couldn't I just read the label? Maybe I am missing something here.

Lets say you're at a store looking at a product and you want to know if its cheaper online. Just snap a pic of the cover then compare the price to Amazon/Barnes and Noble, or get reviews from Rotten Tomatoes, Google, etc.

 

[GoCubsGo]

How does this work? I was thinking it would be cool to have something that could somehow scan a bar code like my isight does when I scan books/cds/games/dvds into my Delicious Library.

I'd be interested in something like this if it did indeed work, but I am real curious how it scales the net for an image taken with a crappy cell phone camera and somehow matches the product info.

 

[kas23]

Do you have to take a picture of the UPC? The problem with this is that i dont think the iphones camera can take detailed shots that close.

Android has an app like this. Very cool idea. The android version will also map out the places around you where it is cheaper.

 

[OrangeCuse44]

Do you have to take a picture of the UPC? The problem with this is that i dont think the iphones camera can take detailed shots that close.

Android has an app like this. Very cool idea. The android version will also map out the places around you where it is cheaper.

Reviews have stated it works surprisingly well. Even in low light, bad conditions. It works like Shazam does. The image is run through a product database it spits out the results. I agree a bar code scanning app would be great because it could work for every type of product.

 

[pb30]

Do you have to take a picture of the UPC? The problem with this is that i dont think the iphones camera can take detailed shots that close.

Android has an app like this. Very cool idea. The android version will also map out the places around you where it is cheaper.

It doesn't use the UPC, it's just based off the product cover, and it works pretty well. I hope it integrates more price-search functionality. Right now it just links to a couple places like Amazon, Wikipedia, Google, etc.

 

[GoCubsGo]

Reviews have stated it works surprisingly well. Even in low light, bad conditions. It works like Shazam does. The image is run through a product database it spits out the results. I agree a bar code scanning app would be great because it could work for every type of product.

Clearly you do not own this so I'm thinking you're lacking any sort of qualification to really say if it works. The idea is cool, the execution ... perhaps not so much. I'm going to try it when I get home, but I'm just wondering why all the talk if it is free, that you only rely on reviews to speak to it.

It doesn't use the UPC, it's just based off the product cover, and it works pretty well. I hope it integrates more price-search functionality. Right now it just links to a couple places like Amazon, Wikipedia, Google, etc.

You're the developer, aren't you?

 

[jarofclay73]

I've had this for a while and it works very well. I use this to avoid a dumb blind buy or see if it's selling elsewhere for cheaper.

 

[pb30]

You're the developer, aren't you?

Nope, haven't even had the time to sit down and learn Obj C yet

 

[OrangeCuse44]

Clearly you do not own this so I'm thinking you're lacking any sort of qualification to really say if it works.

Wow, sorry for letting everyone know about this and try to help. There was no reason for you to respond with a comment like that. Grow up.

 

[MDMac]

Eeeeeee!

 

[Eric Isaacson]

I've been using this for a week or so and it works great. I've taken pics at several stores checking their prices against online stores and it has worked almost evertime. The only time it didn't work it was some obscure book that I chose to take a pic of.

Since my family are avid readers and I also love movies and finding the best deal this a great App for us. It is definitely a must have if you like to read or watch movies.

 

[kas23]

I dl'd it and it works very well. I even took a picture of one of my medical books and it was able to find it. I just don't know what its purpose is.

I originally thought this would work for any product, but it doesn't - just books, video, and music. But, it would be better for other products. If I can actually read the title on the cover of the book/video/CD, then wouldn't it probably be just as fast and efficient to type (or speak!) the title into Google? By this method, I would likely get even more price listings. For this reason, I really don't know what this product is good for. Cool idea though, they just need to expand it past the obvious (stuff that tells you what it is right on its very cover).

Or, maybe it would be useful if we took a picture of the hard copy, then it listed its electronic versions online (with their different prices).

 

[theDUB]

I am not sure of the point of this, if I have the product in my hand couldn't I just read the label? Maybe I am missing something here.

Lets say you're at a store looking at a product and you want to know if its cheaper online. Just snap a pic of the cover then compare the price to Amazon/Barnes and Noble, or get reviews from Rotten Tomatoes, Google, etc.

Yeah, but if you already know what the product is (because you are holding it in your hand) you could just search for it online yourself.

 

[kas23]

Here is some information about the Android app ShopSavvy. This is the type of application we need on the iPhone:

First of all, for those of you uninitiated, ShopSavvy is the barcode scanning application which seems to be the most popular on the Android Market for now. To me ShopSavvy seems to be one of the most useful applications on the marketplace as well as it offers real-life value to the phone owners. Basically what ShopSavvy does is helping you find the best deals for a product you consider buying - both online and offline.

A user simply scans the barcode of the product using the camera of an Android-powered phone (for now it is T-Mobile G1 only, obviously) and the application will start scanning available pricing information. Once the scanning is done, the user gets information from both online stores and from nearby local stores (using the GPS functionality).

Right from the application you can either visit the website of an online store selling the product you are interested in while for a local store you can easily dial their phone number or view a map to get the directions. What’s more, you can even track the products you are interested in for the best possible bargains by setting alerts for ShopSavvy to notify you when the product makes an appearance in a store for a desired price.

http://profy.com/2008/10/23/shopsavvy-doing-amazingly-well-on-android-market-2/

This would be a killer app for the iPhone.

Update:

http://www.biggu.com/2008/11/13/why-no-shopsavvy-on-iphone/

C'mon Apple, for Pete's sake, just do something right!