It has been an amazing year for Android and the Android version of ShopSavvy. Of course we owe a LOT to our partners including Google, T-Mobile, Sprint and Verizon. Some of you have suggested we might be focusing too much on the iPhone version of ShopSavvy. Sadly we HAVE been spending a little too much time on it. We are still in our ‘beta’ phase on iPhone (our long term Android users will remember that we went through a ‘beta’ phase on Android too) – we should be stable and fast sometime in January. In the meantime, I am pleased to announce that we haven’t been ignoring the Android version of ShopSavvy! Say hello to ShopSavvy 3.6 for Android (available in market sometime today). Here are some of the changes in 3.6
QR Code Support - supporting ALL QR codes including URL redirect, contact, phone number, sms, new app install AND Google’s Favorite Places Stickers
Bug Fix- common Force Close Issue should be gone (other Android developers with same problem should email support@biggu.com to learn how to stop force close from happening when users update apps)
Logo Clean Up – standardized on new ShopSavvy icon (sticker with curled edge, read more here)
Internal UI polish – including use of new icons inside of ShopSavvy
Previously I have written about why we didn’t support QR codes. Recently Google announced their Google Favorite Places program whereby Google mailed QR code window stickers to something like 190,000 local retailers. These QR codes are tied to Google local search feature and allows the retailer to include coupons and special offers to users who scan the codes. In light of this new feature and its connection to retail shopping we decided it was time to support QR code scanning. ShopSavvy will now scan all 1D and 2D barcodes. Try scanning the code to the right (it is my contact info) and feel free to let me know how you like the new changes in ShopSavvy for Android. Oh and have a Happy New Year!
Update: Several of you have asked about QR code support in the iPhone version of ShopSavvy. The quick answer it is coming. The longer answer is that we don’t want to overcomplicate our release until we are out of our beta phase. Scanning speeds need to improve significantly. Additionally, it is much easier for us to include QR code scanning in phones that have auto-focus (i.e. 3GS) so it is likely that our first QR release will only support the 3GS and not legacy 3G/2G phones. I would look for a QR code release 30 days after a stable/fast ShopSavvy release on the iPhone. But fear not, we are moving in that direction (see picture).
The newest member of our team was showing off some of his coding chops the other day and showed off a new feature called “ShopSavvy Product Radar“. Simply put, ShopSavvy Product Radar is a ‘third’ way to view local products in ShopSavvy. Today if you scan a barcode of an item we show you local results in a list or map view. With the list view you see a list of retailers who sell the item in question ordered by price. With the map view you see a map of retailers ordered by distance from you. In the new Radar view the user can hold his camera in space and see the various stores selling his product in augmented reality. The following video and screenshots feature Best Buy (any retailer can include their icon in the view – email sales@biggu.com).
Bruce emailed me earlier today and explained how he got ShopSavvy to work on the Samsung Behold 2. Here is his explanation:
“Just thought I’d let you know that I now have ShopSavvy working well on my Behold 2. The inelegant solution was to place a small piece of electrical tape over the flash. I don’t take many photos, particularly ones requiring a flash, so it’s not a problem for me. If I need a flash I can always peel it off. With the flash covered up the auto focus works fine. One improvement would be a way to automatically use the macro mode on the camera to better focus on smaller barcodes. I’m still looking forward to a solution from Samsung for the flash issue but this lets me use the app, as well as other scanners, in the meantime.”
Here is a picture of the fix:
Thanks Bruce! We are still hoping to get something from Samsung in the way of a OTA firmware fix.
The Muse family is sung as a bug in a rug at our house (the weather report says it will snow here in Dallas around lunch time). We have the ShopSavvy map up on the plasma display in our living room. The kids love watching live shopping going on around the world. This morning we watched as shoppers were scanning items in Greece, Italy, Poland, Sweden, Denmark, Spain and the UK. It wasn’t very long until the scans began showing up across the Atlantic from Vermont to Florida at first and then all the way to St. Louis. Just now we began seeing heavy scan volume in Kansas and Texas. What are people scanning? Toys! Toys! Toys! Lots of toy shopping! The kids are loving it.
Another fun thing Ethan found was reviews for everyday items on ShopSavvy. Ethan scanned a package of AA batteries and checked out the reviews. I never thought to check the reviews on batteries, but leave it to an eight year old. Anyway, I got a laugh out of the reviews (you might too). Here are a couple of screenshots:
We have two more voting opportunities for ShopSavvy. The first is for the Consumer Electronics Show Mobile App Showdown. We were selected as a semi-finalist and part of the contest is based on internet voting. You can vote 25 times for ShopSavvy so take a minute and click your mouse 25 times for ShopSavvy. Here is the link to the CES Vote.
The next contest we need your help on is the O’ReillyApp Smackdown: Best App for Bargain Hunting. We are head to head and you can only vote once. So take a minute and vote for ShopSavvy here on O’Reilly’s Smackdown.
I am not a huge fan of these sort of internet voting contests, but we appreciate any and all PR. The only thing better than getting nominated is actually winning once of these contests. We appreciate your help. Happy Holidays!
It has been an amazing year for Android and the Android version of ShopSavvy. Of course we owe a LOT to our partners including Google, T-Mobile, Sprint and Verizon. Some of you have suggested we might be focusing too much on the iPhone version of ShopSavvy. Sadly we HAVE been spending a little too much time on it. We are still in our ‘beta’ phase on iPhone (our long term Android users will remember that we went through a ‘beta’ phase on Android too) – we should be stable and fast sometime in January. In the meantime, I am pleased to announce that we haven’t been ignoring the Android version of ShopSavvy! Say hello to ShopSavvy 3.6 for Android (available in market sometime today). Here are some of the changes in 3.6
Update: Several of you have asked about QR code support in the iPhone version of ShopSavvy. The quick answer it is coming. The longer answer is that we don’t want to overcomplicate our release until we are out of our beta phase. Scanning speeds need to improve significantly. Additionally, it is much easier for us to include QR code scanning in phones that have auto-focus (i.e. 3GS) so it is likely that our first QR release will only support the 3GS and not legacy 3G/2G phones. I would look for a QR code release 30 days after a stable/fast ShopSavvy release on the iPhone. But fear not, we are moving in that direction (see picture).
The Muse family is sung as a bug in a rug at our house (the weather report says it will snow here in Dallas around lunch time). We have the ShopSavvy map up on the plasma display in our living room. The kids love watching live shopping going on around the world. This morning we watched as shoppers were scanning items in Greece, Italy, Poland, Sweden, Denmark, Spain and the UK. It wasn’t very long until the scans began showing up across the Atlantic from Vermont to Florida at first and then all the way to St. Louis. Just now we began seeing heavy scan volume in Kansas and Texas. What are people scanning? Toys! Toys! Toys! Lots of toy shopping! The kids are loving it.
We have two more voting opportunities for ShopSavvy. The first is for the Consumer Electronics Show Mobile App Showdown. We were selected as a semi-finalist and part of the contest is based on internet voting. You can vote 
Recent Comments