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The kooaba API is here! Yeeehhhh …

March 3rd, 2010 by Till

Now the moment you’ve all been waiting for: the kooaba API is open to the public. We announced it this Monday at ARDevcamp Zurich and already got loads of positive feedback.

The quick facts

  • You will get access to the recognition of media covers (CDs, DVDs, Books, Movie Posters). That’s close to ten million items (!)
  • We offer a service in the cloud, i.e. you don’t install anything locally
  • You access the API via REST (essentially standard HTTP)
  • FREE with up to 50 requests per day
  • Sample code for Java, Ruby, PHP, Objective C available
  • We have a new developers section on our web-site with more details

We can’t wait to see what people create, here are some things we would like to see ourselves:

  • clients for mobile platforms other than iPhone and Android
  • something with Twitter
  • something with Facebook
  • use the webcam
  • a (mobile) movie guide (snap pictures of movie posters…)
  • recommended reading (for book covers)

But more than these ideas we would love to see stuff that we didn’t even dream of.

Essentially, you can build your own Google Goggles or even cooler apps! And we take care of the geeky image search algorithms for you.

So, check it out!

Posted in Computer Vision, Mobile Applications, Newsletter, kooaba | 28 Comments »

Come and see kooaba’s Augmented Reality prototype live

February 23rd, 2010 by Till

Next week, on March 1st, we will be co-organizing the AR Devcamp Zurich. AR Devcamp’s mission can be summarized best with a quote from their website:

After nearly 20 years in the research labs, Augmented Reality is taking shape as one of the next major waves of Internet innovation, overlaying and infusing the physical world with digital media, information and experiences. We believe AR must be fundamentally open, interoperable, extensible, and accessible to all, so that it can create the kinds of opportunities for expressiveness, communication, business and social good that we enjoy on the web and Internet today. As one step toward this goal of an Open AR web, we are organizing AR DevCamps technical sessions and hacking opportunities in an open format, BarCamp style.

Together with ETH Zurich, we will lead a session on the use of visual (natural) features for Augmented Reality. We will also have a special announcement for developers.
The registration link for AR Devcamp can be found here.

Furthermore, co-located there will be a special Mobile Monday (“Hands on AR”) with an Augmented Reality tour through Zurich (starting at 4 pm).
For the first time, we will show an augmented reality prototype to the general public. It will be an application running on Android phones, with features similar to the ones we announced in this video a little while ago:

So, come and join us to see a glimpse of the (augmented) future. (Registration link for Mobile Monday is here.)

Posted in Computer Vision, Mobile Applications, Newsletter, kooaba | 1 Comment »

First kooabaized daily newspaper

January 20th, 2010 by Marc

Blick frontpageStarting today Blick readers are able to interact with the physical publication via mobile using kooaba for iPhone and Android. With a circulation of more that 200,000 and a readership of almost 700,000 Blick is Switzerland’s largest paid daily newspaper.

Every single page in Blick is kooabaized. This means readers can snap a picture of any page they’re interested in using our smartphone app. Once kooaba’s image recognition technology finds the corresponding digital version of it, readers can easily comment or recommend the article to friends using email, Facebook or Twitter.

If the reader signed up for a kooaba account all these pages will automatically be stored in his personal kooaba library. Bookmarking in the real world becomes reality and the pages can be easily accessed anytime. This can be handy if you want to remember certain articles in order to read them at home on the big screen, keep them for reference, or share them with friends.

Besides sharing and remembering (storing) pages readers can explore additional content on selected stories which have been enriched with videos, images or links to other relevant articles on websites.

Ultimately static print ads become interactive and offer a unique digital channel to the publisher, advertisers and the readers.

Pages which contain additional content are marked with the kooaba logo. To help the reader discover the added value.

Please find below some impressions from today’s issue:

Snap a picture of any pageResults on iPhonekooaba Library

A snapshot of ANY page with kooaba is enough to explore (additional) content, share the story with friends and remember it.

You can find more information about our partnership in the German press release, the full page article about the service on our library and a “how to” video on blick.ch/kooaba.

Hint: Simply snap a picture of Blick’s frontpage with kooaba to get additional images of today’s Blick girl. It even works off the screen.

