We are very excited to announce that SnapTell has been acquired by A9.com, a subsidiary of Amazon.com, Inc.! We look forward to integrating our solutions and technology into the Amazon experience to make shopping even more fun and easy for customers.
SnapTell has been a leader in visual product search technology and our solutions have been used to deliver reviews, prices and information for millions of visual search queries. It has been tremendously gratifying to see the SnapTell solution become one of the most downloaded iPhone and Android applications. We are even featured in an iPhone TV commercial! Throughout this period we have carefully listened to our users and added innovative features to provide a great visual shopping experience. One of the most heard requests was how we could integrate better with Amazon’s fabulous shopping experience … We should be able to do so pretty well now. ☺
Customers can continue to browse, review, and purchase products through SnapTell’s expanding recognition categories. And of course, we will still continue to improve the app based on customer feedback. We look forward to offering future products and services that we hope will resonate with our users.
We are excited to join forces with a company that has innovated on behalf of customers for over a decade and is a pioneer in online shopping. Like Amazon, we believe there is a lot of innovation ahead for visual shopping and we are thrilled to join A9.com at this exciting time.
As always, we encourage people to ask questions or provide feedback through our blog at http://snaptell.typepad.com or directly to us at info at snaptell dot net
Best,
The SnapTell Team
After what you did to Delicious Monster, there's no way I'm going to touch this. I would have gotten both! But I won't stand for Microsoft-style bullying of others even if they aren't competitors in any credible way.
Posted by: Eric | July 08, 2009 at 08:32 AM
The locking out of other mobile products that aren't even competing with this is just ugly.
Posted by: Tim | July 08, 2009 at 08:38 AM
I was wondering what was the fate of this app on my iPhone since I saw the announcement that they were cutting off access. Good News for the app...bad news for all other apps that are unrelated to this app's function.
Posted by: Thor79 | July 08, 2009 at 08:43 AM
Add me to the long list of people who will never buy your app now. What sort of over-educated MBA thought up that brilliant plan? Good luck with what they "strategize" next.
Posted by: jason | July 08, 2009 at 08:44 AM
I have to echo the sentiments of other people here. I don't want Snaptell at the expense of Delicious Library. As it stands, you've gone from having a handy mobile app that directs traffic and potential purchases to Amazon to generating a lot of ill will from the community. Not a smart move.
Posted by: Rolphus | July 08, 2009 at 08:44 AM
Does anyone have ANY solid information that Amazon's API move was due to this acquisition? (John Gruber's vague speculation does not count.)
Posted by: Dylan Bennett | July 08, 2009 at 08:48 AM
I know this was Amazon's decision, not yours... but I agree with what others have said: locking out apps like Delicious Library is unacceptable, and as long as Amazon persist in shooting themselves in the foot this way, I won't be a SnapTell customer.
I do hope you're passing on these comments to your new bosses. They need to know how badly they've screwed up. Hopefully they'll have the sense to rethink this counterproductive policy decision.
Posted by: Andy Baird | July 08, 2009 at 08:53 AM
Not a smart move.
Posted by: sambeau | July 08, 2009 at 09:15 AM
Dito everyone else. This is not fair for all the other iPhone apps that were using the Amazon API. No way I'll touch your app now, and I now have a bad opinion of Amazon in General.
How do you want me to buy a Kindle for example, after that? Don't want Amazon to shut down the Kindle store for whatever obscure reason.
This is bad.
Posted by: Jay | July 08, 2009 at 09:17 AM
SnapTell would have never attracted Amazon's attention and may not have been developed if Amazon had in place the recent API restrictions for mobile phones.
The only logical conclusion is:
WAKE UP, AMAZON, FIX THIS!!
Posted by: charles | July 08, 2009 at 09:20 AM
I have a desktop app in development that uses Amazon APIs to look up product details. With Amazon's blocking these APIs to mobile apps, I'll have to rethink this; both because I might want to do an iPhone version of this app, and because I just think it's an unfair business practice that I don't want to encourage in any way.
Posted by: Jens Alfke | July 08, 2009 at 10:30 AM
Congrats on your acquisition by Amazon. Now march over to the offices of your new corporate overlords and tell them how much ill will this petty territorial pissing match is generating in the community. This is bullshit, and on a Microsoftian scale.
Posted by: John_B | July 08, 2009 at 10:32 AM
There goes my Amazon Prime Membership, SnapTell & the Kindle Reader.
The Ball's in your court Amazon.
Jeff Koffel, Technologist
Takena Technical Services
Albany, Oregon
Posted by: Jeff Koffel | July 08, 2009 at 10:56 AM
Delicious Library app for iPhone was great.
Now, I will use Amazon's iPhone app and website to search for books that I will then buy at any of my local bookstores.
I will just torrent any DVDs I would have bought through Amazon.
I'll do everything else through iTunes.
And the fucking Kindle? Or Kindle app for iPhone? You can forget me ever buying another book though that app.
