Most of you assumed it would never happen (I was beginning to agree), but Microsoft has finally released ShopSavvy for Windows Phone 7. After much wrangling and negotiating with Microsoft they have decided to release our app WITHOUT live scanning for the time being. They have their own ‘tag’ app that uses live scanning and I think they want to give it a headstart before allowing ShopSavvy to go full-on live. Anyway, the app looks pretty cool (full on metro styling) and will give you the same results that the iPhone and Android versions provide. It is definitely a 1.0 version – i.e. not 4.0 (like iPhone and soon Android), but it is a good start. You can download it now from the Marketplace.

Since the links disappeared when we revamped our site I thought I would repost these links. If you are interested in getting ShopSavvy on another platform let us know and we will let you know when the beta and 1.0 versions are ready:

• Blackberry Version
• Windows Phone 7 Version

If you were like me you would have asked why Microsoft was bothering to build yet another smartphone operating system (aka Windows Phone 7) to compete with blockbuster hits like the iPhone and Android. If you worked on WinMo 6.5 you might be even MORE jaded. But I want to suggest that, in the end, it won’t be the operating system that is relevant it will be the apps. It is ALL about the apps now. If developers embrace a platform and great apps emerge an operating system will succeed. After seeing our own team’s work on the Windows Phone 7 version of ShopSavvy and other developers work I am more and more bullish about the platform. Microsoft really has a shot at making something really great. Check out a video of the USGA app:

Wondering what ShopSavvy will look like with full ‘Metro’ styling? Wonder no more. If you want to get on the wait list for the Beta (or just get notified when it is available) sign up here. See all of the screenshots on Flickr:

Alternative Title: We are serious about Windows Phone 7

We are pretty serious about getting a foothold on Windows Phone 7 with our ShopSavvy app (click here to request a beta version). To that end we were fortunate to be able to recruit Matthias Shapiro for the job. Working alongside our team, Matthias will be responsible for the ShopSavvy user experience on Microsoft’s upcoming mobile operating system, Windows Phone 7.

Matthias is an award winning Silverlight and WPF designer (read more: RNC Award, CNN, O’Reilly) and author of the Designer Silverlight Blog. He has been active as a Silverlight UI designer/developer for years, promoting the use of ‘Expression Blend’ as a design and development tool through tutorials and open projects. Matthias is the perfect example of the ‘interaction designer’ – halfway between designer and developer. His submission on Silverlight and Information Visualization to the MIX2010 conference Open Call was one of the highest voted entrants, earning him a spot as a MIX2010 speaker.

On the Windows Phone 7 front, Matthias was a usability lead and UX designer for the Veracity Solutions “Pillbox“. Pillbox is an open source Windows Phone 7 project demonstrating the use of LOB design and development within the WP7 development enrivonment. It was described by Charlie Kindel, Microsoft Partner Group Program Manager for Windows Phone developer experience as “Flipping brilliant in SO many ways!”

Frankly we are humbled that Matthias would join us in our effort to build the very best mobile shopping app on Windows Phone 7. Check out Matthias live:

We began collecting email addresses from users who were interested in getting ShopSavvy on Windows Phone 7 and Blackberry. In fact, if you like, you can request a notification when either version of ShopSavvy is available (AND request to be included in the Beta period) here:

• ShopSavvy for Windows Phone 7 (Windows Mobile)
• ShopSavvy for Blackberry

Since we began accepting requests it has been interesting to note that Windows Phone requests have beaten out Blackberry requests two to one. This is despite the fact that Blackberry devices out number Windows Mobile devices more than two to one. That got me thinking, why don’t Blackberry users make more requests than WinMo users? I began asking every Blackberry user I meet, “What is your favorite app?” More often than not the Blackberry user won’t know what I am talking about. If they do know about Blackberry apps, and again this is a very small minority, they explain to me that they have very little memory capacity – most tell me email takes up all of the space on their phones. When I press the folks who don’t know about apps they have no idea how to get the app store on their phone. As RIM attempts to target a revamped Blackberry at iPhone users it will be interesting to see if our numbers trend differently.

To be notified by email of the release of ShopSavvy on Windows Mobile (or to be a beta tester) complete this form.

When we first began building the Windows Mobile version of ShopSavvy last Fall we were using our legacy barcode scanning library. We struggled to get it to work well enough on most of the Windows Mobile phones capable of running 6.5. With each additional phone we supported the effectiveness of our scanning library degraded. On top of that, our UI was unimpressive and flat. To say that we were dissatisfied with the app would be an understatement, but we were working closely with Microsoft and committed to deliver the app for their new marketplace. At the end of the day there were technical reasons ShopSavvy didn’t get released and we were almost relieved no one got to see ShopSavvy in the state it was at that point.