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Posted in Interactive Print, Newsletter, kooaba | 3 Comments »

New features in kooaba for iPhone

January 11th, 2010 by Marc

We’re proud to announce that we’ve just launched two great new features for our iPhone app. These are

Multiple Results

Many images on media covers are used for different editions (e.g. for the regular album, the extended japanese version and the limited collector’s edition). Or they are used for related products (e.g. for the soundtrack, the DVD and the movie poster). With Multiple Results it’s now possible to explore all editions and products which share the same packshot once you took a picture of one of them with kooaba. You can see an example in the video below with the soundtrack of “Quantum of Solace”. Or try it yourself and snap a picture of Coldplay’s album cover “Viva la Vida“. You will be surprised how many products share that image – not limited to music!

Login Status Display

You can use kooaba’s visual search for media products and interactive print magazines and newspapers right away and without entering any login details to explore additional related information about them. Although you miss a great part of our solution if you don’t have a kooaba account: our handy online library. This is where all your search queries and related information are stored for later reference and where you can share your explored products and articles with your friends. We developed the Login Status Display feature to tell you if you’re logged in every time you start kooaba on your iPhone. This way you don’t have to check your settings if you’re unsure if you entered your login details.

Please have a closer look at both features in this video:

And…

kooaba also got faster and better! Recently we deployed a significantly faster version of our core engine, plus larger index.

Please let us know what you think of the new features!

Btw. It took Apple only six (!) hours after the submission to approve our latest update of the kooaba app. We like that.

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Posted in Mobile Applications, Newsletter, kooaba | No Comments »

CHIP magazine is kooabized

January 8th, 2010 by Marc

CHIP 02/2010We’re very excited to announce our partnership with CHIP – one of Germany’s largest computer and communication magazines. Their entire German relaunch issue 02/2010 is now interactive.

Besides many great new extras inside the magazine, iPhone and Android users with the kooaba app can snap a picture of any page inside the magazine they’re interested in. After the image (we call it “Smart Visual”) is recognized, kooaba finds the digital version of the article the user took a picture of.

After this process the mobile application leads the user to a result page where he can explore, remember and share the article.

Let us give you an example with the article about IT milestones of the last 10 years on page 19. Once you took a picture of it with kooaba you can:

- Explore additional content about the story

(e.g. watch a video about the first iPod presentation by Steve Jobs back in 2001 right on your mobile phone)

- Remember it
(e.g. because you want to download Firefox as an alternative to your existing web browser when you’re at home)

- Share that page with friends
(e.g. send them a link to the article by email and point out that the iPod is among them)

Now grab the latest CHIP issue and try it. And by the way, there’s a great article (1/2) about kooaba in it.

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Posted in Interactive Print, Newsletter, kooaba | No Comments »

kooaba is a Finalist for the Red Herring 100 Global Award

January 5th, 2010 by Marc

Finalistskooaba has been selected as a finalist for Red Herring’s Global 100 award, a prestigious list honoring the year’s most promising private technology ventures from around the world.

The Red Herring editorial team selected the most innovative companies from a pool of 1′200. The nominees are evaluated on both quantitative and qualitative criteria, such as financial performance, technology innovation, quality of management, execution of strategy, and integration into their respective industries.

This unique assessment of potential is complemented by a review of the actual track record and standing of a company, which allows Red Herring to see past the “buzz” and make the list an invaluable instrument for discovering and advocating the greatest business opportunities in the industry.

“This year was especially difficult,” said Alex Vieux, publisher and CEO of Red Herring. “Despite the global economic situation, there were many great companies producing really innovative and amazing products that we had a difficult time narrowing the pool and selecting the finalists. Now we’re faced with the arduous task of selecting the final 100 winners of the award. We know that this year’s crop will grow into some amazing companies that are sure to go far.”

Finalists for the 2009 edition of the Red Herring Global 100 award are selected from the regional recipients or finalists of the Red Herring 100 awards in 2007, 2008, or 2009 ranging from Asia, Europe, and North America. For the past three years, the award has been given to the top 100 global technology companies based upon their technological innovation, management strength, market size, investor record, customer acquisition, and financial health. During the several months leading up to the announcement, hundreds of companies in the telecommunications, security, Web 2.0, software, hardware, biotech, and clean tech industries sent in their submissions to qualify for the award.

The CEOs of the 200 finalists are invited to present their winning strategies at the Red Herring Global Conference in Laguna Niguel, California, January 12-14, 2010.  The Top 100 winners will be announced at a special awards ceremony at the event.

About Red Herring
Red Herring is a global media company uniting the world’s best high-technology innovators, venture investors, and business decision-makers in a variety of forums: a leading innovation magazine, an online daily technology news service, technology newsletters, and major events for technology leaders around the globe. Red Herring provides an insider’s view of the global innovation ecosystem, featuring unparalleled insights on the emerging technologies driving the economy.

