Android contest winner scores $700K in seed financing

Mobile applications developer Big in Japan announced it secured $700,000 in seed financing from IT outsourcing company and tech startup incubator Architel LP in the wake of claiming one of 10 $275,000 top prizes awarded as part of Google's Android Developer Challenge [1] competition. Big in Japan's ShopSavvy (formerly known as GoCart) was one of 1,788 total submissions to the Android Developer Challenge--the application promises users the capability to "scan a product's barcode with your phone's camera and view all the best prices online and at nearby, local stores," per its ADC description. ShopSavvy will be available for consumer download when Google opens its Android Market later this year--Big in Japan said ShopSavvy is the first of many commercial applications it intends to develop for the Android OS. Check out a screen capture of ShopSavvy here [2].

For more on the Big in Japan financing:
- read this release [3]