shopping

Minority Report-style shopping coming to a phone near you

Some of the features of the future world pictured in Minority Report may be coming to our present world sooner than we thought. For example, startup company Shopkick has teamed up with Macy’s and Best Buy to launch an iPhone/Android app that uses those phones location-detection capabilities to offer rewards to potential customers when they are near stores.

Other companies getting in the game include other location-sharing apps/companies such as Loopt and FourSquare. As GPS becomes more ubiquitous in mobile devices (we probably shouldn’t call them merely phones any more), applications such as these will also become more common. Of course, the next uproar will be the perceived ‘invasion of privacy’ that these apps bring, but let’s face it – you can choose not to install them.

via WSJ

Amazon.com gets patent to put your order packaging on video

amazon patent imageAmazon.com has had yet another patent approved, this time for a way to send their customers images and video clips of their orders being packed up for shipping. Yes, you read that right.

The idea is that it assists customers as well as Amazon and their associated merchants. We’ll see how this pans out, and of course, it could end up being rife with issues, or it may actually be able to cut down the amount of unverifiable finger-pointing that occurs in online shopping and order fulfillment.

Post a comment the first time you notice a video/image in your Amazon order e-mail.

How To Be Safe When Shopping Online

If you’re a reader of this gadget blog, then there’s a greater than 99% chance that you shop online. A lot! While for the most part, it’s a positive experience for most people – the convenience of home, the speed of checkout and of course, the great prices, there is a darkside – the risk of being scammed or cheated by an online vendor.

You can be safe shopping online. Follow the tips in this article to quickly become an expert on the subject. Then make sure to pass it onto your friends and family. If these ethically-challenged vendors don’t get any bites or sales, then they won’t be around for very long.

via Safe Online Shopping

Gadget Gifts – Ideas, Recommendations, Suggestions

We’ve put together a list of gadget gifts for the gizmo-lover in your life. These aren’t just great for the Christmas holiday season but any time of year. For the most part, we’ve tried to stay away from the usual and obvious electronic gadgets like MP3 players, phones and cameras, but instead bring you a variety of neat electronic gift ideas and in most cases useful items that are still worth their salt as far as gadgets go.

Perplexus

Let’s start with some toys/puzzles/games. Perplexus is a spherical 3-D maze with a ball bearing that you to need to navigate around a maze. Simply to learn, hard to solve and master!
Buy now!

Just One Club Card

Loyalty Cards

Another nifty innovation we just had to feature here at GfG is the ‘Just One Club Card’. This is a free website (a donation is asked for, but there is no mandatory payment) that allows you to type in the barcode of all your loyalty cards for your favorite stores and then print all these off all on one handy card-sized piece of paper.

Just think about how many cards you have in your wallet at the moment – these could all be reduced down into a series of 1 or 2 cards (each print-off can hold 8 barcodes) that will seriously de-clutter your wallet/purse.

Holiday Gift Ideas 2008: Smarthome’s Gift Ideas

Smarthome has a nicely organized set of gift ideas for you. Before you dismiss Smarthome as just a store for home automation goodies, think again. They have thousands of very useful gadgets for not just your home, but your pets, traveling, the garden, and for your very own personal comfort. One nice thing about Smarthome is that they personally test products before they include it for sale on their site – we know, we’ve actually seen them in action!

Order quickly (and enough!) and you’ll get free shipping, as well as discounts starting at $15 up to $60 off your total order.

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