Ex-MMA Head Wehrs Named Scanbuy CEO

Mike Wehrs, former president and CEO of the Mobile Marketing Association, has beennamed CEO of 2D tcchnology company Scanbuy. He replaces Jonathan Bulkeley, who led the startup for the last four years. Scanbuy’s flagship ScanLife application allows allows users with a camera phone to scan product information, offers and other content via 2D tags placed on packaging, print ads and outdoor signage. Advertisers including Volkswagen, Discovery Communications and Sprint have used the company’s technology in ad campaigns.

Prior to joining the MMA in 2009, Wehrs held the post of “Chief Evangalist” at Nuance Communications, best-known for its Dragon voice-recognition technology. He has also had management positions at mobile company Tegic Communications and  Microsoft, focusing on business development around Windows products.

Scanbuy has raised more than $21.6 million from investors including Motorola Ventures and Masthead Venture Partners.

NeoMedia and Scanbuy Reach Settlement and License Agreement

Today NeoMedia Technologies, Inc. (OTCBB: NEOM), and Scanbuy, Inc., leaders in mobile barcode technology, announced they have settled all pending litigation between the companies and have granted non-exclusive patent licenses to each other.

NeoMedia and Scanbuy have agreed to terminate all pending litigation brought by NeoMedia against Scanbuy in 2004, and by Scanbuy and Marshall Feature Recognition, LLC (“MFR”) against NeoMedia
in 2008.

In addition, NeoMedia has granted Scanbuy a royalty bearing, non-exclusive license to a portion of its patent portfolio in the U.S.
In turn, Scanbuy has granted NeoMedia a fully paid, irrevocable, non-exclusive license of Scanbuy patents and a fully paid, non-exclusive sublicense to all of the patents licensed by MFR to Scanbuy within the U.S.

This agreement will enable consumer brands, advertising agencies and mobile operators to confidently engage with either company to implement mobile barcode solutions in the U.S. The technology has enormous potential to become a viable and widely adopted communication channel.

“The agreement between NeoMedia and Scanbuy removes the final roadblock to rapid commercialization of mobile barcodes in the US,” commented Iain McCready, Chief Executive Officer of NeoMedia. “We are literally dropping the green flag for brands, retailers and mobile operators to join the race towards mobile barcodes becoming a fixture in every consumer’s daily routine.”


“We are pleased that Scanbuy has reached a fair agreement with NeoMedia, and look forward to working with our partners to build a vibrant business in the United States,” said Jonathan Bulkeley, Chief Executive Officer of Scanbuy. “Both companies have invested a great deal in our intellectual property and we will continue to bring these solutions to leading marketers, wireless operators, and handset manufacturers around the world.”

Olivier Attia on ABC7 in San Francisco

This is what happens when your company to be known, you end up on TV. A very interesting experience to show your product and technology in real life situation.

Mobile coupon and ticketing on the rise - study

A new study released by Juniper Research predicts that retailers will have issued almost three billion mobile coupons to customers by 2011, with just under $7 billion of discounts redeemed.

Harrods embraces mobile barcodes

The Knightsbridge store is understood to be the first British retailer to run print ads featuring 'mobile barcodes', tiny squares showing black and white shapes which, when a mobile phone takes a picture of them, provide information to the phone via the web.

Create Your Own QR Code With an Army of Little Robots

A company called Cross Border Inc. created a fun little program that lets you generate your own QR codes—a 3-dimensional bar code common that can be read by cell phone camera. All you have to do is enter a URL, and the service dispatches an army of little robots that start off standing at random but quickly start hopping into position until they make sense together and can be scanned by IR.

Mobile barcodes now speak to us – quite literally…

A consortium of three companies has decided to improve on the usual URL-carrying QR Codes by tweaking the data in each black and white square to contain a brief snatch of audio and a simple image.

The Voice QR, as it’s called, simply needs to be scanned with the camera on a mobile phone for it to give up its hidden treasure without the need to connect to a website.

Mobile Discovery Announces One of the First Cross-Carrier, Multi-Vendor 2D Barcode Trials

Mobile Discovery Inc., an innovator in mobile marketing, today announced the launch of the first large scale multi-vendor beta trial of mobile 2D codes at Case Western Reserve University. On the Case Western Reserve University campus, 2D barcodes appear on print ads all over campus, and can be seen on flyers, posters, bus stops and billboards.

