Data capture and identification system and process

1. A system comprising:

a camera that captures an image;

a network-enabled device that conducts a data processing operation on at least a portion of the image to produce data, and sends the data to a service;

the service programmed to receive the data; identify an object within the image;

distinguish an object present in the image from others using a database that stores data characteristics of target objects including diverse types of target objects;

associate the object with an information address; and return the address to the network-enabled device; and

the network-enabled device further programmed to utilize the address to retrieve an item of information related to the object.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the network-enabled device comprises a hand-held computer or a mobile phone.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the service conducts a second data processing operation on at least a portion of the image.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the service is further programmed to identify the object by applying multiple algorithms to at least a portion of the image or of the data, and identify the object as a function of a confidence levels associated with results of the multiple algorithms.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the object is not encoded with any data.

6. The system of claim 1 , further comprising identifying a bar code or other symbol contained within the image, and wherein the server sends an item of information from the bar code or other symbol to a second device.

7. The system of claim 1 , wherein the service is hosted on a computer remote to the network-enabled device.

8. The system of claim 1 , wherein the service is further programmed to select the address from among a plurality of addresses that provide content in a format suitable for display on the network-enabled device.

9. The system of claim 1 , wherein the item of information comprises data that can be utilized to conduct a commercial transaction related to the object.

10. The system of claim 1 , wherein the network-enabled device is further programmed to use the address to conduct a commercial transaction related to the object.

11. The system of claim 1 , wherein the network-enabled device is further programmed to use at least one of the address and the item of information to initiate a software process on a remote computer.

12. The system of claim 1 , wherein the network-enabled device is further programmed to use at least one of the address and the item of information to initiate a telephone call.

13. The system of claim 1 , wherein the network-enabled device is further programmed to use at least one of the address and the item of information to initiate a radio communication.

14. The system of claim 1 , wherein the network-enabled device is further programmed to use at least one of the address and the item of information to send data received from the service to a web site.

15. The system of claim 1 , wherein the network-enabled device is further programmed to use at least one of the address and the item of information to display graphics.

16. The system of claim 1 , wherein the network-enabled device is further programmed to use at least one of the address and the item of information to produce an audible sound.

17. The system of claim 1 , wherein the distal server is further programmed to initiate a telephone call from at least one of the address and the item of information.

18. The system of claim 1 , wherein at least one of (a) processing of the data and (b) recognizing objects in the data are divided between the device and the server.

19. The system of claim 1 wherein the network-enabled device transmits motion imagery including video information to the server.

20. The system of claim 1 wherein the data processing operation is selected from the group consisting of contrast enhancement, noise removal, and de-blurring.

21. The system of claim 1 wherein the data processing operation is applied to the image prior to identifying the object.