Search engines and systems with handheld document data capture devices

1. A method performed by a mobile device of retrieving a result of searching for content, comprising:

optically capturing human-readable information from a textual portion of a rendered document using the mobile device;

identifying the rendered document based on the captured human-readable information;

generating a text string from the captured human-readable information;

transmitting the generated text string, information identifying the rendered document, and information identifying the mobile device to a search engine at a server remote from the mobile device;

receiving, at the mobile device and from the search engine at the remote server, information associated with results of a search for content using the generated text string; and

presenting, via a display of the mobile device, at least a portion of the received information.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the content includes content other than an identical electronic counterpart of the rendered document.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

storing the results of the search for content in a document repository associated with a user of the mobile device.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

storing the results of the search for content in a document repository within the mobile device.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein generating a text string includes:

performing optical character recognition of the captured human-readable information; and

when the performed optical character recognition produces ambiguous results, generating the text string with wild card entries associated with the ambiguous results.

6. A non-transitory computer-readable medium whose contents cause a mobile device to perform a method of searching for electronic content, the method comprising:

optically capturing a portion of information printed on a rendered document, wherein the portion of information at least partially includes text;

identifying the rendered document based on the captured portion of information;

generating a search query corresponding to the information captured from the rendered document;

transmitting the generated search query, information identifying the rendered document, and an identification of the mobile device to an index of content on a server remotely located from the mobile device;

receiving results of a search for electronic content performed by the remote search engine;

displaying the received results of the search for electronic content on a display of the mobile device;

receiving from a user of the mobile device a selection of electronic content displayed within the results; and

presenting the selected electronic content to the user.

7. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 6 , wherein generating the search query includes:

performing optical character recognition of the captured portion of information; and

when the performed optical character recognition produces ambiguous results, generating the text string with wild card entries associated with the ambiguous results.

8. A system in a mobile phone for presenting electronic content, the system comprising:

a memory;

a processor coupled to the memory, the processor operable to execute instructions to perform functions comprising:

a capture component that optically captures text printed on a rendered document;

a document identification component that identifies the rendered document based on the captured text;

a query generation component that generates a search query from the captured text;

a query transmission component that transmits the generated search query, information identifying the rendered document, and an identification of the mobile device to a search engine remote from the mobile phone;

a results reception component that receives results of a search for electronic content from the remote search engine;

a display component that displays the received results of the search for electronic content on a display of the mobile phone;

a user selection component that receives from a user of the mobile phone a selection of electronic content displayed within the results; and

a content presentation component that presents the selected electronic content to the user.