Google Goggles, our favorite mobile app that lets you visually search the Web simply by taking a picture with your smartphone, has learned a couple of new tricks. In addition to speeding up its barcode scanning feature, Google Goggles now recognizes a variety of print ads and…solves that Sudoku puzzle you just can’t solve!
Last November, Google announced and experiment using Google Goggles to bring users extra content when they scanned certain ads. Though similar, that experiment returned users to a specific link, whereas this new feature brings related search results, recognizing that you scanned a print ad. The app will recognize print ads in major U.S. magazines from August 2010 onwards.
As for the Sudoku, Google Goggles will now solve any Sudoku puzzle that you just can’t solve. According to Google, “if you ever get stuck, take a clear picture of the entire puzzle with Goggles and we’ll tell you the correct solution.” Take a look at the video for a quick demo:
What do you think of Google Goggles? Is it simply a fun parlor trick type app (at least for the moment) or do you actually visually search for anything, ever? Obviously visual search is something new that we’ll see more and more of in the future, but we’re wondering when it will become more of an integrated feature.
