Category: Apps

A version of the CamFind app from Image Searcher has been developed for the wearable device.

The startup’s image recognition app has been designed to work with Google Glass, enabling a wearer of the optical head-mounted display to look at something and CamFind will identify whatever the user may be looking at within seconds.

CamFind utilizes AI for image recognition.

The visual search app recognizes images by using artificial intelligence (AI). It combines this technology with crowdsourcing, giving humans the ability to correct the identification of images.

In an exclusive interview with VentureBeat, the CEO of Image Searcher, Dominik Mazur, said that in as little as 12 seconds, CamFind is capable of generating an accurate answer for an image query and it can take mere milliseconds if the computer vision recognizes it on the first try.

Brad Folkens, the chief technology officer said that “It really takes the friction out of the process.” Folkens added that “When we started this, we found that mobile search was broken. We make it so you can look at something and then get an answer. When you can do it fast, it turns from a novelty into a utility.”

Folkens did say that while 12 seconds might seem like a long time to wait for an answer when people have become accustomed to wanting immediate results, it is much faster than any other alternative available to users while they are on the go. For instance, the visual search app can identify clothing brands or shoe brands. Therefore, if a Google Glass wearer liked the shoes someone else was wearing, they could find out the brand. In the future, when Glass steps into the e-commerce space, consumers will be able to buy what they see when they are inspired to do so.

The CamFind Google Glass app is likely to succeed where Google Goggles failed.

A while back, Google had previously developed a smartphone app called Google Goggles, which allowed users to take a picture of a wine bottle and obtain useful information about it. However, this app did not work most of the time and the app was taken down by Google.

It is not yet known when the CamFind app will be available for Google Glass, but Image Searcher has submitted its application for approval.

An iOS 8 update has been pulled after new software caused dropped calls.

After releasing its newest version of its iOS 8 Apple software earlier this week, the electronics giant had to withdraw its mobile update when a great number of its iPhone customers experienced a loss in cellular service, preventing them from making calls with their smartphones.

Some customers even reported the Touch ID feature stopped working due to the update.

While most iPhone users who downloaded the update experienced a drop in calls, some complained that the Touch ID feature, the fingerprint reader, would also not work. In a statement, Apple said that it has received reports of these issues linked to the latest mobile operating system update, which is known as iOS 8.0.1. However, the company did say that customers can still use iOS 8 in spite of the issue.

Trudy Muller, a spokesperson for Apple said that “We are actively investigating these reports and will provide information as quickly as we can.” Muller added that “In the meantime, we have pulled back the iOS 8.0.1 update.”

Since its release, the iOS 8 Apple software has had more than one problem.

According to data from analytics firm Crittercism Inc., iOS 8 causes apps to crash roughly 3.3% of the time. To put this into greater perspective, compared to last year’s version of iOS, the latest version crashes apps 67% more. Since its release last week, popular applications from Dropbox and Facebook have been failing regularly and the company had to delay the release of its HealthKit apps – the company’s much anticipated health and fitness-monitoring application – due to unexpected software bugs. Customers have also said that they have had to delete data such as apps, videos and photos from their phones to make space for the latest software.

Frank Gillett, a Forrester Research analyst said, “that’s the danger with all these updates: if you get it wrong, it goes wrong big, bad and fast.” Gillett added that “There’s a fundamental question of how it got out in the first place.”

iOS is the Apple software that powers all of the company’s mobile devices, including the iPhone, the iPad and the iPod Touch. It is estimated by Apple Inc. that as many as 46% of devices that connect to its App Store run iOS 8.