• by Mark Walsh  @markfwal, November 28, 2006

As heavyweights from Yahoo to Microsoft jump into mobile search, one start-up is already turning cell phones into pocket shopping guides. GPShopper lets mobile consumers use its free application, Slifter, to find everything from ice skates to iPods on the go. Entering a product name and ZIP code returns a list of nearby stores, phone numbers, and maps. Users can also create shopping lists and send recommendations to friends.

Slifter has information on some 50 million products — about half of them consumer electronics — in 15,000 locations. “If you can drive people to the stores, they’re more likely to buy,” explained CEO Alex Muller, who started GPShopper in January 2005. Retailers pay GPShopper for listing on Slifter and when someone clicks on their links.

More than 50,000 people have downloaded Slifter. But what about the big Internet players claiming turf in mobile search? Muller isn’t too worried. “A company like mine in the long term could be a component of a bigger company,” he said.