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Posted in Newsletter, kooaba | No Comments »

Merry Christmas

December 22nd, 2009 by Marc

2009 was an exciting year for all of us. Our team worked hard to create great products and new features. They include our online library, Comparis’ price comparison application and our interactive print solution which we’ve launched with WIRED Magazine – just to name a few. Famous brands such as Mazda, Sony or Selecta choose kooaba to make their campaigns interactive. And we’re very proud of the appreciations we got throughout the year from Swiss National TV, TechCrunch and users and followers on Twitter.

We would like to thank everybody who supported us during the past twelve months. This (interactive) Christmas card is specially made for you:

kooaba's Christmas card

Use a "Smart Visual" to explore, share and organize your preferred tune.

Take a picture of your favorite snow globe with the kooaba application for iPhone or Android, and discover the smart extras that connect you with your music.

Merry Christmas to all of you!

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Posted in Newsletter, kooaba | No Comments »

Read Die Weltwoche the smart way

November 25th, 2009 by Marc

Die Weltwoche

From now on, readers of the Swiss weekly magazine Die Weltwoche can start reading traditional print titles the smart way by using kooaba’s Smart Visuals. Take a picture of any page of interest in order to Explore, Share, and Organize your favorite articles. Here is how it works.

1. Sign up to kooaba to get your kooaba username and password

2. Download the kooaba iPhone application

3. Start the iPhone application, go to settings and enter your kooaba username and password

4. Snap a picture of an entire print page (fill out the whole display with the entire page)

kooaba iPhone appkooaba App

Now you can start exploring the digital copy of that page as well as links to additional content. kooaba is great to share or recommend Weltwoche articles to your friends. From now on, you can have the most interesting Weltwoche articles always with you or neatly organized in your online kooaba Library.

kooaba Library

In your kooaba Library, you can find your Smart Visuals again. If you want to visualize Weltwoche content, you can subscribe during 3 months for only 9 Swiss Francs.

Explore a new reading experience and let us know your thoughts.

If you don’t have access to an issue of “Die Weltwoche”, grab a Book, CD, DVD, or Video Game cover and see what happens if you make a Smart Visual of that.

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Posted in Newsletter, kooaba | No Comments »

WIRED Magazine debuts kooaba enabled technology in advertisments

October 19th, 2009 by Marc

WIRED

WIRED November IssueWe’re very excited about our latest partnership with WIRED Magazine. They teamed up with us for their November issue, making WIRED readers the first in the U.S. to experience our Interactive Print solution which is based on our patented image recognition technology.  Keeping with the tradition of offering readers the freshest and most innovative experiences in the world, WIRED uses our app, available for iPhone and Google Android devices, to allow readers to unlock digital extras by snapping pictures of any ad in the issue. Readers also have the opportunity to win a $10,000 prize package from the WIRED Store.

“WIRED is always in search for game changing technologies,” said WIRED publisher Howard Mittman. “So, imagine an ad that comes to life using emerging technologies to augment what an advertisement says and how you experience it. That’s what kooaba is doing with their sleek new app and what we at WIRED are all about.”

Making a quick snapshot of the participating ads in WIRED using our mobile app will reveal a variety of interactive digital options. Readers may choose to visit specific websites, watch videos, use social media, recommend the ads and products to friends, save them to their kooaba Library and more.

Get WIRED magazine’s November issue and give it a try!

Ad T-Mobilekooaba searches for the relevant informationResult page

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Posted in Mobile Marketing, Newsletter, kooaba | 2 Comments »

kooaba Library with great new features

September 29th, 2009 by Marc

As a frequent kooaba user you might have already noticed the new features on our Library. We improved the design, increased the performance, and added some great new features:

Shelf view

You can now choose between a list view of your collected items or a nice wooden shelf view. It does feel more like a real library, doesn’t it?

kooaba Library

Add items via webcam

You can now add your media collection to your personal Library without using your smart phone. Simply hit the “Add Item” button on your library to activate the webcam.

Webcam

RSS feed

Subscribe to the RSS feed of your own personal library to access and search it from web and desktop tools.

Sign up now to the Library if you aren’t a registered kooaba user yet and try our new features. Feel free to send us your thoughts!

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Posted in Mobile Applications, Newsletter, kooaba | No Comments »

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