QR codes are really cool. The ability to point your smartphone camera at a blob of random black lines and have an easy link or message come from it is fascinating and useful, but hardly anyone uses them. There’s a reason for that, however.
SlickLogin launching at TechCrunch Dusrupt five months ago
TechCrunch reports Google has acquired the startup company SlickLogin, which appears to live up to its name with a whole bunch of clever ways of allowing you to login to a website without using a password. The key ingredient is sound.
To verify a user’s identity and log them in, a website would play a uniquely generated, nearly-silent sound through your computer’s speakers. An app running on your phone would pick up the sound, analyze it, and send the signal back to the site’s server confirming that you are who you say you are — or, at least, someone who has that person’s phone …
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Google Goggles received a decent update today that brings more than a few new features and enhancements. Most notably, users no longer have to enable search history to use the “search from camera” function. Google also noted object tracking in continuous mode is now “faster and more robust.” Google then explained a number of ways it improved scanning QR codes with a URL encoded:
– When scanning a QR code that has a URL encoded:
– The thumbnail of a page is shown
– URL is checked against a malicious URL blacklist
– More complete barcode coverage
– Support for non-autofocus cameras
– When Goggles fails to find an exact match – search for products that look similar.
As always, the updated version of Google Goggles for Android devices running 2.2 and up is free from Google Play now.
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Google has updated its Goggles app for Android with support for the Russian language. The software also features a handy Google Maps integration and the little things such as the ability to view your search history on a map or the ability to automatically copy your findings to system clipboard. Since 2009, Google has only supported languages that use Latin characters. The latest update brings support for Cyrillic characters, making the Russian language one of the new options.
The new search history feature is especially useful: It lets you visualize on a world map the places where you’ve been (and searched using the Goggles service). The world map overview of your history is in addition to the standard list view. Lastly, Google wants to make it easier to share our findings by allowing people to opt-in to have their findings automatically added to the clipboard for easy and fast sharing. The update is available on Android Market.
Another update ahead of I/O tomorrow, this one looks pretty good.
What’s in this version of Google Goggles:
