The tech news sites have been aflutter with details for the T-Mobile G1, the first phone to run Google's mobile operating system -- dubbed "Android". The phone packs loads of features and looks like it will give the iPhone a run for its money, especially if all applications are as useful as ShopSavvy, which was chosen as one of the 10 winners of the Google Challenge, and which will be offered for free when the G1 launches.

I haven't had a chance to use the ShopSavvy application yet, but after watching the demo, which is embedded below, I'm ready to get a G1 today! This little program looks to do more on your phone than most full-fledged price comparison sites. Checking the price is as easy as scanning the product's barcode with the built-in camera. From there you can see local and web prices as well as set a price alert in case you're waiting for the product to fit your budget. If you plan to buy the item in a local store, as determined by GPS, ShopSavvy enables you to map their location or give them a call.

If the price is cheaper online, you can email yourself the link or visit the product page right from your phone. Speaking of online features; you can even create your own wish lists just by scanning the items with the camera. I wish we would have been able to use this feature when we were building our wedding registry a few years back. The fact that ShopSavvy helps you avoid clunky in-store systems plagued with downtime all while publishing the items to the web for guests to buy wherever is freakin' genius!

Google is digitizing microfilm from old newspapers and bringing it online to you -- free. It's springing for the cost to put the old film online, opening up vast amounts of local American history that had been sequestered in dingy library offices, too difficult for most researchers to find.

Here's how it works: Go to Google's News Archive site. Type in whatever you're curious about: Your name. Your hometown. Your address. Some historical event. Whatever you like. After you hit search, you'll see a list of dates on the left. Take one of those, or hit "other dates" and you can search within a date range.

For newspapers like the New York Times, you'll find an excerpt and, depending on the date, you may get to see the whole thing for free or may be asked to pay. Here's a story from 1875 on a theater riot in my neighborhood. Google sends me to the New York Times site, where I see an abstract, then I click on a link and get the PDF.

The Times seems to be more generous than a lot of newspapers. If I want to see a 1934 article from the Washington Post on Cary Grant's divorce, it'll cost me $4. I get an excerpt about the "English beauty" charging "extreme cruelty" for free.

Even though gas prices are dipping a little in my area the local media and pretty much every personal finance blog online are still extolling the virtues of walking or biking to work. It seems simple enough; dust off your bike or sneakers, grab a backpack and hit the road. Right?

If you're encumbered by urban sprawl this may not help you out much but if you live in a city of one-way streets, which the walking directions ignore, this may be the best article you've read all week. Google just rolled out a new beta feature to Google Maps which allows you to use the service to get walking directions, no matter the distance. It also avoids areas typically restricted to foot traffic such as interstates and other highways.

Even though it is interesting to see how Google thinks I should walk the 20 miles to work, when I ask for realistic directions to my barber's shop I am shown a much different route than I would normally take in my car in order to avoid crossing a few bigger and heavily trafficked intersections. Another nice feature is that Google estimates the time to cover the distance, so you can even plan out your departure time. Google expects me to cover about a mile every 20 minutes.

One of my pet peeves when reading advice on how to save money is to get a bit of advice without being empowered to actually make use of it. These new feature should help you find a way to add walking into your busy life. Walking to your weekend barbecue or to pick up groceries this month is a great way to save money and get healthier. Make sure you head Google's warning and "use caution when walking in unfamiliar areas", since the service doesn't appear to alert you to areas with frequent muggings. To use this feature, just select "walking" from the drop down box that appears below your destination.

Last week, Google was sued for fraud based upon a claim of selling low-quality advertising through its AdWords program. Attorney Hal K. Levitte says he paid for AdWords advertising in 2007 that was bogus. Part of the money they paid was for 202,528 impressions from pages that were parked domains.

Parked domains are essentially websites that haven't been established yet, but have a generic page as a placeholder. Google AdWords appear on many of these parked pages, and advertisers are charged when people visit these pages or click on the linked ads.

The problem is that when I see a parked page, I immediately leave it. Yet the advertisers who are paying per view of the page are being charged because I went to the page. They have almost no chance of me even considering their ad because I leave so quickly, yet they pay for my page view nonetheless.

I hate those scam artists who advertise "get paid just for looking at web pages" or "get paid for taking surveys" or some other similar enticement. These are almost nothing more than scams. Often, they're in the form of a pyramid scheme, where you may get a few pennies for your efforts, but hopefully you can build a pyramid below you that will help more cash flow your way.

This opportunity to get paid for searching the internet is legitimate, but with a catch. Microsoft is trying to bribe users into using its "Live Search" for their web searching needs. The program offers advertising funded "cash rebates" for those who use Live Search to find and buy products. So you won't just get paid to sit around and use Live Search. No, you've got to purchase things based upon your search results. The payout? 2% to 15% of your purchase price as a rebate from Microsoft.

This doesn't excite me in the least. I've never used Microsoft's search engines because I hate the company's websites in general. There's too much advertising and too many attempts by Microsoft to "offer things tailored to my preferences" (that means spying on me and placing ads that they think I'll like). That just doesn't appeal to me. I (and many others, I suspect) will just stick with Google, thank you very much.

Tracy L. Coenen, CPA, MBA, CFE performs fraud examinations and financial investigations for her company Sequence Inc. Forensic Accounting, and is the author of Essentials of Corporate Fraud.

While operating a non-profit can be fulfilling, it's not always easy. After all, raising money can be tough – and, it's also important to find ways to save on costs.

Well, Google is providing some help. That is, the company has established a non-profit portal. You will find a variety of helpful resources, such as tutorials, case studies, videos and Q&As to help leverage Gmail, Analytics, and so on.

There are also some special features:

Checkout: You can use this Google service to collect donations. There are no monthly, setup or gateway fees (at least until 2009).

I read an interesting article recently over at TheStreet.com which outlined five business ventures which can be undertaken with little or no cash investment. These are proven ideas which may work for just about anyone. I'd like to give you a brief synopsis of that article by Jeffrey Strain and I'd also like to interject a couple ideas of my own.

Jeffrey's opportunity list starts out by suggesting a venture which is near and dear to my heart (and wallet). That suggestion is blogging. Yes my friends, there is money to be made in blogging. In fact, I'm padding my own bottom line right now. Blogs are easy to start and if you're a natural writer, blogging is easy to do. Jeffrey gives you a couple directions you can go for getting started as an independent, or you could take your shot at blogging right here with us! There are two basic kinds of blogging you may wish to consider. You can blog as a strict independent or you can blog as a freelance / contract writer. I prefer the contract gigs for myself, because they offer a good measure of security and you often have seasoned writers zipping around who can help you out of an occasional tough spot. (Thanks team!)

My latest evidence that life just keeps getting better and better is two little-known free services offered by Google, ones that have saved my bacon on more than one occasion.

The first is Google's text message query feature, which allows me to Google by sending a text message with my question via my cell phone, and receive a return text message from Google with the answer.

For example, if I want to find a pizza shop near my home, I type a text message "Pizza shop 43214" and send the message to 466453 (GOOGLE). A moment later I receive a text message or two with the shops and addresses.

The other service I use frequently is Google's free 411 feature. It uses a computer voice interface which is at first off-putting, but works quite well. If I'm on the road and looking for the nearest Bob Evans Restaurant, for example, I can dial 800-GOOG-411 (466-4411). The computer asks me the where and what, and responds by offering to connect me for free, as well as giving me the address and offering to send it as a text message.

Have you noticed what your cell carrier is charging you for directory service these days? Give Google a try, and save yourself a little cash.

For another free 411 alternative, see my post Free Answers to Anything by Texting ChaCha

More from WalletPop!

As a writer, I need to be able to talk to people at their convenience, and sometimes record our conversations so I can report accurately. Of course, I want these capabilities as cheaply as possible.

Therefore, I'm glad a friend recommended the free Internet service GrandCentral. Shortly after I began to use it, the company was bought by Google, but the service hasn't missed a beat in the transition.

GrandCentral gave me a new phone number, in my local area, free. I give out this number, which I chose to have automatically forwarded to both my cell and land lines so I can pick up either to take the call.

Since the call goes through GrandCentral's server, it can record the call for me simply by my pressing 4 on my keypad. After the call is complete, GrandCentral sends me an email with a link to the conversation, which I can replay at my leisure, a godsend for someone like me who can't take legible notes.

GC also includes an answering service to take a message when I'm not available, one I can access online from wherever I am, including by phone. Another cool feature I haven't used yet is the ability to customize different greetings for different callers.

The price is right; free, and the service is a great aid for anyone on the go all the time. Check it out.

Chalk this up as another piece of evidence that Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) and the internet have become shining beacons for justice.

According to the Associated Press, Donna Campbell of Miami was shocked to discover, when she Googled her husband Arnim Ramdass, that he was part of a group of co-workers that won a $19 million lottery jackpot months before. The group chose a lump sum payout, from which Arnim had received $600,000 before taxes.

Campbell became suspicious when Ramdass had their phone disconnected and refused to turn on the television. When the lightbulb in Campbell's head finally flickered on, she queried the internet about her husband.

When she confronted Ramdass about the money, he made a lame excuse that he'd bought the ticket for his daughter by a former wife. Shortly thereafter, he disappeared, just ahead of Campbell's lawsuit to recover her portion of the winnings.

If I was Ramdass, I'd give myself up. He can't hide from Google forever.