Best Phone Apps This Holiday Season

ShopSavvy likes to think its making Santa’s job easier this holiday season, and Big in Japan, creator of the application, might be on the right sleigh track. This Google Android application has been winning awards and getting some serious press. Users can scan the bar code of any product using their phone’s built-in camera. Shop Savvy will then search for the best prices online and through the inventories of nearby stores using the phone’s built-in GPS. Currently, ShopSavvy works only on the Android platform, but it should soon be available for iPhones, BlackBerrys and Windows Mobile handsets.

Shop Savvy isn’t the only price comparison software available. Free programs from Amazon and SnapTell allow iPhone users to take pictures of entire products rather than barcodes. Frucall compares prices on all smartphone platforms by providing a toll-free number for users to enter the queries’ barcode. Google and Yahoo also have jumped on the mobile comparison bandwagon using voice recognition software to speak queries that work on most platforms, while Vlingo provides the same voice recognition software for the iPhone. Get out there and start saving!