Nokia makes mobile shopping come of age

Nokia has debuted a new idea that allows users to use their mobile cameras to "Point & Find" out more about items they have photographed, including the opportunity to make purchases.

Although just a prototype that's not expected to go into production for three years, the technology is already attracting attention for the potential it offers to make targeted information available to consumers just by using mobile phone pictures.

It works by passing the picture to image recognition software in the handset, which recognises the item and then opens its internet browser to request relevant web information about the picture's content.

In the scenario where the user wants to buy the photographed item seen, say, in a shop window, the phone then initiates a search for the item's best price and availability, before allowing them to purchase it online.

Point & Find has been developed by the Nokia Research Centre in Helsinki over the last five years. Nokia stated: "It is an exciting new way to discover more about your surroundings, using the camera on your mobile device. The mobile device then displays relevant information about what you are looking at, fetching real-time information from the internet."

It says it could have a number of applications alongside mobile shopping, suggesting it could be used by holidaymakers wanting to find out more about attractions they have seen.

This and other new mobile innovative applications, including one that aims to offer translations of photographed text, are the basis of a new project called 'The Way we Live Next' launched by Nokia in October this year.

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