Top Apps for Busy Moms

Lisa Budeau: Good morning, everyone. It's now 6:17. Moms today are busy women, and many are looking for ways to tidy up their to-do lists. We think we have some solutions for you this morning, and they're as close as your cell phone.

Hap Aziz is the Director of Rasmussen College's School of Technology in the Twin Cities, and he's in Fargo this morning to visit with us a little bit about some very cool apps that can make life a little bit easier for a lot of people, especially busy moms.

Hap Aziz: That's right, Lisa.

Lisa Budeau: The first one that you were talking to me about a little bit, in the break, ShopSavvy. Can you tell us a little bit about this?

Hap Aziz: Sure. ShopSavvy is an application that allows you to use the camera on your iPhone or your Android device and scan barcodes. Then what you're able to do by scanning the barcodes is you identify the product, and then you can find out where it's available online or locally at the best price.

Lisa Budeau: Wow, so you don't have to worry about shopping around lots of different stores. You can just do all your research right there in one spot.

Hap Aziz: That's right. My wife and I were talking about it just a few days ago, and we were saying that it makes it easy. If you see something you like in a particular store and you want to check if the stores nearby might have it at a less expensive price, you can do that and obviously you save on gas and having to drive around town.

Lisa Budeau: And I know a lot of people still cut coupons, but that's kind of becoming something of the past. Apps help with that, so you don't have to sit and spend hours clipping?

Hap Aziz: That's right. There's one called MobiCoupon.

Lisa Budeau: Okay.

Hap Aziz: And what that allows you do is have coupons sent to you. You actually can search locally for coupons that stores might have in deals nearby, and there are a variety of stores - electronic shops, restaurants, different types of places - and then instead of cutting the coupon out, you actually just show the coupon at checkout and you get the discount.

Lisa Budeau: It doesn't get any easier than that.

Hap Aziz: That is so easy, and you can actually specify your favorite category. So if you like a particular type of product, you can search for that.

Lisa Budeau: And gas prices, top of mind right now, of course. They're just very high. Is there an app to help?

Hap Aziz: Of course, there's which allows you to search for gas stations nearby. It's based on the GPS device in your phone. I just touched down in Minnesota yesterday, and I was checking on the plane, seeing gas stations nearby. If you're traveling and need to fill up going back to the airport, that's good. But then I checked prices here in Fargo. They're a little bit more expensive than they were in Minneapolis.

Lisa Budeau: Oh, interesting. How much more?

Hap Aziz: I was seeing about $0.10 more a gallon.

Lisa Budeau: Now, if people have smart phones, is there any cost? These are free?

Hap Aziz: These apps are free. They're freely downloadable through either the iTunes Store or the Android Marketplace. Some of the apps are available for BlackBerry and the Windows phone as well, but basically you'll find your greatest selection on Android and iPhone.

Lisa Budeau: Okay. I love these. I'm going to have to download all of them. There's an app for that. We hear that all the time, don't we?

Hap Aziz: That's right.

Lisa Budeau: All right. Well thank you. Hap Aziz, Director of the Rasmussen College School of Technology. Thanks for coming in this morning.

Hap Aziz: Thank you.

Lisa Budeau: All right, Daron.

Daron Selvig: All right. That is very fascinating. Good to talk about there.