Amazon Buys Mobile Product Search Startup SnapTell
Amazon.com (NSDQ: AMZN) search subsidiary A9.com has purchased SnapTell, a startup that offers users a way to search for product information from their mobile phones. Its free iPhone and Android apps let people take a photo of a piece of media—like a DVD, CD, or video game—and then immediately see product information, including reviews.
In a blog post, SnapTell says that “one of the most heard requests was how we could integrate better with Amazon’s ... shopping experience … We should be able to do so pretty well now.” Amazon’s iPhone app—Amazon Mobile—already has a feature that lets users take a photo of a product which is then stored on a “visual list” on both the app and on Amazon.com—so that the user can easily buy it later. It’s easy therefore to see how SnapTell’s technology could potentially be added to it. A purchase price was not disclosed. The news was first reported by TechCrunch.
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