ShopSavvy to launch on iPad
Earlier today we announced that ShopSavvy would be one of the first iPhone applications available on Apple’s new iPad. The native version of ShopSavvy for the iPad will allow users to interact with ShopSavvy through the tablet directly (i.e. manual entry of title, upc or part number) or in concert with the iPhone or Android version of ShopSavvy. ShopSavvy offers one of the most complete catalogs of local and online sources for products and the iPad enables us to share more than just price and availability with users. ShopSavvy for the iPad is more of a product dashboard – sure you will still find the best online and local prices for products, but on the same screen users will find:
- product reviews
- product videos
- wishlists
- price alerts
- side-by-side product comparison
- product news
- maps and store contact details
This rich experience isn’t possible on the small screen size found on the iPhone and Android smartphones – but fits easily on Apple’s new iPad. While the iPad doesn’t come with a built-in camera, it does have a slot that can be used for an aftermarket web camera that ShopSavvy can exploit for scanning barcodes. While running ShopSavvy the iPad treats the user’s iPhone or Android device as a barcode scanning peripheral. Fire up ShopSavvy on your iPhone (or any smartphone running ShopSavvy), scan a barcode and the results show up on your iPad. Users can now use ShopSavvy as a tool for compiling lists of products including: groceries – i.e. to build a grocery list, books – i.e. to build an index of books, dvds – i.e. to build an index of your dvds and so on.
Here is the full release:
Big in Japan, a Dallas-based idea factory for mobile applications, announced today that it will release a native version of ShopSavvy for the Apple iPad. The iPad version of ShopSavvy will retain all the features the application’s millions of users have grown to love, while incorporating new functionality to enhance the shopping experience.
 After downloading ShopSavvy for iPad, we anticipate that many cost-conscious consumers will carry the tablet with them as a constant shopping companion  |
“The iPad enables ShopSavvy to really spread its wings as an application for users who want the power, ease of use and size of this touchscreen tablet,” said Alexander Muse, co-founder of Big in Japan. “After downloading ShopSavvy for iPad, we anticipate that many cost-conscious consumers will carry the tablet with them as a constant shopping companion.”
ShopSavvy for iPad will extend the application’s price-comparison focus with new capabilities, including video product reviews, side-by-side comparisons of scanned products, in-depth product information and other features, the company said.
Big in Japan also said that it has added the iPad as a prize option (in addition to the Google Nexus One) in the recently announced ShopSavvy video testimonial contest.
Ranking as one of the most popular apps on Android phones since its launch in September 2008, ShopSavvy became available on the iPhone in November 2009. More than 1 million ShopSavvy users scanned more than 18 million products on Black Friday weekend alone, Nov. 27-29, 2009.
ShopSavvy enables users to comparison shop on the go for more than 20 million products at more than 20,000 retailers worldwide, simply by scanning the product’s barcode using the phone’s built-in camera. Using the barcode information, ShopSavvy searches the Web for the best prices on the product, displaying the lowest prices online as well as at nearby brick-and-mortar retailers. ShopSavvy looks up product reviews to further assist with purchase decisions.
Mobile users may download ShopSavvy at one of the following links:
ShopSavvy for iPhone: bit.ly/shopsavvyiphone
ShopSavvy for Android: bit.ly/shopsavvyandroid
[...] to scan barcodes like the phone versions do out of the box. However, Big in Japan stated on their blog that camera attachments will enable this [...]
I’m a huge fan of ShopSavvy and I love to see you expanding. I would love more than anything for you to put out a WebOS version for the Pre and Pixi ASAP even if it can’t utilize the phone’s camera at the current time. If you can put an iPad version out with manual bar code entry, I would think that a WebOS version would be a no brainer as Palm Pre & Pixi users DEFINATELY carry their devices with them when they are shopping.
Our .mobi site will work well for you, but we are going to offer a WebOs version – the technical hurdle was resolved recently.
S.S. as NATIVE application for iPad, REALLY?
I am puzzled and disappointed by your claim. There is no point in releasing native app if there is no native API (like camera) that needs to be accessed. A web-app will suffice quite nicely – all you will be doing is UPC lookup.
“… many cost-conscious consumers will carry the tablet with them as a constant shopping companion” – you got to be kidding me! Who is going to do that… let’s think for a second.
It must be
- someone who does not have iPhone/iTouch/Android/smartphone already
- someone who does not know to send text message to “GOOGLE” (466453) with the UPC number, so that Froogle will return price information
- someone who wants to carry in hand something of the size and price range of a netbook… but insists it is NOT a netbook
- Someone who is ready to shell out $$/mo for 3G access for iPad (because there is no free WiFi in retail stores) – but who does not want to pay for internet access on their cell phone
All of the items above must hold true to describe such a mythical creature – the potential user of ShopSavvy on iPad. Considering those be about half a dozen people, it will be cheaper for you to send them iPhones than to develop app for iPad.
And even if say you are concerned about the well-price-being of those handful of people… how exactly will an native-app serve them better than web-app?
How do I access the .mobi site?
Any updates on how to access the .mobi site?
MOST INFORMATIVE SITE FOR ELECTRONICS….
**YOUTUBE VIDEO REVIEWS ON THE HOTTEST ELECTRONICS OUT**…