Oh and I'm canceling my Amazon affiliate and taking down all the book links and bookstore I've made for my website.
You fucked up. You messed with a much-loved Mac developer.
Posted by: John | July 08, 2009 at 11:21 AM
I can't believe Amazon is totally silent on that, this is very scary. Come on Amazon, come down from your Bubble! TALK TO US! EXPLAIN!
Posted by: Freddie | July 08, 2009 at 11:37 AM
Never buying your app as I'm an avid Delicious Monster user. So long as Delicious Monster is locked out, I'm not buying ANYTHING from Amazon. If Delicious Monster decides to use another company's data, I'll happily trundle off to be their customer, as will many others.
Amazon can't afford that business loss, and I'm hoping they realize it before it's too late.
Posted by: Deirdre Saoirse Moen | July 08, 2009 at 11:43 AM
Has anyone else tried to find a "user feedback" link on Amazon.com? I just did and failed. Maybe I missed it. I agree that locking out mobile devices from the Amazon API is bad. It's bad for me personally and bad for Amazon's rep. Yes, this will effect my shopping behavior (damn, I just re-upped for Prime) away from Amazon. Sorry I couldn't find a way to post this comment directly to Amazon. And sorry to catch SnapTell up in this, but using it on my iPhone when Delicious Library (and others) are banned leaves a bad taste in my mouth.
Posted by: Matthew_B | July 08, 2009 at 11:59 AM
I'm sure Amazon is creaking in their boots over the loss of all 17 of you.
Posted by: Jack | July 08, 2009 at 02:32 PM
I don' understand the comments, but I will guess that the snap tel app on iPhone won't last long. It will just show Amazon prices so maybe they can steal more business from other book sellers. This called unfair competition and it used to call for Justic Dept or FTC attention until Republican stopped them.
Posted by: George | July 08, 2009 at 05:27 PM
The point is that it is just 17 of us and it isn't just about Delicious Library.
This decision shows a typical middle-manger-y view of competition.
By embracing open APIs and encouraging new businesses to use them Amazon fostered a new kind of market-place, one more akin to an old-fashioned bazaar.
By, now, trying to control and limit the bazaar they are sending out the message to *all* developers that their help is no longer needed. Developers will translate this as "no longer *wanted*".
And thus, the bazaar will wither, die and regroup somewhere else.
This is why this is not a smart move. Someone higher up in Amazon knew this once upon a time. But maybe they've finally hired this kind of intelligence away.
Competition is good for the bazaar. Without it the bazaar dies. Simple.
If there is only one Amazon iPhone App it will never be as good as if there are two. Simple.
Amazon have made a mistake here. Simple.
Posted by: sambeau | July 09, 2009 at 01:00 AM
I'm no techie, but I thought APIs were to be shared, not dangled out to the highest bidder/most desired acquisition.
This really does look like a misdeed by Amazon. SnapTell, what will spur your innovation now?
Other developers are rightly peeved, and now this ill sentiment is spreading to us ordinary users. You have one huge PR campaign to pursue to fix this. Good luck.
Posted by: Mr Ulster | July 09, 2009 at 01:22 AM
Typical greedy monopolistic rubbish - as for the 17 people - good on you for speaking up! Other issues need more people like you to voice their disdain at this sort of greedy underhand business dealing.
The rest of the people I know who use Delicious Library will echo these comments but might not have time to write them and I would guess 1000s that haven't chanced upon this blog or that know about the scandal yet or had the time to post.
"Matthew_B" If you go on statistic of who posts here then 100% of people (other than yourself) are against it - so its a fair assumption that anyone knowing the facts of this debacle would say the same things.
I would take this as a serious sign and go argue the case for Delicious Library to be able to use their iPhone version with Amazon.
It is a simple request for fairness and a level competitive playing field ultimately providing choice for the consumer.
SnapTell says:
"Throughout this period we have carefully listened to our users and added innovative features to provide a great visual shopping experience."
Shame Amazon didn't ask or listen to its customers the way SnapTell allegedly have.
Posted by: Ben | July 09, 2009 at 05:38 AM
I had Pocketpedia on my iPhone and had almost input 2/3 of my library. Now I can't use it anymore. I keep writing e-mails to Amazon and they either deny they asked for it to be removed or they just won't answer me. I don't see how a book cataloging app interferes with their search app, or am I missing something ?
What a bunch of short sighted idiots, I was thinking of buying a Kindle, not so much now !
Posted by: Deb | August 13, 2009 at 08:49 AM
Hi, my name is Erick.
How can I include my products?
I want that my prducts appears in the results if are "snaped".
Is there a cost $?
What is the process?
Thnaks a lot.
Have a nice day!!
Erick Jimenez.
Posted by: Erick Jimenez | September 25, 2009 at 07:09 AM
I like eggs
Posted by: Bubba | October 20, 2009 at 05:27 PM