Google just recently launched a mobilized version of their Google Product Search for Android and iPhone, but that’s not the end of the story for Google. Following the success of barcode-scanning applications like Barcode Scanner on Android OS, Google has announced that the barcode scanning is now integrated Google Product Search for Android smartphones!
Rather than typing, or even speaking, the name of the product you’d like to search for, the new Google Product Search allows you to simply scan a barcode with your Android smartphone and have Google pull up the search results – formatted to neatly fit on your smartphone’s screen, of course.
You’ll have to have the Barcode Scanner application installed on your Android device in order to use the updated Google Product Search feature. You can install the application directly by pointing your Android web browser to Google.com, selecting “More” from the top-most row of links and then drilling down to the “Shopping” category. From there, you’ll want to click on the “Scan Barcode” button, which should open up the Android Market. Install the application and go back to your Google Product Search webpage.
Now, whenever you want to search for a product using Google’s Android-optimized Product Search page, just hit the “Scan Barcode” button and let the application do its thing. Once scanned, Google Product Search will find and display all relevant web-hits. “Barcode Scan” is available to US and UK Android users.
It really doesn’t get much easier than scanning a product and getting pricing and user-review information right on your smartphone. Score a “win” for Android!
[Via: GoogleMobileBlog]