Just a quick note, ShopSavvy 1.1 seems to be live for most iPhone users. There might be some issues with iPhone users who have NOT updated to 3.1, but we haven’t confirmed that as of yet (please let us know).

We had previously mentioned ShopSavvy made more than 39 television appearances.  Here is the CNN piece:

Download ShopSavvy on the iPhone here.

If you are an iPhone user in San Francisco you might have noticed that AT&T’s data network had an outage on December 11th.  We noticed a HUGE decline in barcode scanning in San Francisco between 1PM and 6PM.  To illustrate the decline in scanning activity we created the following heat map.  On the left you see a heat map of scans from 1PM to 6PM on the day of the outage.  On the right you see a heat map of the scan at the same time of day on the day following the outage.  We put this together for another story, but thought it was interesting enough to post here:

Last night Apple approved ShopSavvy 1.1 and we began telling people it was available for download.  When you go to iTunes you will see 1.1 is available.  Unfortunately, when you download the new version you actually are downloading the old 1.0.1 version.  Turns out this is a well known issue among developers (we didn’t know about it).  There is a 2-24 hour delay between what the store says is available and what is actually available.

While the market may indicate there is a new version of your app available, users who download the ‘new’ version will get the old one instead.  It seems to have something to do with Apple’s Content Delivery System not syncing up.  We are now getting reports that some users have the 1.1 version as of 11:00AM CST.  I had the new version (via ad hoc distribution), but when I updated this morning I was reverted the older version (nightmare).

The trick is to look in the ‘more’ tab under credits to see what version you are running.  If you are running 1.0.1 you are running the old version, if you are running 1.1 you are running the new one.  The easier trick is to simply scan something.  If you see alignment bars you have the new one, if you don’t have any sort of instruction you have the older version.  There doesn’t seem to be a fix for this – just time. 

UPDATE: even though market is showing 1.1 is available some users are still getting 1.0 when they download.  We assume this is a iTunes market issue.  We have heard that it takes upto 24 hours for their CDN to sync up.  Anyway, we have reported this to Apple.  Check the ‘more’ tab under credits to see if you still have 1.0 or 1.1. If you have aiming bars on the scanning page you have 1.1, if not you still have 1.1.  Our advice, wait until tomorrow (we are going to delay our press release until then as well).

Okay iPod Touch users – you now can download ShopSavvy!  We received scores of requests from Touch users, we heard you and we have complied.  Enjoy…

UPDATE: even though market is showing 1.1 is available some users are still getting 1.0 when they download.  We assume this is a iTunes market issue.  We have heard that it takes upto 24 hours for their CDN to sync up.  Anyway, we have reported this to Apple.  Check the ‘more’ tab under credits to see if you still have 1.0 or 1.1. If you have aiming bars on the scanning page you have 1.1, if not you still have 1.1.  Our advice, wait until tomorrow (we are going to delay our press release until then as well).

Give the latest version of ShopSavvy for the iPhone a try today.  Here is the download link: ShopSavvy 1.1 for iPhone.  The latest version includes:

• easier scanning (with aiming bars)
• scanning hints (progress and tips)
• support for Europe (international bug removed)
• support for Touch (we heard you loud and clear)
• all user reported bugs (price alerts and others)

Here is the deal.  With each release you can get new ratings from users.  Our ratings sucked on 1.0.  Take a minute to download and rate us again – this time try giving us five stars.  It helps us keep ShopSavvy free.  Here is a video:

Lots of folks have asked whether or not ShopSavvy will support the new DataBar barcode standard for fresh food, jewelry and go-it-yourself hardware products.  The easy answer is that we do and will continue to do so.  These new codes include additional data including serial numbers, lot numbers and expiration dates.  The standard will go into effect by 2010 with a target date of 2014 for all fresh products.  Here is what they look like:

The biggest problem for most users of ShopSavvy on iPhone and Droid is light.  Without enough light it is VERY hard to scan a barcode.  The iPhone version of ShopSavvy is VERY light sensitive, requiring ‘Best Buy’ level light for consistent and rewarding scanning.  Our 1.1 version (it is in review at Apple) helps, but our 1.2 version will cut in half the amount of light needed to scan a barcode.

When the Droid first launched you could barely scan a barcode with it.  We changed a few lines of code and significantly improved the scanning experience on the Droid, but it still wasn’t as good as scanning on the G1 or MyTouch.  With Motorola’s latest camera update, combined with our code improvements you can ‘almost’ scan in the dark as seen in this video I shot this morning:

This is jut a mock-up of a program we are working on for a manufacturer.  Basically a variation of the scan-to-buy concept we developed for retailers.  What do you think?

We have submitted ShopSavvy version 1.1 to Apple for approval.  In the meantime if you are interested in helping us test this new version please send an email with your Device ID to sales@biggu.com.  Version 1.1 adds:

• scanning tips (help screens, scanning guides, color/vibration feedback, progress bar)
• international localization (works throughout Canada and Europe now)
• bug fixes (most user submitted bugs and a bunch you guys didn’t find)

Here is a short video showing the new scanning tips: