Mobile shopping assistant Slice has just launched a new version of its Android application today, that brings a full-screen, better optimized experience designed for those using Android tablets. This is the company's first tablet application, in fact, arriving ahead of Slice's expected iPad debut.
The new app doesn't yet work on Kindle Fire devices, however, nor will Slice confirm an expected launch date for its iPad release at this time. But one would imagine the company is working to bring those to consumers as soon as possible, given that we're now approaching the busiest time of the year for shopping, both online and off.
The choice to go Android-first seems odd, given that so many retailers report the majority of mobile shoppers arrive from iOS. (Perhaps it's worth noting that one of Slice's backers is Eric Schmidt's Innovation Endeavors, then).
The company, which raised $23 million in Series B funding this summer, rolled out its first major update to Slice just last month, introducing support for product recall notifications for the first time. This is now one of the flagship features in the Slice app, which also helps users track their order confirmations, shipments, online spending, and price drops for select retailers.
Today, Slice works with a number of retailers for this latter feature, including Buy.com, Home Depot, Zappos, REI, Best Buy, Bonobos, Nordstrom, NewEgg, HSN, Hanes, Bath & Body Works, Jo-Ann, Avon, Crate&Barrel, Overstock.com, MacMall, and others.
The service itself integrates with users' email inboxes in order to keep an eye on their shopping and spending behaviors, aggregating e-receipts and other automated shopping-related messages, and making sense of their buying patterns and keeping them alerted to any changes.
On Android, the new app out this morning will now feature large images of everything you've bought so far, each annotated with key product information and shipping statuses. And it continues to support all the features found on mobile versions, including the newly added recall notices. Also new is a map feature, which lets you track your packages in real-time. (See above). Presumably, the Slice iPad app, when it arrives, will be similar.
The company declines to offer details on its user numbers, actives, or app downloads, but says that it has processed more than 100 million items to date for a total purchase value of over $3.2 billion, which is up from 90 million and $3 billion just a month ago.
The new app is available now on Google Play.
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