Google Goggles: A Leap Ahead That's Fun to Say

I blogged back in mid-November about ShopSavvy coming to the iPhone. It's an app that allows you to scan bar codes with your phone and find the best deals both in your area and online. I've used it a few times since downloading it and has so far worked like a charm. Android users have had access to ShopSavvy since last October, and now they have access to an even cooler option: Google Goggles.

As TechCrunch noted, Google talked about its new service today at the company's search event in Mountain View (how I didn't get on the invite list to this, I'll never know…). What, pray tell, is Google Goggles? It's visual search for your phone.

Take a picture of a business card and it allows you to search for the person's name and store the person's contact information to your list of contacts. Want to know the artist of a particular painting? Take a picture of the painting and find out. There are a number of options, but as the video below explains, visual search technology still has a little ways to go, so certain types of items will reveal more information than others.

Despite the limits, it's still a pretty cool technology and hopefully it'll come to the Google Mobile App on iPhone soon enough.

Photo courtesy of donjd2, via Flickr