When we are not supplying IT support for our clients, one of the things we often do here at Octagon is just explore technology. We like to understand – not only the core products we support but also – you never know when keeping up with the latest tech will help us solve your problem! As we like to tell Clive “play=better IT support”.
IT Support and Technology
This is not so much “latest tech” but it is something that I found interesting. The continuous improvement in phone and camera technology with ever faster internet connections has greatly improved the performance of this Android app – so I thought I would take my blog spot and tell you about it.
Google Lens
If you are the owner of an android phone, you may have come across Google Lens. It might sound like some techno eye-wear akin to VR but in fact it is a new way of searching and capturing information through your camera. While it is available as an app for iPhones it usually comes built into android phones.
But what does it do?
Google Lens can use images to search, which sounds nice and simple. In practice this means a lot, especially when coupled with AI and Google’s vast resources. At its most basic level you can search online for images similar to ones you have supplied, and this could mean finding a particular item from an online store despite not knowing anything about it. You can identify animals, plants, places, food and sometimes people.
Google Lens can use its image algorithms to identify information from pictures intelligently. Take a photo of a book, and it can not only tell you where to get that book and how much it costs, but it can read the words aloud to you. Taking this a step further, it is smart enough to recognise useful patterns and terms, for example scanning a business card and adding contact information into your device. This is already pretty impressive, but then you find out it can also read handwriting, albeit not perfectly, but well enough. It will also recognise mathematical formulae and can solve them!
Lastly and perhaps the most useful for most users is the translation function. Simply pointing your camera at a piece of text will overlay a decent translation onto your display in real time. This makes foreign countries less foreboding since you can now read everything, just don’t ask me to pay your roaming data charges.
Back to IT support
Have you got an IT project or upgrade you are thinking about? Sales people, slick PowerPoint presentations, glossy leaflets and a branded pen or water bottle will not give you the whole story. One of us can be the person on your side.
We can help you define scope that addresses your needs not those of the sales person. In the meetings we can ask those hard questions that the sales person is hoping to avoid, catching the sales speak that get you to buy the wrong product.
Does that sound like something that will make your IT spend work harder for you?
You can get hold of me here – Contact Us.
Ben
Ben Parker – byline and other articles
