Imagine taking a picture with your mobile phone of a product and then having comparison prices and other data (reviews, store locations to buy it etc.) shown on its screen.

that future is near - check out Check Out Smart Shop.

I am also loving Evernote, a digital file cabinet application. Its new iphone app is particularly good - you can take pictures (white board, signs, scans etc) and word recognition software allows the text within images to be indexed and searchable. Also, it has a voice memo function, which is something I’ve missed on the iphone prior to this point.

Evernote would be the ultimate killer app if it also integrated with Amazon’s Kindle, so my notes and highlights on the kindle are also indexed and searchable. Amazon should acquire Evernote simply for this functionality.

PlantSense, which just raised a $3.5 million first round, makes soil sensors that collect data about the soil, and then makes suggestions for what you can grow.

[source: computerworld]

Cool branded app, to build virtual lego creations. Mobile devices are great outlets for casual, branded games.

A prototype software app is able to check an automobile’s vital stats, open and close windows, retain user configurations for seating options and even start the ignition. Video demo link here.

Also, Apple has filed a patent for ordering and paying for products on the iPhone. Imagine not having to wait in line at Starbucks! [source article here.]

I’ve covered e-paper here before, but Philips is prepping to launch an e-paper technology that can be integrated with mobile phones. Basically, it’s a large, flexible, touchable and expandable screen, which is energy efficient, and would not add much weight or thickness to devices.

For more, click here.

Food analysis (ie the labels on food products at the grocery store) is currently an expensive and labor intensive process.  However, Philips has submitted a patent application for a portable food and beverage analyzer (lab on a chip technology), so you could potentially know the makeup  of food in bars and restaurants.  [patent application here.]

A Chinese scientist is showing off a .5 mm thick flexible battery at the 2007 International Forum on New Material Research and Industry Development in Wenzhou. [source]