23half Inc launches Thrrum MMS Search

California-based 23half Inc has launched Thrrum MMS Search, which uses the Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) functionality of camera phones to find information about the camera phone user’s surroundings.

To use the visual search facility, a camera phone user takes a picture of a piece of text they see around them – this could be a product label, or book for example.

They then send the picture, via MMS, to m@thrrum.com and relevant search results are sent back to the users’ phone.

The service is still in beta and is currently only available to AT&T wireless subscribers in the United States.

Thrrum MMS Search combines visual recognition technologies and information search, turning a mobile phone into a visual information portal for the physical environment.