Need a quick price check on that MP3 player or HDTV, but don't feel like typing in the product name into your mobile phone? Google on Thursday announced that it has integrated barcode scanning into Google Product Search for mobile.
"Sometimes, when I'm looking up a specific item in a store rather than a category of products (like "bluetooth headsets"), I'd rather just scan a barcode to see results for the exact product I'm searching for," Eiji Hirai, a software engineer with the Google Mobile team, wrote in a blog post.
The company launched Product Search for mobile for iPhones and Android devices several weeks ago; barcode scanning is thus far only available on Android phones.
To access, download the latest Barcode Scanner app from the Android Market, if you do not already have it. Next, type Google.com in your mobile browser and selecting "Shopping" from the "more" tab. Select Product Search and tap on the "Scan Barcode" button.
"After the app opens, center the red line over the barcode and hold the phone steady. When the barcode is read successfully, you'll see a Google Product Search results page back in the browser," Hirai wrote. There is also a scanner button on top of the Product Search results page.
"Today, barcode scanning works best for products like electronics, books, movies or video games, but we're working on adding more barcodes for other items," he said. "Of course, if your scan does not return a result, you can always type in the product name just as before."
The app is available in the U.K. and the U.S.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment