Shoppers can use the application [iTunes link] to access Consumer Reports' unbiased product database covering appliances, electronics, home and garden, babies and kids and car care categories. The app also offers product and price comparisons.
The whole point of the application is to provide access to unbiased product information, which makes its value proposition completely opposite the crop of social barcode scanners offering consumers instant access to the opinions of their social network friends.
While there's value in having access to Consumer Reports reviews on the go, we find the price -- which will bump up to $14.99 on January 1, 2011 -- a bit steep, and the timing a bit late. iPhone users have already shown affinity for the free comparison shopping barcode scanner app RedLaser, which now also scans QR codes.
Consumer Reports is the same organization that made headlines earlier this year when it publicly announced that it could not recommend the iPhone 4 due to the device's antenna "design defect."
