I was starting to think Google didn’t love us anymore when we received two boxes stuffed with stuffed Android dolls for AndroidDevCamp (we will be awarding them to happy campers tomorrow).  Thanks Google (Eric)!

I was surprised to see a link on the Google homepage to our ShopSavvy demo.  Check it out:

If you click on the ‘Learn more.’ link you get the G1 homepage and the demo begins.  To jump the ShopSavvy section click the ShopSavvy icon:

Wow, great work T-Mobile, very impressive! Thank you for all your support!  Here is a fuzzy screengrab for those of you who can’t wait to see it here instead of on T-Mobile’s site:

Woot! Android is going to have a virtual keyboard in 2009 according to HTCsource! See below:

According to the following graphic from Medialets, ShopSavvy continues to be a) the most downloded, b) best rated and c) most reviewed application in the Android Market.  Woot!

During lunch we all climbed into my car and headed down to the T-Mobile store in North Park mall.  Once inside we tried to buy a few G1s for the office, but we were surprised by the response.  The clerk indicated that we couldn’t buy a G1 unless we were ‘current’ T-Mobile clients.  WTF?  Why have a national launch on the 22nd, but refuse to sell the phone to customers like me?  I complained and gave my card to the manager.  Ironically, we are hosting AndroidDevCamp and we won’t have any phones.

Prior to completing this post I got an email from a contact at T-Mobile who suggested that this wasn’t the case.  I called the store back (214-750-6855?) and Tameka indicated that her regional director, David Plunket, had confirmed the policy that ONLY current customers were eligible to purchase the G1.  I have forwarded this information my my contact at T-Mobile and await their response.  *fingers crossed* (at least we don’t live in DC)  In the meantime here are a few pictures of the G1 kiosk and the ShopSavvy merchandising:

Getting local UPC pricing data into ShopSavvy is a time consuming and expensive process.  We are adding hundreds of local retailers each day, in fact, yesterday we added over 1,300 retailers in the UK to our system.  But we are barely scratching the surface.  Then it hit us (with the help of some emails and comments from users) we should use display eBay listings in our local results.

Say you are in the store and scan a new treadmill.  There are likely hundreds of those treadmills sitting unused in your local community.  Several of them may even be on eBay, but alas here you are needing to lose 10 lbs and according to ShopSavvy the price is pretty good.  But, what if I could also display that exact treadmill from a listing on eBay next to the other local prices?  Would that be interesting?

About an hour ago we decided that it might be worth it to launch an Alpha (i.e. not Beta) eBay listing tool.  The tool is very simple.  You enter:

• UPC of item you are selling on eBay
• eBay auction URL
• buy it now price
• Address of item
• Phone number of seller
• Auction duration
• And pay us $1 via PayPal

Now your item becomes relevant to bargain shoppers out in the real world, people who are actually ready to buy.  Not folks sitting behind their computer screens thinking about buying.  Try it out:

http://www.biggu.com/list-ebay-items-in-shopsavvy/

Looking for some content for your own AndroidDevCamp?  Alexander Muse has created a simple DIY guide to help you host your own AndroidDevCamp.  Here are some of the videos you can use throughout the day if you so choose:

Much of these come from Android:

• Apps on Android can access core mobile device functionality through standard APIs. Through intents, apps can announce their capabilities for other apps to use. Watch video
• Apps can easily embed HTML, Javascript, and style sheets. An app can render web content through a WebView. Watch video
• Android is a complete multitasking environment where apps can run in parallel. While running in the background, an app can produce notifications to get attention. Watch video
• Any app on the mobile device can be replaced or extended — even core components such as the dialer or home. Watch video
• Video browser tricks. Watch video
• Watch video copy & paste. Watch video
• Watch video reader & photos. Watch video
• Of course you could always watch our ShopSavvy Demo. Watch video
  

Of course you can always simply sort through the Android playlist on YouTube.  There are many great videos there as well: http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=586D322B5E2764CF

Throughout the day ShopSavvy was far and away the most popular application in the Android Market, with hundreds of ‘reviews’ and 10,000+ downloads.  This evening we updated the application (fixing minor bugs and adding a few new features) and the download counter reset and all of the ‘reviews’ were erased.  Ouch.  In some ways this makes sense, but in others it bites.  However, we can’t really complain given that this is only the first day.  The only good news is that we are the most recently added application.  Moral of the story?  Don’t update your application.  Hopefully, ShopSavvy’s popularity will continue regardless of its ranking in the Market.

Update: there is a way around this, simply keep the same version number and your settings remain.  More on this as we understand more ourselves.

Wondering what it takes to get your application in the Android Market?  Eric Chu finally released the details earlier today.  Here are the highlights:

• Developers pay $25 to register as a developer
• Applications uploaded by registered Developers are NOT approved or validated – immediately available
• Early next year developers can bill for applications and receive 70% of revenue (passed along to carrier)

Check out all of the details here.

Erick Schonfeld suggests the G1 is ‘all about the apps’ having made less than five calls on the phone since he got the phone a week ago.  I have been predicting that Android will help turn mobile phones into internet devices – Erick’s experience would seem to lend some credence to that theory.

Erick created a list of ‘The Top Ten Apps Worth Downloading‘ – ShopSavvy was number 2! (of course according to Google’s Market ShopSavvy is #1).  Thanks TechCrunch and Erick!