Last Sunday, I did my Christmas shopping in a half hour. Online, of course.
But if I had waited, I could have used Google Catalog, a just released app available for iPhones, iPads and Androids.
It is pretty cool, using some of the same functionality that Conde Naste was testing out with their magazines in 2009.
First, it has the usual beautiful navigation and zoom-in imagery. Then the items link to the store web site for easy ordering. The catalog can also include videos but I don’t see any in the 20 our so catalogs that I looked at.
Another kind of weird feature is the collage. You can mark items as favorites and save them to a “collage” space then share it with your friends. Kind of odd, but I am sure fascinating to some. Yes, I am one of those but don’t really have a desire to share my wish list–although I did favorite a lot of stuff.
I can see organizations like the ABA, LexisNexis or Westlaw using this app to showcase their wares.