From quadrocopter deliveries to rumors of a 3D Kindle smartphone coming in 2014, Amazon has been on the cutting edge of tech for quite some time now. The company’s latest update for its iOS app, however, might be among the most fun new developments we’ve seen.
Along with the ubiquitous bug fixes seen in practically every iOS app update, version 3.2.1 of Amazon’s retail app includes a feature called “Flow” which lets users quickly and easily search for products using their iOS camera.
Unlike the previous addition of a barcode scanner in October 2010, Flow lets users identify products by simply pointing their iPhone in the right direction, and then letting the image recognition tools do the rest of the work.
Both as a technical feat and an effort-saving feature, it’s massively impressive stuff — although the addition hasn’t yet been rolled out to every country’s Amazon store. This doesn’t mean you can’t have a go if you live in, say, the UK, though — simply hit the “More” tab on the app, and change your country to United States, after which Flow becomes an available option on the search menu.
Source: iTunes
Luke Dormehl is a U.K.-based journalist and author, with a background working in documentary film for Channel 4 and the BBC. He is the author of The Apple Revolution and The Formula: How Algorithms Solve All Our Problems … and Create More, both published by Penguin/Random House. His tech writing has also appeared in Wired, Fast Company, Techmeme and other publications.
