Just weeks ago, Google unveiled a polished up version of Product Search for Android handsets. Near the tail-end of the post, we postulated that Google would add barcode scanning support to Product Search soon. Such services have already proven quite popular on Android already, with the success of applications like ShopSavvy and CompareEverywhere.
Sure enough, Google is announcing this morning that Google Product Search for Android now has barcode scanning support. If you’re looking to price compare a product that’s right in front of you, why type out its name and dig through irrelevant results when you can just scan the barcode?
The Android browser doesn’t natively support barcode scanning, so support comes by way of the standalone Barcode Scanner application. This is one of Android’s secret weapons at work here. By way of a fancy system called “Intents”, Android is able to pass data, such as the results of a barcode scan, to and from third-party applications without significant guidance from the user. The Android browser calls upon the Barcode Scanner, which utilizes the handset’s built in camera to scan for UPC/ISBN codes. The data from the barcode is then passed back through to the browser and, in turn, Product Search.
Google indicates that Product Search’s barcode index currently works best with electronics, books, movies and video games, though they promise to expand quickly. We’ll take their word for it – if there’s one thing Google’s good at, it’s indexing.
Barcode scanning Is a great way to get around things.
the Guys at Google are really Inspirational.
Did google mention the fact that they will allow users to go in-store to shop for their goods via google maps with the use of the barcode technology.
Did they mention that they might allow the barcode reader to act as a make-shift metal detector to find those same said goods.
Google are on the tip, time to buy some more shares I thinks!
A very neat and smart idea!
Indeed. The guys at Shop Savvy came up with it.
That’s not necessarily true, Delicious Library was doing bar code scanning and Amazon scraping with the iSight long ago.
Everything has been done.
Erm, to clear the record a bit: all of the barcode scanning apps you see on Android are based on a barcode scanning project from Google called ZXing (code.google.com/p/zxing), including ShopSavvy (though ShopSavvy vastly extended the user interface on top of it of course). The Google project came first though (November 2007).
The “stock” client on Android called “Barcode Scanner” and is the client from ZXing. It is used by several apps on the G1 for barcode scanning services. This link on the page simply launches Barcode Scanner, likewise.
Barcode Scanner is not new either — has been around since the first day Android launched. The only new thing is the hyperlink — which is neat indeed. That mechanism is interesting — a URL can link to a G1 app.
Right now, there are 4 stories on techcrunch front page about Google, I have learned to skip them at all.
Yes! Because who wants to read all the google posts when twitter stories are surely to follow! Such is the word of Sanjay.
The barcode scanning is pretty cool, but if you’re looking for a useful mobile application to help you while in-store, try my site. We made it to solve shopping problems we (my friends and I) had, and not to showcase technology.
We tried the mobile barcode scanning, but right now feel it’s an immature technology. The sub-par scanning capabilities would just frustrate a non-techie user (like my mom – who uses my site all the time). So we took it out. We’ll put it back in when the time is right.
You can still scan on the website using devices like the CueCat though.
Hi Dean. What is your site?
When all these cheap OEM Android phones come out, Android will reduce iPhone market share to 10%, just like Windows did to early Apple computers.
Sean: thanks for the adding the detail and kudos to ZX for delivering a neat library.
ShopSavvy and CompareEverywhere are not the only apps using ZX — Agorasys’ RecallCheck uses it quite effectively (if I do say so myself!).
People have been getting kicked out of stores for using the barcode scanner apps as first stores dont know what they are doing scanning their products as well the realization they are just going elsewhere once a lower price is found.
,Michael Martin
Google And Blog
So they don’t want anyone buying stuff from them? Their loss. Got any names of stores that don’t want anyone’s business?
Greg Kumparak said…
…we postulated that Google would add barcode scanning support to Product Search soon.
I thought that the term postulated is a term used only by physicists when they proposed a new theory and they try to solve/test it via using a thought or gedanken experiment (gedankenversuch in German). So, have you designed a gedanken experiment to test your postulation Greg? (Hehe, its a tongue-in-cheek question).
Anyway, this is a good move for Google. I think that this will be a huge success.
Curious to see how well this works on non-autofocus Android phones when they come out in the mid-range. Zebra Crossing (zxing) needs sharp images. Or are they going to leave the barcode search feature out of mid-range Android implementations?
ZXing is a fantastic addition. My product, Wine by the Bar, uses it to skip past the tedious process of typing wine names. Just sip the wine, scan the barcode, and share with friends. (Or sip, save, search… or some other clever three-s tagline.)
Great stuff and ZXing deserves more credit than it gets.
Anybody knows how to reach this?
google.com/products on my G1 shows the web version, and m.google doesn’t link to product search.
Yes this is cool. Hope to use this for our site CWEB.com in more ways than one….
Won’t this constitute patent infringement lawsuit as NeoMedia Technologies owns all the technology relating to cell phone barcode scanning?
Neomedia does NOT own a patent on ‘all the technology relating to cell phone barcode scanning’ — read the patent to understand what it does cover, which is quite limited. In particular this is not an instance of ‘indirect’ encoding, nor is almost any barcode you would see.
So you are saying that the contained within the phone itself a database of all the bar codes and the products they are printed on? It doesn’t refer to any remote server to associate the raw numbers from the code with the product associated with it?
No. what he is saying is there is a direct link inside of the code to a website which runs the search on the UPC code. Neomedia does not own a patent on direct linking.
In reality, anyone can bypass the indirect route, by first linking to a page on the mobile web, and then have it forward to their desired result.
This is why Neomedia patent is useless. But they are too stubborn to realize the truth.
Does this scanning software also support 2D code scanning?
Yes, the scanning part is just Barcode Scanner, which has been around for a while and does also scan 2D barcodes. Launch it separately for that.
It has already been established that Google is infringing on Neomedia Technonolies’ patented technology… it has been a waiting game because of a re-review of a Neomedia patent, which was strongly upheld and confirmed. Now that that has concluded, Google will need to license Neomedia’s IP.
The strongest argument I can make against this is: Neomedia itself does not agree with you. We have spoken to their CEO — Alex from ShopSavvy has done the same — and heard nothing but support.
Certain investors keep making reckless statements about the patent, but, it does not make it true. I am not sure Neomedia appreciates the ‘help’, or their repetition, since it has damaged Neomedia by simply perpetuating its reputation as a patent troll.
I do suggest you read the amended patent — in particular the part about this only applying to predetermined relationships stored on a remote server. There is simply no barcode-to-URL mapping going on on a remote server here anywhere.
Um, no mention of Scanlife or Scanbuy?