New robotic technologies have been on everyone's radar this week, from the virtual version of the PaPeRo R100 to the most recent development by Bandai Networks and D2 Communications.

The two companies have partnered to conceptualize a new mobile phone service which will allow you to use your camera phone to "robotically recognize products on sight, and have it automatically collect and report prices, reviews and more for those products on its screen," says PC Magazine's Lance Ulanoff.

Dubbed Search By Camera! ER Search and the Mobot Mobile Visual Search, these mobile services will utilize Evolution Robotics' (ER) visual pattern recognition technology (ViPR). So basically, while you're shopping at your local Wal-Mart, RadioShack, or other store, and you're unsure how much an item costs, you'll be able to pick up your camera phone, take a picture of it, and the camera will match it to a database of product patterns and images on a remote server. The concept goes beyond the tangible experience, too: you could even be home, browsing through a product catalog or magazine. You come across an outfit that you really like, but you want to get reviews and more information on the designer. You just snap the picture and the service will feed your brain with all sorts of specific details.

How does one get the service? U.S. cell phone users must have an NTT DoCoMo FOMA N902iS phone. However, the company could take any existing phone and bring you the Mobot service.

So far, only ten companies have signed on to provide their product images for the service.

Get PCMag.com's full news report here.