Behind the scenes on version 2.5, we were racing to get the technology ready for Black Friday, and in our rush, we made a mistake. In the US (and initially in the UK, too), we completely replaced Google Product Search with TheFind. We were overconfident in the volume of search results that would be immediately available from TheFind alone.In the US (and initially in the UK, too), we completely replaced Google Product Search with TheFind. We were overconfident in the volume of search results that would be immediately available from TheFind alone.
Over the last 72 hours, based on your feedback, we and TheFind realized that this wasn’t the right decision for RedLaser users. In response, effective immediately, as of this posting, we have re-enabled Google Product Search results and are now providing them along with TheFind’s Product Search results. Amazon results show up whenever possible under Google Product Search and TheFind. This means that in almost every case, we will have substantially better search results in version 2.5 than in the last version, 2.2.
You can read more about it here: http://occipital.com/blog/2009/11/28/announcing-redlaser-2_5.
Keep the feedback coming. We’re listening and improving.
Thank you for using RedLaser.
The Occipital Team
This is the worst up(down)grade I have seen on any app for a while. Removing the Amazon results has mad this app useless to me. Such a big step backwards. It's coming off my phone and I wish I could have my money back. I have recommended it to dozens of people and now it's rubbish. Please let me know when you put the Amazon search results back.
I've tried 2.5 again since the re-instating of Google, but I've gone back to 2.2 that was still in my iTunes. I'm sure that if money was thrown at Amazon in the the form of an in-app add on – say 59p/99cents – as in 'Bionic eye' etc, then Amazon would have a cut and we would all have a useful app.
Until the search standard returns to that of 2.2 which it doesn't without the Amazon search, I will be steering well clear of this update. Quicker scanning is of no advantage if it doesn't recognise the item!
We fixed some more things with the update today that boosts product identification rates further with 2.5. Overall, now, 2.5 is quite a bit more likely than 2.2 to find products. It's actually quite rare that Amazon has something that both Google product search and TheFind are unable to locate. If you can identify any such cases, we would love to know the barcode number so we can see why.
If querying Amazon is the core use (e.g. some Amazon prime users really only care about Amazon), then always remember you can still set up a RedLaser custom app!
Here are two set up for Amazon US & UK mobile sites: US http://j.mp/6164fA UK http://j.mp/7Pr11U
On 2.5, these custom apps are enhanced to scan and search in the browser built into RedLaser, which saves a bunch of time compared to in 2.2, where you were forced to redirect back to Safari.
Hope this helps.
This App, that was fantastic as version 2.2 is still as good as useless in version 2.5. In germany and searching for prices in Euros, 40 scanned items returned 1 price !!!. The same (identical barcodes) returned 37 results under version 2.2!!! How can this be??? I have noticed that if I change the currency to US $ the return is much higher but still very poor. A real shame that what was an excellent 5 star app is now reduced to...well, not even rating. Maybe you should pull this app from the European iTunes stores and just make it available in the States. Also as a final note the Amazon custom app is sooooo slllloooooowwwww. It is quicker to type the bar code into the amozon search than to use the app. A manual search at least seems to throw up prices in Euros. Not good.....
I agree with Loz, the custom app for amazon unless i'm mistaken is a web app that sits outside of Redlaser as a homepage button. This is quite useless in a way, as it means you not only have to scan the item twice so as to compare the prices generated by google and theFind (which fortunately are retained within Redlaser) but you have to then remember the prices when you go into the amazon web app. The amazon web app of course doesn't retain a list of it's scans either which is also very annoying.
As I said in my previous post, make an in app purchase amazon add-on and give amazon a cut as this is still after much testing a castrated app in comparison to v2.2 and that's the version i will be staying with until Occipital can rectify this debacle.
Come on, approach amazon and offer them money, it's the only way. I, and i'm sure many others, would be happy to pay for the integrated facility.
Before the update, I could scan anything...even cigarettes like most scan apps won't. This new update was the worst because I can't scan anything. Everything I used to scan is now coming up bunk. Great app, bad update.
I been trying it out for a while now and I can honestly say that thefind.co.uk is one of, if not the worst price comparison sites I've tried! Are there any plans to do anything with sccope.com? they seem to be one of the better ones...?
Used to love this app. Now it sucks! Bring back the old search and get rid of the friggin "thefind"!!!
Bring back the ability to price compare with Amazon!!!
This is useless now. I recommended it to everyone, but will not do anymore unless it's fixed.
Also, it would be great to have an option to start from the camera and not the other screen it starts with now. Just saying......
Dear Occipital,
Any update on this? I have yet to see a post by you to address the issues described in the posts above.
Please get rid of the useless "thefind". It just clutters screen real estate with higher priced items. Or, at least, give us the option of adding/removing search engines via a configuration screen.
Also, FYI, Amazon is not just for shopping, but for real-world reviews of a product whenever I am out shopping and like to see a quick review of a specific product as well as better pricing.
C'mon... This worked great until 2.5, so why not fix it?
Thanks in advance, looking forward to the updates.
Neurobit
Hi everyone, thanks for all of the feedback. We've been busy improving things on our end.
Some asked us to remove TheFind -- we aren't going to do that because they have an extremely powerful search engine and they are the fastest growing shopping search site on the web. RedLaser is the only barcode scanning application that allows you to tap into their index. There are numerous cases where TheFind has products online where Google Product Search does not, so we definitely don't want to loose that! (Try scanning items in any Starbucks for an example -- TheFind is excellent at locating these online -- Google usually has nothing)
We're working on some search configuration options for the next update in response to your requests. Stay tuned for more on this in the next update, but there will be improvements in this area.
