GroceryShopping
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Caper's smart shopping cart uses AI to skip checkout lines
From cashierless Amazon Go stores to Walmart's self-driving vans for food drop-offs, tech is revolutionizing grocery shopping with an emphasis on speed and convenience. Now a lesser-known startup is entering the fray with its AI-powered shopping carts that could put an end to bothersome checkout lines at your local store.
ICYMI: Amazon wants to revolutionize grocery shopping
try{document.getElementById("aol-cms-player-1").style.display="none";}catch(e){} Today on In Case You Missed It: Amazon created a smart store in Seattle which is currently open to just employees but next year will open to all. It lets people saunter in, grab whatever they need, then leave without formally checking out. The trick is in using the Amazon Go app and all the sensors within the store, which track which items are placed in a basket and charges shoppers accordingly. Meanwhile, Georgia Tech created a 'TuneTable,' an interactive table with moving coaster-sized tiles people use to both program and then play music. If you're interested, the Guinness Book of World Records video for candles is here, and the behind-the-scenes video from Rogue One is here. As always, please share any interesting tech or science videos you find by using the #ICYMI hashtag on Twitter for @mskerryd.
Philips' smart lighting tells you where to go in the grocery store
Ever spent ages wandering the grocery store while looking for a hard-to-find ingredient? If Philips brings its new connected retail lighting to your local supermarket, you may always know where to go. The technology uses light-based communication to create a positioning grid for your smartphone, telling you just what route you'll need to take to get everything for that recipe. Naturally, shopkeepers can also use the system for location-based discounts and suggestions; if you're looking for dessert ideas, the lights can point you to the pastry section. Philips is already testing its smart illumination with a handful of stores, so it might not be long before you're shopping with extreme efficiency.
Grocery stores use Apple's iBeacon to remind you what you're shopping for
Many of us will occasionally forget to pick up important ingredients when visiting the grocery store, but that absent-mindedness may not be a problem for much longer. A handful of Giant Eagle and Safeway locations are now using a new marketing service, InMarket's Mobile to Mortar, that relies on Apple's iBeacon to send proximity-based notifications while you're wandering the aisles. In addition to offering on-the-spot coupons and rewards, the system can remind you what's on your shopping list at just the right moment. It can also send an alert when someone adds to the list; if the family runs out of juice while you're in the store, you'll know to buy another jug before you reach the checkout line. Only certain Giant Eagle and Safeway outlets in Cleveland, San Francisco and Seattle are using Mobile to Mortar at launch, but InMarket promises more news in the months ahead.
Hiku grocery scanner makes remembering to buy the milk an $80 convenience
Everything you need to do, you can pretty much handle with the smartphone in your pocket -- it's a multi-purpose tool, after all. (Some even call it a Life Companion.) But, if you're just itching to overcomplicate your life with digital convenience and single-purpose gadgets, then direct your dollars to Hiku. The $80 device packs WiFi, a mic and scanner into a round, silicone and aluminum package to let you scan the barcodes of household and food products with a one-button push to build grocery lists. It does this in conjunction with a companion mobile app and as you might expect, it's iOS-only for now (an Android version is coming later). Oh, and it's got a magnetic back and a battery rated for up to two months, so you can keep it stuck to the fridge for quick access. There's not much more to it than all that, but the company does plan to issue frequent updates and eventually expand the functionality to let Hiku users scan and actually buy products. If you ask us though, it just seems like one more unnecessary gadget to lose. And besides, wouldn't you rather have all the info beamed straight to you shopping cart? Yes, there's a country for that.
