Close
  • Latest News
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
Read Down
Sign in
Close
Welcome!Log into your account
Forgot your password?
Read Down
Password recovery
Recover your password
Close
Search
Logo
Logo
  • Latest News
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
More
    Home Cloud
    • Cloud
    • IT Management

    Google Buys Plink to Add Talent for Google Goggles

    By
    Clint Boulton
    -
    April 12, 2010
    Share
    Facebook
    Twitter
    Linkedin

      Google Apri1 12 confirmed that it has purchased mobile search startup Plink for an undisclosed sum, marking the latest in a series of acquisitions the search engine has made to augment its Web services offerings.

      Plink’s first application, PlinkArt, lets users identify paintings by snapping photos of them with their smartphones. When PlinkArt’s recognizes a painting, it will provide information on the artwork and artist, and allow users to share their favorite pieces with friends or order a print of the work for their wall.

      Plink co-founders Mark Cummins and James Philbin, who announced the buy in a blog post, said that Plink’s 50,000-plus users may continue to use PlinkArt and new users are welcome to download the app. While the app as it exists today will not change, Cummins and Philbin said they will not update PlinkArt again.

      Instead, the programmers with PhDs from Oxford said they will bring their computer vision expertise to Google Goggles, the mobile visual search app Google launched last year for Android smartphones such as the Motorola Droid and Google Nexus One.

      Like PinkArt, Goggles already recognizes artwork, but its focus is much broader thanks to Google’s massive compute scaling capabilities. Goggles currently recognizes photos of places, monuments, books, company logos, contacts from business cards, and even some products, such as bottles of wine.

      The app has yet to accurately catalog cars, food, animals and plants. That’s a tip to any computer vision programmers with designs on landing at Google.

      “The visual search engines of today can do some pretty cool things, but they still have a long long way to go,” Cummins and Philbin wrote. “We’re looking forward to helping the Goggles team build a visual search engine that works not just for paintings or book covers, but for everything you see around you.”

      Cummins and Philbin repeated the now common mantra leaders from Google’s newly acquired startups have been uttering; that they sold out so they could scale.

      Specifically, they wrote: “Google has already shown that it’s serious about investing in this space with Google Goggles, and for the Plink team the opportunity to take our algorithms to Google-scale was just too exciting to pass up.”

      The lure of a nice payday for intellectual property and this so-called “Google-scale” is proving to be an increasingly lucrative proposition for many startups. Where small companies are concerned, if Google targets them chances are good Google gets them.

      Google began ramping up its acquisition shopping spree in August 2009 when it targeted On2 Technologies, which it finally acquired after a price fight. Google also bid $750 million for mobile ad power AdMob, but that deal is threatened by the Federal Trade Commission’s concerns that it will give Google too much power in mobile ads.

      Google did, however, manage to pick up display ad provider Teracent, collaboration startups AppJet and DocVerse, social search engine Aardvark, mobile e-mail app ReMail, Web photo editor Picnik and Web video platform Episodic.

      Clint Boulton

      MOST POPULAR ARTICLES

      Big Data and Analytics

      Alteryx’s Suresh Vittal on the Democratization of...

      James Maguire - May 31, 2022 0
      I spoke with Suresh Vittal, Chief Product Officer at Alteryx, about the industry mega-shift toward making data analytics tools accessible to a company’s complete...
      Read more
      Cybersecurity

      Visa’s Michael Jabbara on Cybersecurity and Digital...

      James Maguire - May 17, 2022 0
      I spoke with Michael Jabbara, VP and Global Head of Fraud Services at Visa, about the cybersecurity technology used to ensure the safe transfer...
      Read more
      Applications

      Cisco’s Thimaya Subaiya on Customer Experience in...

      James Maguire - May 10, 2022 0
      I spoke with Thimaya Subaiya, SVP and GM of Global Customer Experience at Cisco, about the factors that create good customer experience – and...
      Read more
      Cloud

      IGEL CEO Jed Ayres on Edge and...

      James Maguire - June 14, 2022 0
      I spoke with Jed Ayres, CEO of IGEL, about the endpoint sector, and an open source OS for the cloud; we also spoke about...
      Read more
      Big Data and Analytics

      GoodData CEO Roman Stanek on Business Intelligence...

      James Maguire - May 4, 2022 0
      I spoke with Roman Stanek, CEO of GoodData, about business intelligence, data as a service, and the frustration that many executives have with data...
      Read more
      Logo

      eWeek has the latest technology news and analysis, buying guides, and product reviews for IT professionals and technology buyers. The site’s focus is on innovative solutions and covering in-depth technical content. eWeek stays on the cutting edge of technology news and IT trends through interviews and expert analysis. Gain insight from top innovators and thought leaders in the fields of IT, business, enterprise software, startups, and more.

      Facebook
      Linkedin
      RSS
      Twitter
      Youtube

      Advertisers

      Advertise with TechnologyAdvice on eWeek and our other IT-focused platforms.

      Advertise with Us

      Menu

      • About eWeek
      • Subscribe to our Newsletter
      • Latest News

      Our Brands

      • Privacy Policy
      • Terms
      • About
      • Contact
      • Advertise
      • Sitemap
      • California – Do Not Sell My Information

      Property of TechnologyAdvice.
      © 2022 TechnologyAdvice. All Rights Reserved

      Advertiser Disclosure: Some of the products that appear on this site are from companies from which TechnologyAdvice receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site including, for example, the order in which they appear. TechnologyAdvice does not include all companies or all types of products available in the marketplace.

      ×