SnapTell Explorer: One of the best of its kind.

Discussion in 'iOS Apps' started by Chase, Dec 10, 2008.

  1. Chase

    Chase Well-Known Member

    Nov 24, 2008
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    #1 Chase, Dec 10, 2008
    Last edited: Dec 10, 2008
    There's several services like this, but none I've seen that are actually native on the iPhone, as most are based via MMS or Email. That, and they usually take a few minutes to work.

    Now, I'm gonna sound like an advertiser or like a dev for the app. But trust me in this, I'm not. I'm just quite surprised on how well it works. Even with the most crappiest, blurry photos. It. Just. Works. Thank God, eh?

    So, let's set up a scene. You're out Christmas shopping and you're going to get your special someone a DVD of their favorite show. Let's use, in this case, the Fifth season of Curb Your Enthusiasm (I have it lying around). Now, there's a few things to consider at this point: does this DVD suck? Can I get it cheaper online? Is this the newest season, or is there a newer one?

    Well, get your iPhone out of your pocket and fire up "SnapTell Explorer" (it just says SnapTell on the homescreen... not sure they decided to tag Explorer to the title). You take a photo, it sends it, and (I counted to 3 on my wi-fi network) it sends back results in a list form from various sources, along with a picture of the product. All links open in an in-app browser, from where you can also choose to open in Safari. Here's the list I got from my Curb Your Enthusiasm DVD:

    - Online prices (11) from $15.99
    - Google prices and reviews
    - YouTube (Opens up the YouTube mobile site. From there you click one from the results and it opens in the YouTube app. Smart.)
    - IMDb
    - Rotten Tomatoes
    - Wikipedia
    - Barnes and Noble
    - eBay
    - Yahoo! results

    From these sources you can do a lot. Check prices on various online stores, product reviews, info about both the DVD and the show itself, and even prices on eBay.

    I'd say, even if you couldn't picture yourself using it, it's still fun to walk around the house and see what it recognizes. It doesn't seem to recognize it unless it's a book, magazine, CD, DVD, etc., but I don't expect to take a picture of my TV and have it show results. I did try a bottle of Molson Ice, but that didn't work so well. ;) Might have to wait a little bit before that happens, but I wouldn't be surprised to see it in a year from another app.

    By the way, you can also take photos from your library if you so choose. Though it seems like a sin if an app doesn't have this now. :D

    You can try it for yourself. Why not? It's free. And you can get it here: http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=291920403&mt=8

    Chase
     
  2. BulletDev

    BulletDev Well-Known Member

    Sep 20, 2008
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    produce applications under "Bullet Development"
    Vancouver, BC
    Thanks for sharing. I'm just downloading it now :)
     
  3. Chase

    Chase Well-Known Member

    Nov 24, 2008
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    You're welcome. :) It's really fun to see how vague you can get. I even took a photo of a scratch-and-sniff book of my nephew's from the dollar store and it came up.
     

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