Review: Shopping Pro for iOS
Shopping Pro is a new app from Quinn Genzel, the creator of Packing Pro. Shopping Pro (US$2.99) is what I would call the mother of all shopping list apps. It follows the detailed template of Packing Pro, with the ability to create templates from hundreds of items you might need from the grocery store. The app supports iCloud, so you can sync your shopping lists with your other iOS devices. You can also share list with family and others via email or iTunes sharing. The design can be customized with different color schemes and fonts. There is also a powerful search feature. Getting the app working is a matter of creating basic lists and checking things off as you go. You can input price and have the app generate a sales tax estimate. In testing, I noticed that you can go far beyond the standard grocery list, adding things such as appliances and electronics. My only real knock on the app, and it is a slight one, is the overall look. It reminds me of old DOS screens. That should be easy to fix, and I hope the app will adopt a more modern look and feel to show off its power and flexibility. Shopping Pro requires iOS 5 or later and is universal. The app is optimized for the iPhone 5. %Gallery-176880%
Grocery List - Buy Me a Pie! lets you bump and share your grocery lists
Gone are the days of the handwritten grocery list. With apps like Grocery List - Buy Me a Pie!, iOS owners can ditch the pen and paper and grab their iPhone the next time they head out to the grocery store. Design Grocery List - Buy Me a Pie! has the look and feel of your typical paper shopping list. The top part of the app has the appearance of a ripped piece of paper and contains the items on your shopping list. The bottom half of the app is dark grey and holds the items that are checked off your list as you shop. There's also a list management screen that allows you create new lists and manage multiple lists. The top part of the app is also where you build your list, one item at a time. You can type in an item or select one using the pre-installed entries. Unlike some shopping apps that have hundreds of items (most of which you won't use), Grocery List - Buy Me a Pie! includes a variety of staple foods like milk, OJ and carrots. The items in the database are not written in stone. You can delete each item or modify it to reflect your personal preferences. For example, you can easily change the entry for mayonnaise to Hellmann's Mayonnaise so you remember to buy the brand name instead of the generic. Each item in your list can have a quantity that you choose when you add it to your list and a color to help you organize your list. Unlike other shopping companions, Grocery List - Buy Me a Pie! uses colors instead of categories or aisles to sort your list. Though the colors look nice, I found them difficult to remember, especially when dealing with a long list of items. I can easily recall that milk is dairy and bread is bakery, but I was constantly forgetting that milk is yellow and bread is green. This labeling convention got easier as I used the app, but it still isn't as intuitive as text-based categories. Functionality Grocery List - Buy Me a Pie! is delightful to use. Its emphasis is on easy management so there are not a lot of details to enter or settings to tweak. Adding two cartons of eggs is as easy as typing Eggs:2 and hitting enter. You can also select items from a database that ships with the app. This list of shopping items in the app's database is dynamic, and the app stores new items that you add to your shopping list. It also prompts your to enter these stored items the next time you try to add them to your list. When I added Fluff to my most recent grocery list, it was also stored in the database. The next time I went to add fluff to my list, I typed "fl" and the app prompted me to enter "Fluff." It's a small feature, but a handy one that helps to minimize your typing time. Similar to other shopping apps, Grocery List - Buy Me a Pie! has a syncing feature that lets you share your list across multiple devices. The app syncs to an account you create through Skript, the company behind the Buy Me a Pie! app. Syncing was extremely quick and notification support made sure everyone else following your list was alerted of any changes. The latest version of the app also adds a bump feature that allows you to bump two iOS devices to share a list. Conclusion Grocery List - Buy Me a Pie! is a lightweight shopping app that makes it easy to manage multiple shopping lists on your iOS devices. It doesn't have the advanced features of other shopping apps like Grocery Gadget, but it makes up for it with a clean, efficient UI and fast syncing. Grocery List - Buy Me a Pie! is on sale this week for US$0.99, which makes it a must-have for iOS owners. Pros Neat, clean interface Quick and easy way to enter items on your device Fast syncing of lists between devices Cons Missing features like aisles, coupons and photos that are found in other shopping apps Color coding to sort items is visually appealing, but harder to remember than categories Who is it for? Anyone looking for a lightweight grocery shopping app with easy entry of items and blazing fast syncing.
Whole Foods experimenting with Kinect-powered shopping carts that are smarter than you (video)
Here's a little secret Whole Foods doesn't like to advertise: they want, nay, demand, that a rather large percentage of residents near its highfalutin grocery stores have a college degree. Apparently you've gotta be smart to navigate its aisles crowded with over-priced organic wares and exotic condiments. Perhaps, though, the company has realized the error of its ways and wants to move in to new markets. That doesn't mean it trusts you and your high school diploma to decipher all those labels with difficult to pronounce words on them. A new experimental shopping cart is being tested by the market that puts a tablet and a Kinect in the driver's seat -- literally. Because you can't be expected to multi-task, the cart drives itself, monitors your shopping list and can even warn you if you grab the wrong item, thus protecting you from your own inability to avoid aggravating your peanut allergy. Check it out in action after the break.
SK Telecom's Smart Cart syncs to phones, reminds you to buy milk
Familiar with this scenario? You put off grocery shopping until the weekend, curse your way through the irate Sunday morning hordes, and then schlep your food all the way home only to realize you forgot to buy dish soap and use those coupons. Good thing, then, that SK Telecom is trialing a new service that syncs items from a smartphone app -- like a shopping list -- to its tablet PC-equipped Smart Cart. Hailed by the company as the first of its kind, this real-time aide uses indoor positioning to provide product info, tips and discounts while you peruse those crowded aisles. The WiFi-connected in-cart display also makes use of augmented reality, offering coupon clippers a high-tech solution for their cost-cutting predilections. If the current pilot test in China's Shanghai Lotus Supermarkets proves a success, expect to see this "personalized smart shopping service" doling out recommendations based on purchase history and location. Hear that? That's the sound of marketers licking their hyper targeting chops. Full PR is after break.
