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!

Count on it each election season: Our elected representatives finally get off their duffs and start working on things that will actually affect our pocketbooks.

Early this week, Sen. Herb Kohl, who chairs the Antitrust Subcommittee in the Senate Judiciary Committee, sent a letter to the big four cell phone providers to demand they account for their outlandish recent price increases on text messages. Since 2005, the price of a text message has doubled to an industry standard of 20¢, and perhaps not so coincidentally, it has done so with all four phone providers: T-Mobile, AT&T, Verizon, and Sprint.

Kohl, a Democrat from Wisconsin, demanded that the cell phone companies show him paperwork about their price structures, including evidence of what made them decide to raise rates in such a dramatic way. The rate hikes, Kohl says, were "hardly consistent with the vigorous price competition we hope to see in a competitive marketplace," and he intends to look into them.

T-Mobile is rolling out a new feature in the next few weeks called "Family Allowances" which lets parents control just about every aspect of phone usage. The plan starts out at $2 a month and covers up to 5 lines on your account. The new feature comes on the heels of feedback from 30% of parents who identified their primary concern was getting a surprise bill.

The Family Allowances program will let parents set the number of texts, downloads and minutes on their children's phones using an online tool, as well as limiting the times of the day that the phone will work. Parents can put their minds at ease with the ability to set up always-allowed numbers which will permit their children to reach them at any time.

While the "Family Allowances" feature is aimed at helping parents curb kid's desires and their inability to follow the phone usage limits imposed at the dinner table, there is also a cool way that "adults" with less self control can use the feature to manage their own usage as well. We've all heard of freezing your own credit card to ward off the temptation of overspending. Well, if you can't stop your urge to download ringtones or curb your text messaging, you can set up an allowance for yourself so that you don't go over your plan amounts. Since you'll have to wait until you're in front of a computer to bump up your limit, you'll have likely overcome the urge to purchase the new "I Kissed a Girl" ringtone you thought was sooo sweet last night.

Bundling often saves money, and with phone companies selling TV services and TV companies selling phone services the options for bundling keep increases. T-Mobile has even thrown its hat into the ring with its new @Home Unlimited home phone service, which operates over your Internet connection for $10 a month. In order for the service to work you'll still need a high speed Internet connection so don't go canceling your DSL just yet. You'll also need to get a special router from T-mobile which will cost $50 with a two year contract.

While you can usually add an extra line to your cell phone plan on any of the carriers, the T-Mobile @Home service provides the convenience of using a normal home phone and lets you avoid any bad reception areas in your house. The service also lets you transfer your existing home phone number and is better than keeping a cellphone at home because the @Home service passes along your address information if you need to make a 911 call.

The T-Mobile @Home service looks to be a great deal for anyone on T-Mobile that wants to have the convenience of a home phone. The only downside of the @Home service is that you'll need to sign a 2-year contract in order to get on board. The router you need for this service is also compatible with another T-Mobile service; Unlimited Hotspot calling gives certain T-Mobile cell phones unlimited calling over wifi for an additional $10 per month.

If you already have your home phone bundled with your Internet and cable you need to make sure that the prices for those services won't go up and eat away at the savings you would gain from switching to T-Mobile for your home phone. For the features that @Home provides, $10 is a great deal for T-Mobile customers in need of a home phone.

I'm a confirmed coffee house writer, also known in the jargon as a Bedouin. As such, I've avoided Starbucks like the plague, because, after selling me a $4 coffee, they want me to pony up to use their Internet access.

I have alternatives, coffee shops that give me free Wi-Fi and good java. Starbucks must have finally figured out that the few cents they make from pay-users isn't enough to make up for those of us who boycott the place, because they've just announced that later this year they will stop charging for Wi-Fi for the first two hours. This will take place as part of a move from T-Mobile to AT&T.

The company might also be reacting to the growing free Wi-Fi cloud spreading across our cities, or the entrepreneurs who have set up networks adjacent to Starbucks and undercut their access charges. Regardless of the motivation, I'm delighted that the company has joined the 21st century and opened up 18,000 new branches of my office.

Thanks, Mediapost