Amazon - it was suggested that we pay Amazon for access - unfortunately it's not about money with Amazon, it's about control. They want control over all mobile access to their data, which stems back from a policy that they started several years ago when mobile was just evolving. It's a very strange and outdated policy, but their staff are enforcing it until someone high up realizes it's frustrating users! (And companies like us who are trying to serve users!)
Product reviews - This is something that we're working on with TheFind. As soon as they have their review search API ready, we'll display them in RedLaser. In fact, we already have this capability in RedLaser 2.5 but the APIs aren't ready quite yet.
As everyone else said, I'm very said to see Amazon results go (or very few results anyway). I used to be able to walk around any retailer and see what amazon is selling an item for. Yesterday I had 0 successful searches. TheFind brought me to some Danish website. I also feel sorry for the developers having Amazon shut the door. Perhaps you need some media cloud to push the matter? Team up with some app review site or Gizmodo or something..I don't know.
The ability to incorporate custom apps created (thus other price comparison sites) into the main interface would at least go some way to making up for the lack of amazon. The ability to log these searches in the main app would be handy. Being able to turn off The Find would also be preferable - even if it finds a product, it's usually more expensive than other sites made with custom apps! (I'm in the UK)
You have a great app, but its potential has stalled at the moment...
Well, I hope to find out the real story here. Occipital's comments in defense of The Find sound a little too "canned" for my tastes. It really smells like money changing hands. To be clear, that of course is not illegal or even immoral. Occipital is obviously a business. I just think that hooking up with The Find for cash is a poor business decision (unless all you want to do it cut and run). I've written an email to Jeff Bezos re this, and actually got a reply (not canned) from someone in his office. They said they will look into this issue. I told them that as a customer, I REALLY want Amazon on RedLaser. Stay tuned.
I have re-installed 2.5, and it's functional again as far as finding products. But without Amazon, this app is pretty much worthless to me now. Guess I'll wait and see if this issue is resolved and Amazon is brought back. Until then, I can no longer recommend this app to anyone.
Good idea on emailing Bezos. I wll do that also (everyone on using RL should).
Neurobit
All - Just wanted to make sure everyone knows that this isn't a total freeze-out, because Amazon results do often appear via Google Product Search or TheFind. Amazon and Amazon web store results do routinely appear in RedLaser.
lens42 - We are working with TheFind because they have a much larger team working on expanding product results. In time, we hope everyone will realize that this addition was to create a much better product for all of you. While Occipital is a leader in computer vision, TheFind is a leader in product search.
mally_mal - TheFind UK typically locates larger, more established retailers, which typically don't have the absolute lowest price. (like Amazon, who seldom has the lowest price, but is more trusted.) As the index increases, you'll see lower prices, though.
Thanks for all of the suggestions and understanding as we continue to improve RedLaser. Stay tuned for new things -- in fact, we're rolling out a new feature today.
Especially in the uk, we really miss the amazon marketplace prices which are a lot cheaper. This is why I am still using v2.2. I have tried the sane products with v2.5. Until amazon marketplace is somehow reinstated I will continue with v2.2. I am aware that the jobs worths at amazon are enforcing an out of date restriction but you need to get in front of a real decision maker to change this.
i agree with john i need amazon back !! quote: This is the worst up(down)grade I have seen on any app for a while. Removing the Amazon results has mad this app useless to me. Such a big step backwards. It's coming off my phone and I wish I could have my money back. I have recommended it to dozens of people and now it's rubbish. Please let me know when you put the Amazon search results back.
and i would gladly pay 1.99 again for amazon only red lazer !!
@AndrewWatts, @ken, we're doing all we can on this front. We are optimistic that this is just a short-term hiccup. If everybody banded together and shunned Amazon until they opened up, it'd be an overnight change :) But they enjoy a great allegiance for their reliable fast, and fairly-priced solution.
We all want Amazon back at the TOP! Without Amazon at the top this app is of little use to me and many others.
I'm really bummed about this as well. I picked RedLaser after a friend showed me how it instantly connected with Amazon. Of course, now after digging I find out that this is no longer the case. Honestly, I wouldn't buy from any random site that showed-up in a list, I only would be interested in Amazon reviews + their pricing... I probably wasted the $1.99, but I'm going looking for another app that does this.
@johnhook, @kbolden Definitely understand that you are upset about losing some Amazon results, but please note that they do sometimes show up through Google Products. The reason we cannot always show Amazon results is that they have an inexplicable policy of not allowing mobile applications like ours to access their prices. This puts the small guys like us in the position of having to explain this to our customers. We hope that this is a temporary policy from them.
Meanwhile, we will continue finding ways to improve the quality of our results and the overall experience within the app.
I would really like some help on how to query TheFind within my iPhone app. Right now, all I can imagine doing is querying TheFind and manually parsing the HTML. I doubt that's what you guys are doing in RedLaser. Help? Please?
@tvilot - Have you tried GoogleBase? They have an open API you can call.
Here is an example:9781934356326
A book that shows up on Amazon if you do the Amazon custom app but is not listed for Amazon on either Google Product Search or The Find, though Google is good at listing the same sight many times - I assume for multiple product listings - which is kind of annoying.
Though I'd like an internal way to get to Amazon, I have a "Kludge" that might be useful.
1) Copy the title of the scanned item that I am pointing to into the "clipboard"
2) Have a set ot User Defined Goto's, that the user could jump to, one of which would point to Amazon fo for me. Then I'd hit the "Go To 'Amazon", Paste in the title, and have Amazon do its thing.
That way you are not tied into Amazon or any other site, but are allowing me to determine which sites I want to use and thru the Copy/Paste, being reasonably independent of the site's format.
Until this app is available for Windows phones, it is useless!
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