Recently, Google has quietly released a new shopping app for Android phones. Available for free from the Android market, Google Shopper is a smart shopping app that lets you purchase items online by various means plus do some product searches including reviews and ratings by other consumers.

As a mobile shopping app, Google Shopper lets you scan barcodes, album art, book covers and then use those information to search for the product online. From there you can directly purchase the item using the application.

But aside from purchasing products online, you can also use the app’s search function which is powered by Google Product Search engine. You can search for product reviews, prices, specs and more. You can do these using your Android phone’s screen interface or through voice search.

The app also lets you save your shopping and search history, star your favorites, as well as share your product finds through Gmail, Facebook, Twitter and other mobile services.

I downloaded the app on my Nexus One and I would have to say that it is indeed a pretty sleek-looking app. Banking on Google’s mobile infrastructure and massive product databases which it cull  from various online sources, the app would be a good tool to have if you want to quickly find out about products you encounter everyday. Since it is a mobile app, that goes without saying that you can use this feature even while on the go.

You know the drill, right? Search for Shopper from the Android market and download the app for free.

UStream, the same video service which made some significant ground-breaking feature earlier with the Avatar premiere and their New Year’s Eve  live coverage is offering yet again another new service. This time it’s a live video streaming format with specific featured performers.

But don’t get your hopes so high yet though, as this new service will be on a pay-per-view basis. Just like in any live performance acts, you need to purchase a ticket to be able to watch the shows on UStream’s Live Video platform. Ticket prices for UStream’s Live Video events will start from $5 and could possibly go higher depending on the featured acts.

To kick off the its new Live Video Platform, UStream is bringing in comedian Dane Cook with his stand-up routine entitled “ISolated INcident.” Tickets are available for $5 and the event  is happening on February 6, 6:30 p.m. EST.

Aside from being able to watch the whole show online, paying users will also get other freebies including the chance to chat with other fans right on the Live Video Platform itself. You can also ask Dane Cook questions as well as access some backstage content. All in all, UStream promises to bring in 5 hours of entertainment in exchange for your $5 bucks.

But this is just the start. UStream hopes to get some other big acts to be featured on their Live Video platform.

Interested?  you may grab your tickets to this gig by visiting this link.

With the  Black Friday  shopping craze in the U.S. finally over, it’s now time to look into some figures that were derived out of all the online retail e-commerce transactions by online retailers that participated. According to comScore, there was a total of $595 million online sales on November 27, Black Friday.   This makes Black Friday as the second heaviest online spending day for 2009.

This year’s Black Friday online sales represents an 11% increase against last year’s Black Friday sales data. Overall spending now amounts to $10.57 billion – a 3% increase from last year’s data. More →

If there’s one good thing the came out of the recently ended recession, that has to be the proliferation of members-only online shopping sites. And guess who are supplying their wares? None other than the makers of luxury goods which have found a new avenue to sell their goods particularly the overstocks which remained in their inventory.

Thanks to private online shopping site such as Gilt Groupe, Rue La La, and Ideeli, luxury brands have found their way to fashionistas who were forced to tighten their belt during the economic recession. More →

I’ve created an Amazon Associate account a long time ago but never get to earn significantly from the referral program. The only time I got a commission from a sales coming from Amazon links from my blog is when a friend click on the link and actually purchase the product online.

Fast forward to now. Amazon Associates has launched a new feature that might actually give us easier way to gain commission. And this feature is called – Share on Twitter. More →

Hillary Clinton believes it takes a village. How would you like to OWN the village? Thanks in part to an online auction, White’s City, New Mexico can be yours.

Imagine it: two motels, an RV park, 25 campsites, your own post office, grocery store, restaurants and more – sitting on your land.

The auction takes place on July 14 at 11am. Online bidding starts the very next day. Bid here.

No pressure, though. The town has been operating for over 80 years under the ownership of the White family. Looks like they’ve had enough and are packing it in.

The tourist town sits outside of Carlsbad Caverns National Park.

I love how far online bidding has come. I might be interested. Do you think they’ll accept Paypal?

Kriyari Inc. announced the launch of iStorez, a unique consumer shopping site that collects and organizes shopping newsletters from hundreds of stores and brands and presents them as ‘on demand’, visual and searchable storefronts. iStorez combines a ‘patent pending’ storefront creation engine with Web 2.0 technologies to deliver continually fresh, relevant and unique content for shoppers. iStorez empowers consumers to enjoy a personalized shopping experience by allowing them to create a shopper profile and select their favorite stores. As consumers keep returning to the site, they will always find the latest products and discover the best deals at their favorite stores. To get started, iStorez comes with pre-selected shopper profiles so visitors can select a profile that matches their shopping style.

iStorez is very different from a shopping comparison or a social shopping site. First, consumers can browse the latest trends in fashion and technology as they view various storefronts. It is like walking down a ‘virtual Fifth Avenue’. Second, when a consumer searches for an item, the best matching storefronts are presented in order of relevance. It is as though a custom mall has been created ‘on demand’ based on the consumer’s interest. This works very well for ‘soft good’ items such as apparel, jewelry, gifts, furniture, etc., where a consumer has to see what’s there before
they can decide what to buy. Third, consumers can discover special sales, discounts and limited items that would otherwise be buried deep in their Inboxes, and that is only if they have previously subscribed to that particular newsletter.

QVC.com has expanded its popular online community into a full social network platform powered by LiveWorld.

QVC’s expanded social network is based on LiveWorld’s latest Community Center platform including LiveWorld’s moderation tools and data warehouse reporting. QVC is utilizing LiveWorld’s API & Portlets technology to directly integrate community content throughout the main QVC site.

The PR firm of retail store Sears is having a really tough time these days defending its image against the tirades of consumers and privacy groups over its two separate online policies.

According to The Chicago Sun Times, privacy advocates are accusing Sears of adding spyware on the computers of some customers so it can track the online activities of those users for market research purposes. But Sears is quick to refute these allegations, saying that those consumers gave their consent and the terms were clearly explained to them. Moreover, the information gathered from customers is not shared to other parties.

Another major setback is reminiscent of Facebook’s Beacon. Apparently, Sears has displayed publicly some confidential information in one of its website, ManageMyHome.com. Exposing data such as purchase history is like opening your door to muggers. A lawsuit is already filed by a customer for this very insensitive act.

Although Sears defended that this purchase history function is very helpful to the customers, it decided to temporarily shut down this service until a validation process is implemented.

Shopit.com, the social shopping community on the web, is spending $10,000.00 on two of the crappiest gifts received this holiday season.

Members simply add their crappy gifts to their Shopit stores in one of two categories; Ugliest Apparel Item, and Most Useless Item. The Shopit community will then vote on which item they think is the crappiest and the winner of each category will receive $5,000.

Contestants’ gifts will appear everywhere their Shopit store appears, including Shopit’s Flash Store Widgets. Members can also have friends vote for their gifts through their Facebook profiles by adding the Shopit Facebook Application.

The portability of Shopit’s stores allows for maximum visibility of a store’s items, a useful feature for members competing for the most votes from their peers in the Crappy Gift Contest. Anyone is welcome to participate by adding a gift or voting. They simply join the free Shopit community and begin adding items, the crappier the better. Contest ends January 31.