This has got to be the coolest application I have heard about all day, Big in Japan Inc,. a mobile application idea factory based in Dallas revealed ShopSavvy. You can get this Application on the Android market on Googles first phone on T-Mobile the G1. If you’re wondering what the hell the application does well there is a clue in the name? OK, no time for games ShopSavvy originally called GoCart actually is a personal shopping assistant.
Basically you go into any shop, find something you like find the barcode on the item and take a photo with your T-Mobile G1 built in camera, ShopSavvy will then search the web and find you the best price on your chosen product, including on-line stores as well as high street retail shops.
So now you can do virtual shopping and touch the item at the same time, you will also be given a review of the item to help you decide, this kind of shopping is fantastic, who needs to carry shopping bags.
The T-Mobile G1 android phone application actually won a prize at the Google challenge, which was a contest to build a mobile-phone application; Big in Japan won $275,000. Good job to I think this is revolutionary piece of software.
Source: marketwatch
This phone, looks awesome. It’s nice to actually see some competition to the iPhone. I would have gotten an iPhone awhile ago if it didn’t require AT&T.
NeoMedia has a patent that covers this technology
Patent #6,651,053 — Interactive system for investigating products on a network
An interactive search system for use with a global computer network, e.g., the Internet, using a search identifying barcode to rapidly and effectively obtain a supply of related information for presentation to a user. A computer, either landline based or mobile, may be used to input a UPC code, taken from a package or advertisement or prestored in the computer, to an implementing server on the network. The server contains a database of product and manufacturer identifying UPC codes and uses the input UPC code and the database to identify the manufacturer and is programmed to then perform a search of the network to locate sites relating to or operated by the manufacturer. Also, the server may search the network on a product basis to locate other sites containing the UPC under search. Using “parsing” technology, the server “pulls out” the product description, transmits it to and places it in a random access memory (RAM) or storage of the computer, and proceeds to perform further searching relying on the product description to uncover relevant information. Accordingly, using a single input, a collection of product-related and manufacturer information is quickly assembled in the computer available for a user’s consideration all at once at any time.