6/2/2008 - Mobile Visual Search Engine on the Apple iPhone

Having an iPod Touch, I get most of what the iPhone has to offer but with no expensive monthly costs to AT&T. However, what I do lack are features that I actually desire. First, of course, is the phone aspect which means I have to carry around a separate phone. Second is being able to access the internet without needing to be near a hotspot. I can't tell you how many times I would have liked to grab a webpage on my iPod Touch but couldn't because I wasn't near a hotspot. Last but not least is the built in camera the iPhone has. It's not the highest resolution of cameras and there is no flash, but there is that convenience factor again. If I wanted a quick picture and I don't have my Canon around, I'm out of luck. Also, I can't access cool applications that use the camera like this one:



I guess this program is web-based and therefore not exclusive to the iPhone, but the iPhone makes it all look easy. I'm sure it would have taken triple the number of steps to get the picture to attach to an e-mail on other "smartphones".