Postal bags get lighter, Google Catalogs app out on Android

Shopping on the Android tablet got a little prettier today with the addition of Google Catalogs, an easy way to flip thought all of your catalogs digitally.

Google Catalogs was created as a tablet friendly way to view the many catalogs people receive in the mail from their favorite stores. Many may consider paper catalogs to be just another form of junk mail, as well as their email counterparts, but catalogs are also often very aesthetically pleasing and a nice way to look at the season’s retail picks. Google has partnered with Neiman Marcus, Sephora, Urban Outfitters, Macy’s, Williams-Sonoma and more to bring the products to an interactive screen.

To improve on static paper catalogs, Google Catalogs lets you flip through pages, click on products to get more details, see more photos, or place an order. It also allows retailers to insert interactive media such as videos, which users can access straight in the catalog interface. You can also search for products, not just within a specific company’s catalogs, but across all of companies loaded on the tablet.

Once you find products you want to remember, Google allows your to save them, find them in local stores, and create collages that you can share with friends.

Google wanted to release the Android tablet in time for the holidays. The new launch means Kindle Fire, Motorola Xoom, Samsung Galaxy Tab, and other tablet users will have access to the digital window shopping app. Google’s digital catalog app first came out for the iPad on October 31 of this year.