• WSJ, Wednesday, December 16, 2009 3:15 PM

The Journal points to a new generation of mobile-phone software that is helping consumers shop smarter this holiday season.

A mobile application named ShopSavvy, for instance, lets consumers check prices for comparable products using their smartphones. As the paper notes, shoppers are already accustomed to using the Internet to research products and prices. Now, however, mobile-shopping apps take that research on the road. Such apps identify stores in the immediate vicinity that have a product consumers are looking for, and then tells them which product is cheapest and closest.

The apps, which are downloaded through the wireless connections on iPhones and other smart phones, ask users to share basic information such as their location and what they're looking to buy. Despite the market's infancy, the Journal writes, "This is shaping up to be the first app-powered Christmas."

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