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DALLAS, Tx Sept. 3, 2008 -- Big in Japan, a Dallas-based idea factory for mobile applications,
announced that its GoCart™
application – a personal shopping assistant –
has been named one of 10 winners among nearly 1,800 entries in the
Google Android Developer Challenge, a contest to build mobile-phone
applications for the Android operating system. Big in Japan was awarded
a $275,000 prize by Google for its winning entry.
GoCart enables consumers to comparison shop while on the go, simply by
scanning any product’s barcode with the phone’s
built-in camera. Using this information, GoCart searches the Web for the
best prices on the product, displaying the lowest prices online as well
as at nearby brick-and-mortar retailers (identified through GPS and
reverse geocoding).
GoCart looks up product reviews to further assist with purchase
decisions. The application also allows users to set price alerts; create
wish lists and publish them to social networking sites; and to keep a
history of scanned products for future reference.
“The problem with price comparison Web sites
is that they’re never around when you need
them,” explains Rylan Barnes, the Big in
Japan co-founder who led GoCart’s
development. “GoCart empowers consumers with
information while they are actually out doing their shopping. They can
get reviews instantly, discover what online retailers are charging, and
find out if a nearby store is selling a product cheaper.”
GoCart will be available to consumers through Google’s Android Market when the first Android-powered handsets are introduced
commercially later this year.
About Big in Japan
Big in Japan Inc. is a Dallas-based
idea factory for mobile applications, building software for Google’s
open-source Android platform and Apple’s
iPhone. Big in Japan’s GoCart application –
a personal shopping assistant – will be
available on Android-powered handsets later this year.
Information Source: Business Wire
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