Intel reveals its vision for mobile phone evolution

The Carry Small Live Large scheme is also looking at ways to utilize the data generated by the range of sensors included within mobile devices. According to Kahn, one of the oldest mobile sensors--the camera--has some of the greatest potential."That sensor could take a look at a barcode and give you information on the product, it could be connected to a database that you're looking at as a tourist", Kahn said.

Bar Code Hopping in San Francisco

Day to Day, April 1, 2008 · The City by the Bay is becoming scannable. Soon San Francisco restaurants, museums and public monuments will be adorned with little bar codes like those you find on the bottom of a cereal box.

At CTIA: Mobile Users Searching For Local Consumption

Kanematsu is working with Kraft Foods in the United States to develop a way to put 2-D bar codes from Boston-based NextCode on product packaging, connecting consumers to nutritional information, recipes, coupons, and more on the company's Web site. The technology relies on a standard camera in mobile phones, but does require consumers to download a small application.

Siemens builds new bridges across the Rhine

The FINANCIAL -- Starting April 1, the 1.4 million daily passengers of the Verkehrsverbund Rhein-Sieg (VRS) can purchase their bus and train tickets by mobile phone via the internet, SMS or by phone. A barcode on the phone serves as proof of purchase – transit inspectors scan the code using a handheld scanner.

DMB, Ticketmaster Pact For Free Digital Album

The Dave Matthews Band and Ticketmaster have teamed up to offer concertgoers an exclusive digital album. Fans who purchase tickets through Ticketmaster during the trek's March 29 general on-sale will receive a unique barcode in mid-September that can be redeemed for the digital album on iTunes.

Heathrow's Terminal 5 is the first UK airport building to be designed around the technology that runs it.

BAA and British Airways worked together on T5. The baggage system was designed by BAA, Vanderlande and IBM. A 2D barcode is attached to each bag with information on where it needs to go, and handlers use hand-held scanners to update the bag's position on the system and to work out which route it should take.

Nokia Announces 'Mobile Rules! 08' Competition Winners

Best Mobile Application - UpCode parking is a 'point&click' mobile solution using the
highly developed UpCode(TM)program, which enables a mobile phone to act as an optical
reader to 'scan' any physical object, on any surface or on-screen by 'clicking' at a
mobile barcode. UpCode is free for non-commercial and non-professional use and users
pay only according to existing Internet tariffs charged by the mobile service provider.
 

Citysearch & Antenna Audio Deploy Scanbuy's Mobile Barcode Technology to San Francisco, Enabling Instant Access to Information

Scanbuy's Technology Turns Camera Phones into Barcode Scanners - Connecting People to Local Information On-the-Go for the First Time in US. Citysearch will link San Francisco users to local content on various restaurants, businesses and leading services while Antenna Audio will provide instant information about local historical landmarks.

Scanbuy to Provide TDC with the First Mobile 2D Barcode Solution in Nordic Region

Scanbuy, a global leader in mobile 2D barcode and marketing solutions, announced today that TDC, Denmark's leading provider of mobile communications, will support its ScanLife platform and become only the second carrier in Europe to commercially release a 2D barcode service.

QR Bar Code Meta Data

QR bar codes (photo right) embedded into the mosaic of the station posters (photo left) - each 'tile' is a separate bar code. Snap a photo of the bar code with an appropriate camera phone to follow the link. From Shibuya station.

Your Smartphone Can be Anything…Even a Concert Ticket

Wireless customers with compatible mobile phones (any phone with a WAP 2.0 browser and MMS capability) can purchase tickets using their phone, than show the electronic ticket at the door to gain entrance.The ticket contains a barcode that can be scanned at the door.

Ticket Text’s First Irish Shows on Sale Now

DUBLIN, Ireland--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Ticket Text, a Dublin based technology company that provides a low cost and convenient mobile event ticketing service, has launched its services in Ireland. Tickets are now available for a variety of events both in Ireland and the UK and can be purchased on the Ticket Text website, www.ticket-text.com.

