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Google Goggles 1.7 update adds continuous scanning and automatic article search

Google Goggles 1.7 update adds continuous scanning and automatic article search

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Google Goggles has been updated to version 1.7, bringing new features to the camera-based search app. The headline additions are continuous scanning and improved text recognition.

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google goggles

Android's premiere camera-based search app, Google Goggles, has picked up a couple of big new features along with some minor tweaks in its 1.7 update. The headline addition is a continuous shooting mode, which automatically scans for objects in the camera's field of vision and returns results without you having to press the shutter button. Those on limited data plans should be careful, though, as Google warns that the constant connection can eat up a lot of your allowance. The continuous mode only works on Android 2.3 and above, and also has a few limitations such as an inability to translate text or add contacts, so the original Snapshot mode is sticking around too. The second big feature addition is the way Google has now tied text recognition into search — we tested this by scanning a random paragraph of a magazine article, and were promptly sent to an online version in the browser. The app is free, and the update's live in the Android Market now.