Android phone owners should now be able to become smarter consumers. A free app called Google Shopper has been released, and with it, users are supposed to find it easier than ever to look up product specs, check out reviews, and compare prices.
Google Shopper doesn’t quite represent some breakthrough. Instead, it combines the image recognition abilities offered by Google Goggles with the barcode-scanning feature Google Product Search for mobile introduced in May. Plus some voice recognition tech that’s been in development for even longer.
The Google Mobile Blog explains that, as a result, "Shopper lets you find product information quickly by using your phone’s camera. It can recognize cover art of books, CDs, DVDs, and video games, along with most barcodes. You can also speak the name of the product you’re looking for."
Then additional features include the ability to star items for return visits and share things with friends.
This is bound to come in handy in all sorts of situations. Even more so, perhaps, since Google Shopper is free and seems to work rather well. The only party that might suffer due to this development will be the retailer(s) whose customers discover they should do a lot more shopping at Amazon and Newegg.
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