Product Review: Review2Buy Partners With Wine Review

We got a news tidbit today from a PR firm about a new mobile service for wine lovers. I happen to really like wine, and although I have significantly reduced my monthly spending on the stuff, I thought I'd pass this service along.

Through a partnership between a new technology startup, Review2Buy and Wine Review Online, you can now become a more knowledgeable wine consumer at the point of purchase.

Here's how it works:

Imagine you are at your local grocery store or wine shop and you are thinking about buying a nice Shiraz to pair up with a flank steak. You see lots of choices in front of you but outside of price and maybe a rating, there is not much to go on.

So, you whip out your cell phone and text the product name and vintage to 738439. Almost immediately, you will receive multiple text messages in return that provide you with Wine Review's rating, price and review. You can see a demo of the service in action HERE.

I gave it a shot by sending "Penfolds shiraz 2006" to the shortcode. I got an immediate response that told me everything I needed to know. The only problem was that the wine they returned was a 2001 Penfolds Shiraz which of course was not the one I was looking for. The product is in beta and having my own technology start-up, I'm not going to be too critical - obviously there are some bugs to work out. Nevertheless, this is a very cool service and could come in very handy.

My only real advice to these guys would be to buck up the $1,000 a month for a vanity shortcode like "wine" or "winedeals". I will never remember the 738439 shortcode.

I hadn't heard of Review2Buy before today but I guess they presented at DEMO 08 in January so they're getting the word out.

Wine isn't their only category - Review2Buy also offers product information on consumer electronics, books, CDs and DVDs.