So far the leaders in the space include Scanbuy, ShopSavvy (on Android), and Red Laser (on iPhone), which this week announced 2 million app downloads, 50 million scans, and nearly 1 million active users.
Google no doubt has its eyes on this prize, as do popular apps like Red Laser and ShopSavvy. This week saw Apple in talks with Microsoft to have Bing replace Google as the default search engine on the iPhone.
The next evolutionary step will involve more inputs, such as voice (Vlingo) and visual (ShopSavvy). It could have something to do with rapid evolution in mobile technologies, as question marks often shroud fast-moving industries.
These include UrbanSpoon, bar code scanners such as ShopSavvy, and music discovery engines such as Shazam. Over the past decade, search has evolved based on a combination of better algorithms and increasing user sophistication.
