NY1 highlights the coolest and newest apps for your cell phone or mobile device in the twice-weekly segment "App Wrap." NY1's Adam Balkin filed the following report.

Each holiday shopping season that passes in the age of the smartphone brings with it more and more and more apps designed to help you find the best deals. So now we're at the point where to distinguish themselves they have to look different, act different, do something that's really different from the others to stand out.

Flow by Amazon is exactly that. It uses augmented reality so that if you are at a store and point your device's camera at a video game, CD, DVD or book cover, up over that cover pops information on it you'd find on amazon.com: how much it costs there, a description, ratings and opinions on it. For other types of items, you can scan the bar code.

The app's database is still growing, but for stuff you do find, it's a good informational slash price comparison tool. Flow is a free app for iOS and android devices.

The Consumer Electronics Energy Calculator

And if you've made an effort to be a more environmentally conscious shopper this holiday season, or to just be more environmentally conscious yourself, the Consumer Electronics Association, the trade group that represents most of the big consumer electronics manufacturers, is out with a new Consumer Electronics Energy Calculator.

You can choose the gadgets you own or are about to buy, drag them into the appropriate room in the house, and type in the number of hours you use and/or charge them per day. Once you're done filling your home, hit calculate and it'll tell you how much you're spending per device in electricity costs, plus what that electricity drain means for the environment.

The Consumer Electronics Energy Calculator is available for free through any browser at www.GreenerGadgets.org. The site does also have tips on things like buying green, living green and recycling properly.