Stores to launch discount coupons via mobile phones

A network of 17,000 local retailers and corner shops will this summer launch a scheme to offer discounts and money-off coupons to shoppers via mobile phones in an attempt to replicate the success of supermarket loyalty card schemes. The Shop Scan Save initiative will send special offers to consumers' handsets as barcodes that can be scan-ned from the mobile phone display.

Swipe your Mobile Phone

You can now pay all your bills with your phone. According to FTIL director (Technology), Dewang Neralla, Atom Technologies’ product — Atom Card — and software can burn the user’s credit card data to a mobile phone, that too over-the-air (like making a call or sending an SMS).

The data would be stored in a 2-D bar code format and cannot be read even by the user, assuring security in case the handset is lost or stolen. However for making a purchase an authentication — providing the PIN — has to be made.

Shopping by cellphone has a few kinks

ScanBuy Shopper, on the other hand, casts a massive net. It scours Amazon Marketplace, PriceGrabber, Shopping.com and Yahoo Shopping for prices, and it finds some real steals.

Bottom line: Mobile price comparison systems leave much to be desired, but I'd still recommend Frucall and ScanBuy (if your phone supports it).

Under the right circumstances, both of these free services can answer a question that has plagued shoppers for a decade now: "I wonder if I could get this cheaper online?"

SO MANY CHOICES

SERVICE	PRO	CON
Frucall	Normal voice call	Results take longer to say than read
ScanBuy Shopper	Searches several sites	Won't work on many phones
Mobsaver	Easy to text barcode	Searches only two sites
Froogle SMS	Uses keywords, not numbers	Can return wrong product
Pronto	Full search, good bargains	Very slow on phone