Google has released a new application for Android called Google Shopper which lets you compare, read reviews and get more info on items by scanning cover art or barcode of movies, books, music and other objects with your Android phone’s camera. You can also search by using Google’s voice search.

You can now just take out your phone and take a snapshot of the cover or the barcode of the book you saw in the bookstore and see if you can get it cheaper online, or just read others opinions on the book itself. You can also tell the application via voice commands to search for the product and Google Shopper will try to find the correct product and list you prices from various web retailers. Ones that use Google Checkout as a payment method will most likely have emphasis.

The results you get not only show you prices, but also reviews, specifications of the item and other images of the product available at Google Product Search.

While this is not the first application to provide scan-based shopping comparison, it sets itself apart from others by searching amongst various web retailers and not just one site like Amazon’s application for Android does. It is also faster than Amazon’s application, because you do not have to sign in to anything and also do not have to snap an actual picture; you can just hover the camera over the product you want to search for and when Google Shopper finds some info on it, it will automatically open up the results page.

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One of the letdowns of the product is that you need to have WiFi (wireless network) connection to be able to call local numbers. Voice delivery over EDGE is not permitted (or maybe not possible? I don’t have a clear idea yet.).

Don’t forget that you can call other users over the wireless network for free. The features that were available in the desktop version are also available in the iPhone app too.

So, the other details and user experience for Skype for iPhone application are as follows:

• When you enter your username and password and successfully login they will not be asked again.
• Sound quality: Sound quality is way better than a normal phone if you call another Skype user. However, if you call a local number instead, the sound quality will be the same as of a phone’s.
• You can write and send messages through EDGE but can’t make any calls. That is to say you can login to the system to see and message with people who are online but it gives you a warning message when you want to make a call.
• The application doesn’t work on the background. In order for you to get a Skype call, you need to leave the application on at all times. The screensaver being on doesn’t provide an obstacle; you can still get your calls and messages.

My opinion: Is a must for all iPhone users to have it on their phones.

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1. Scan barcodes, books and cover art and shop smarter with Google Shopper Google has released a new application for Android called Google...

1. Scan barcodes, books and cover art and shop smarter with Google Shopper Google has released a new application for Android called Google...

• Core 2 Duo T8100 (2.1 GHz)
• Core 2 Duo T8300 (2.4 GHz)
• Core 2 Duo T9300 (2.5 GHz)
• Core 2 Duo T9500 (2.6 GHz)
• Core 2 Extreme X9000 (2.8 GHz)

Although Intel will take orders for these models until June 24th, the distribution of both boxed and tray versions of the products will end respectively on October 23th, 2009 and September 24th, 2010.

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AMD/ATI will release the Radeon HD 4890, which has its parallel processing performance and clock speed improved, on April 6th. Right after that nVidia will provide its competitor and rival, the nVidia Geforce GTX 275, precisely to be released three days after Radeon HD 4890. We expect to see these changes in the presentation on April 9th:

• 633 MHz core speed
• 1404 MHz parallel processor speed
• 2328 MHz GDDR3 memory
• 240 parallel shader processors
• 896 MB memory
• 80 texture units

The card is based on G200b GPU core. It is expected substitute the GeForce GTX 260 (revision two) in $230-280 price range.

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The processor that iPhone will prefer in a situation like this is, with its power management capabilities better than Intel’s Atom, a derivative of ARM Cortex A9 processor.

Like we said before, we don’t have any other solid data other than those said on Macworld 2009, but looking at it as the reasonable rumor it is, we can presume that where there is smoke, there is fire. Let us see what the upcoming days will show us.

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Other than these, Google has also pointed out that touchscreen-friendly buttons have been placed in the search options, and these optimized search results were only available in Androids with American English and iPhones and iPod Touchs with 2.x update installed.

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Android, the open source operating system of Google that has been spreading fastly since the time it has surfaced, now became the choice of Taiwan originated cellphone producer Lenovo mostly known for their desktop and laptop products. Although Lenovo hasn’t given much information about their “Ophone” named phone using the Android operating system, a picture wandering in the internet has given some clues to the outer surface of the product.

Other than that, it is rumored that Android will be used with TD-SCDMA (OMS “Open Mobile System” technology from China Mobile).

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Based on Intel’s former announcements on the subject, the 4 cored Lynnfield will be available through the end of 2009 as well as Havendale will be available in the start of 2010.

This architecture, that will be 1160 pins, is pointed out to be able to be easily sufficient for this processor family that has 2 instead of 3 channel DDR3 memory controller like Core i7s.

After all the main mission of the 4-cored Lynnfield is to be at a fairly low price to make it more purchasable. Likewise the main mission of P55 that will replace the P45, is to help make Nehalem the dominant in product segmentation  near the end of 2009.

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Broadcom has revealed its new 3in1 chip named BCM4329. This new chip features 802.11n WiFi, Bluetooth and a FM radio receiver. Its good news for producers who need to enlarge phones to include newer hardware properties and people who do not want to carry around gigantic phones in their pockets.

BCM4329 is the first phone chip to support 802.11n protocol. FM radio can function as both a receiver and transmitter. Broadcom announced that this new chip will be available in 2009.

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Are you an Android developer looking to test your apps on multiple GSM networks? Are you anyone else, simply looking for an unlocked HTC G1? In either case, Google and T-Mobile will apparently be happy to hook you up. A special “developer version” of the G1 is now available from T-Mobile 100% SIM and hardware-unlocked. The handset can be purchased from T-Mobile’s G1 site and shipping within the US is free. It is also available to be shipped internationally to 18 different regions. There is a catch of course but it’s hardly a big one. Since the unlocked G1 is intended for developers, you will have to register on the Android Market site and pay a one-time registration fee of $25. That brings the grand total of this fully-authorized unlocked G1 to $424 shipped.

[Source: Engadget]

See the devices available for developers.

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