[elliott]

So...in other words, Google Now is a stalker?

It is a very polite stalker, it will ask if it is allowed to stalk you and will stop at any time and forget everything it knows about you.

[eddaytona]

"and will stop at any time and forget everything it knows about you."

That's what it wants you to think.....

[calsan]

This is quite spooky and troubling. I've tried it with a couple of my images and it got the one of a building correct first go. The photo of a bird I uploaded, it found a few similar shots including a building with rafters that looked eerily similar to the wing pattern on the bird. It's amazing how easily it does this.
Words, I can understand, pictures are a whole new level.

[NicoleC]

Google Now is the frightening one, it learns your routine. It keeps track of locations you visit often, so it learns where and when you work, it learns what restaurants you like and a lot more, all without any input from you other than carrying the phone with you. It also learns your travel times between various locations so it can help you plan departure times.

Unfortunately it doesn't work for diddly for me. It always reminds me I need to leave for an appointment 15 minutes after I'm there.

Imaging is the wave of Web 3.0. Google will probably be the most popular, but all kinds of companies are working on services that can recognize the content of images and index them, so they can be searched and retrieved. File names and meta data are not reliable -- many people don't fill it in or fill it in with garbage to get more hits. (Think advertisements with keywords like "sexy woman".)

I'm not sure how it is going to affect photography businesses but I am sure the impact will be profound. Amateurs will be competing directly with established businesses for eyeballs on a much more even playing field.

[imaspy]

not really new... introduced by google in 2011... however tineye was introduced in 2008. meh.

[Clavius]

Very cool (but scary) stuff!!

I recently saw a documentary about future cops wearing things like google glass. The glasses used facial recognition to scan each and every face the cops encountered. Flagged people would automatically display info in the cops classes. Same went for security cameras tagging each and every face automatically with names. Convenient stuff too, like facial recognition opening doors of houses, buildings, cars.

You can also use the google images to find out if someone "borrowed" one of your pictures without asking... And bill them!

[bdery]

How do you ask google images to search from an image?

As for Google Now, it's probably fantastic if you live in the Us. In Canada, it won't even give me sports results even after I entered the names of the teams I want updates about.

[monochrome]

For many years the New Yorker ran a cartoon series with a bearded, besandaled man holding up a placard proclaiming, "The End Is Near." some indicative character walking past on the sidewalk and a catchy caption.

Update the placard to, "The Singularity is Near," a series of indicative characters wearing Glass, and a creepy caption.

We're already there.

[Parallax]

How do you ask google images to search from an image?

Search by Image ? Inside Search ? Google

[mrNewt]

It kind of fails at "visually similar images" section though...

I tested my K-01 macro setup picture and it found the 2 pages used here on these forums but the suggested "visually similar images" were nothing alike... all pictures were of man pictures, B&W... and some were... ummm... "happy"...

[tclausen]

It is a very polite stalker, it will ask if it is allowed to stalk you and will stop at any time and forget everything it knows about you.

Hahaha, good one!

[ivanvernon]

Here is the kind of resolution that I would like to see in some future Pentax FF camera. Click and view:

Gigapixel.com - 2011 Stanley Cup - Game 7 Canucks Fan Zone v1

[frogoutofwater]

What would be even more disconcerting would be having Google correctly identify an image of a place inside my apartment ...

[mrNewt]

What would be even more disconcerting would be having Google correctly identify an image of a place inside my apartment ...

Try it .

[MSL]

What would be even more disconcerting would be having Google correctly identify an image of a place inside my apartment ...

Depends on what you do in your apartment, and whether it's been posted before. I'm sure a photo of generic hotel room would bring up all sorts of images of celebrity misdeeds.