When we redeveloped our barcode scanning library we specifically sought a solution that would allow for scanning on a wide vareity of mobile phones – everything from low end feature phones to the state-of-the-art Windows Phone 7 devices poised to hit the market. Now that Android has more than 60 different handsets and Windows Phone 7 promises to have even more options we knew the problems associated with different camera types and processors would only get worse. Our scanning technology is now ready to support Windows Phone 7 now we need to build the app (we are scrapping our prior work).

Rylan, our lead developer began working with Windows Mobile back in 2005 and is quite skilled when it comes to Microsoft technology. All of our backend technology is built on .NET and will plug in nicely to the work our (yet to be named) Silverlight/WPF interaction designer will complete. Rylan will be laying down all of the logic and framework code and our interaction designer will be creating the front end (XAML, Sliverlight, Blend) to ensure a phenomenal user experience. Our focus on Expression Blend (the concept of new job role called the interaction designer) will mean that ShopSavvy for Windows Phone 7 could be the best version of the application to date (updates to our UI are forthcoming for iPhone and Android). Our friends at Microsoft are ACTIVELY working with our team to ensure ShopSavvy ROCKS on Windows Phone 7 – we have no doubt that together it will. Also, you might want to learn why Windows Phone 7 might really be a game changer.

So to your question: “When will ShopSavvy be available on Windows Mobile?” We don’t know. Our goal is to have ShopSavvy available prior to the release of Windows Phone 7, but we aren’t going to publish a date – so please quit asking. We will definitely let you know when it is available. If you want to beta test just fill out this form. Oh, and we will be releasing the SDK for developers who want to include barcode scanning in their own Windows Mobile applications.

Lots of people ask me what I think of the various smartphone platforms. Rylan came up with a super hero for each smartphone. Here are his picks:

iPhone::Batman – is loved for his human limitations, gadgets, style and willingness to play by his own rules. The iPhone will continue to be loved by millions.

Blackberry::Wolverine – both are from Canada and are very old (80 years old I think). Neither are much to look at, but they are very scrappy. Both are notoriously difficult to work with.

Windows Mobile 6.5::Captain American – was once relevant during WWII, has no special powers and is generally irrelevant to most Americans today. Windows Mobile will continue to become less and less relevant.

Windows Phone 7::The Phoenix – rose from the ashes and is disturbingly powerful. Windows Phone has a real chance of being a hit.

Palm WebOS::Robin – forever in Batman’s shadow. At one point Robin died and was replaced. There is some hope for Robin as he did eventually become Nightwing. Perhaps with HP’s support WebOS has a chance.

Android::Apocalypse – has complete control over the atomic structure of his body, looks like a robot and has limitless potential. Android’s strength is also its weakness, it can be everything to anyone.

Symbian::Arm Fall Off Boy – was so lame he was rejected by all of the other superheroes. Enough said…

Since the launch of ShopSavvy in 2008, we have had two primary competitors – Google and Amazon. Last week Google launched their THIRD barcode scanning shopping app (1st was Barcode Scanner (open source project by Google folks and 2nd was Google Goggles) called Google Shopper. All three are great apps. Lots of people have asked me, “So is this the end of ShopSavvy?”

The simple answer is, “I hope not.”  Google and Amazon are NOT the sort of competitors a startup should take lightly, but I do think their (repeated) entrance into our space is good news. We really stumbled onto something when we our app first won Google’s Android Developer Challenge and (obviously) they didn’t over look this fact.

100% of our focus is on making ShopSavvy the BEST shopping application on the market. Our goals are simple:

1. No. 1 INFORM the user
2. No. 2 EMPOWER the user
3. No. 3 INSPIRE the user

We have been doing No. 1 for about 18 months. We are just about to offer No. 2 with our payments integration. Finally, we hope to complete No. 3 by the end of the second quarter. Earlier this month I wrote about focusing on what your competitors are doing in a post titled, “Negative Target Acquisition“. We will keep trying to make ShopSavvy the BEST shopping application on the market. Ironically, Google’s new app has DRAMATICALLY increased our download volume. We are adding new users at a level we have NEVER seen before. Google’s PR effort is amazing, but interestingly my Google Alert’s for ‘ShopSavvy’ have been going off every hour as a new stories mentions both Google’s new app AND ShopSavvy. It is insane. So, I just wanted to thank Google for all the PR. We will continue to attempt to innovate and users will decide the ultimate winner(s).

ShopSavvy is current available on Android (Droid, Hero, Nexus, Eris, G1, MyTouch) and iPhone 3GS.  We are currently working on versions for:

• Android (all AF camera versions) – Launched!
• Android (Devour, Tattoo, Lancaster – i.e. non-AF cameras) – June 2010
• iPhone (2G/3G – i.e. non-AF cameras) – Launched!
• Windows Mobile – July 2010
• Blackberry – Nov 2010
• Symbian/Nokia – Launched!
• PalmOS – June 2010

Based on our current workload and staff these dates seem reasonable. Of course, our iPhone version took us almost three months longer than we expected (and we still don’t have the 2G/3G working well).  We get LOTS of emails each day, hopefully this update will help.