WebProNews

Price comparison shopping via Google's Froogle service is now just a phone call away for mobile users.

The Google Blog has announced an update to Froogle Mobile. The change will help shoppers check prices as they roam the aisles of a store, and see if they're getting the best deal.

Users with WAP 1.2 or higher browsers on their phones can go to http://wml.froogle.com to pull up the Froogle search box. Those results can be arranged by price or by best match for an item. Google has made this service available in the UK as well as the US.

It isn't clear how retailers will react, or if they'll react, to customers doing price checks by phones. Some of the bigger chains have frowned upon people actively making notes of prices in stores, but that was before Internet retailing began to grow.

And with so many people wandering from aisle to aisle with a phone stuck to their ears anyway, there may not be much notice paid to someone tapping away on a keypad. One can always say they're just checking messages when they may be finding a better price on a MP3 player instead.

David Utter is a staff writer for WebProNews covering technology and business. Email him here.