Google Goggles for Android updated to v1.9

Google Goggles for Android received an update yesterday and the updated version (v1.9) is now up for installation on Google Play. To be able to use Google Goggles for Android app, users should have an Android device running v2.2 and up.

With the update, users need not enable their search history to use the Search-from-Camera feature. With the updated Goggles application, object tracking in continuous mode is faster and more robust. Further, when users scan a QR code with a URL encoded, the updated app means that the thumbnail of a page is displayed; the URL is checked against a malicious URL blacklist. The updated app also introduces more complete barcode coverage. Google Goggles app for Android v1.9 comes with support for non-autofocus cameras. Further, if Google Goggles fails to find an exact match for what a user is looking for, then the app will search for products that look similar. 

Google Goggles for Android updated

Google Goggles for Android is a popular application that allows users to search by taking a picture. The way this works is that a user has to point his mobile phone camera at any object - then be it a painting , a famous landmark, a barcode or QR code, a product, a storefront, or a popular image - if Goggles knows more about it, then it will provide the user with that information. At the moment, the app can read text in English, French, Italian, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Russian and Turkish, and translate it into other languages.

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Using the app, users can scan barcodes and get information on that particular product; they can also scan QR codes to get information. Goggles app can recognize famous landmarks. The app also translates for you - all you have to do is take a picture of foreign language text. Using the Goggles app, users can also add contacts. They can do this by scanning business cards or QR codes. Text can be scanned using Optical Character Recognition (OCR). The app is capable of recognising paintings, books, DVDs, CDs; it can also solve Sudoku puzzles and find similar products. 

In an update ( Goggles 1.6) that the Goggles application received last September, it aimed at enhancing the camera on  Android-based smartphones via a quick installation. Once downloaded, the application paired itself with your smartphone’s camera. The application worked actively in the background and when an image was captured, it began analysing it. If the captured photo contained locations, objects or any trait recognisable by the application, it would automatically notify.

Vacationers would love this the most, especially if their smartphone has become their primary camera. At the time of that update, it was revealed that the Goggles application could identify elements like landmarks, paintings or interesting objects, and these could then be shared with friends straight from the application’s search history. Photos taken from the phone’s camera would be seen by Goggles only if the Search from Camera feature had been enabled. To do this, all users had to do was launch Google Goggles > tap Menu > Settings > Search from Camera.