If the Internet has been good for one thing, it’s comparison shopping. There’s no need to make a hasty purchase now, because once you get home you can check the price at various online outlets. This is perfect for the holidays, especially if you start shopping early. Mobile devices have furthered this cause, allowing customers to look up prices online, right as they look at the item on a shelf. What hasn’t developed along with it is online shopping. That will change over the next few years, and to kickstart things, Amazon.com has partnered with Handmark to create the Amazon App for BlackBerry.
The Amazon app acts as a close facsimile to the Amazon you’re used to visiting from your web browser, but stripped down for the mobile experience. It opens with the search box (though without the categorical drop-down), followed by recommendations to you. You can also browse your cart and wish list.
There is an additional feature as well, one that helps in the scenario described in the first paragraph. It is called Remembers, and it can help you do just that: remember something you see on a shelf. Just click on the Remembers tab and then click Take Photo. You can then capture the image of something that catches your imagination and send it to Amazon. They’ll come back with not only the listing for that product, but also for similar products.
I didn’t get a chance to fully test the Remembers feature, because I downloaded the app yesterday. But it seems like a neat feature that can make in-store shopping a bit easier. You don’t have to go perform a product look-up. Instead, you can just snap a picture and send it to Amazon. It also sounds like a great idea when you’re deliberating over one gift or another.
You can get the Amazon BlackBerry app for free at the BBGeeks Store.
