I would have thought that we would have exhausted the functional envelope of search-engines, but no. After Vincent Dekker of Trouw had pointed to Melzoo (mouse-over of search results gives example in separate frame) Cool Tools posted about TinEye.
“TinEye is a handy reverse image search engine. It finds where on the web an image comes from. You can use it to find where a photo of yours appears elsewhere, to find a higher res version of an image, or to locate the origins of a photo someone forwarded to you.”
A first test showed that their coverage of the web’s content is somewhat lacking, but it is an interesting twist in search technology.
The company is using their basic technology to extend the possibilities. Like TinEye Mobile , which allows you to search for products using your mobile phone’s camera. Just take a photograph to start your search and view pricing and reviews for products.
Idée’s first mobile release is TinEye Music (take a picture of a CD and search on the web), for iPhones only.
A company to watch: somebody is going to think of a way to use this technology nobody would have imagined before.
