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The ASUS PixelMaster Camera app made for Android smartphones from the Taiwanese manufacturer is now being updated with Google Lens support, though the feature doesn’t appear to be shipping as part of a direct client-side update. Instead, one user reports their ZenFone 5 received the functionality following a system firmware patch earlier this week, whereas the version of the ASUS PixelMaster Camera app listed on the Google Play Store is nearly two years old now, having last been updated on June 29, 2016.
The Google Lens integration comes in the form of an additional camera mode and works unlike how Bixby Vision operates on compatible Samsung handsets; users can activate the service with a tap of a virtual button, after which they’re free to point their lens in any direction and see whether Google Lens can help them identify whatever they’re looking at or at the very least offer some useful actions such as copying a WEP2 password from a router label. The updated version of the app that features Google Lens is identified by the build number v4.1.12.2_180604M on the regular ZenFone 5. The Taipei-based tech giant has yet to announce the arrival of the functionality in an official capacity, making it unclear whether its older handsets will also be updated with the same capability going forward.
Third-party Google Lens integrations have been announced a month ago at the latest iteration of the Google I/O developer conference; besides ASUS, Sony, Motorola, LG, Xiaomi, Nokia (HMD Global), OnePlus, BQ, and TCL will all be embracing the machine vision solution as part of their future mobile camera apps, Google said at the time. Google Lens is a major part of the Alphabet-owned company’s augmented reality equation, with the firm repeatedly referring to 2018 as the year meant to mark the start of its major smartphone AR push. The functionality is already available on a broad range of Android handsets through Google Assistant, which has been the case for several months now.