Last call: Japanese tombs link up with cell phones

TOKYO (Reuters Life!) - Bereaved Japanese will be able to keep in touch with their loved ones beyond the grave by using mobile phones to scan bar-coded tombstones and view photos and other information about the deceased.

Stores to launch discount coupons via mobile phones

A network of 17,000 local retailers and corner shops will this summer launch a scheme to offer discounts and money-off coupons to shoppers via mobile phones in an attempt to replicate the success of supermarket loyalty card schemes. The Shop Scan Save initiative will send special offers to consumers' handsets as barcodes that can be scan-ned from the mobile phone display.

New Sun service merges print with mobile video

The Sun newpaper’s new mobile content service has achieved early success with around 11,000 users registered so far.

The barcode-based technology enables users to scan their mobile phone over pages of the newspaper, which in turn uploads relevant information onto the device.

StoreXperience: A Mobile Bridge Between Bricks, Clicks

At the National Retail Federation's annual convention in mid-January, StoreXperience introduced an interactive mobile e-tail platform called "Easy Shopping." Combining DataMatrix digital photo scanning technology and Microsoft's Dynamics CRM application suite, Easy Shopping is designed to capture product identification codes from interactive barcode-like symbols and combine it with information about their location, shopping habits and preferences.

Google Tests New Barcode Tech in Newspaper Ad Program

Google is testing an emerging barcode technology in its print ad program, along with several other response options aimed at tracking results of newspaper ads placed through the system.

RepeatSeat Announces An Over 300% Increase for On-line Movie Ticketing Sales

CALGARY, ALBERTA--(Marketwire - March 19, 2008) - RepeatSeat is pleased to announce that on-line movie ticketing sales in the first two months of 2008 are more than triple the corresponding period in 2007.

Utilizing our technology tickets can now be purchased on a cell phone; the cost of the transaction is charged to the patrons mobility account; and a bar code for entry to the movie is delivered back to the phone."

Print Magazines Quietly Testing Barcodes for Mobile Phones

Billboard, Wired and Car and Driver have been the first American magazines to test publishing the barcodes in their pages. Users download Scanbuy’s free software—compatible with 130 different camera phone models—and then use the camera feature as a scanning device, directly linking from the barcodes to the magazines’ WAP (wireless access protocol) sites.

The technology being tested by Continental uses a two-dimensional encrypted bar code, which is much tougher to copy than the one-dimensional bar code used by many airlines for boarding passes printed online.

Fans rush for 'mobile-compatible' new England kit

England football fans will from today be able to buy their national team's new away kit – which can interact with their mobile phones. The new Umbro strip contains a Japanese-developed QR code which can be read by mobiles and allows owners to access a special WAP internet site.

Airline Boarding Pass to Be Replaced by Mobile Phones

Under the International Air Transport Association's 'Simplifying the Business' programme, Siemens Airport Systems is working on a technology that will use mobile phones to replace a physical boarding pass. You can check-in, select your seat through the mobile phone and then you receive a 2D Bar Code which would replace the boarding pass.

Goodbye to stamp papers!

BANGALORE: E-stamping is all set replace conventional stamp papers. The e-stamp certificate has three security features — 2-dimensional barcode, watermark and micro-digitization. Once the certificate is issued, the document cannot be copied. The 2-D barcode captures all the data and anyone trying to duplicate the certificate will only get copies, which will be marked as such.

News International aims for young readers with quick response codes in news stories

News International is looking to drive younger readers onto its mobile internet site, with the company's mobile strategy chief revealing that its newspapers could be using quick response codes (QR codes) in its news stories within 18 months.

New Report Says 87 Million Mobile Users in Europe Will Be Using Their Mobile Devices for Mobile Ticketing Purposes by 2010

The report reveals that innovative use of technology such as mobile barcodes and integrating RFID into a mobile device coupled with consumer demand for easy to use applications is driving up the adoption of mobile ticketing and mobile retail services

TEC-IT releases High-Quality Barcode Software for Mac OS X

Mac OS users and developers using TBarCode benefit from the most complete bar code software available on the market. The product generates more than 80 different linear, 2D and composite bar code symbologies. Especially the outstanding support for 2D codes like QR Code, Data Matrix, Semacode and PDF417 makes TBarCode the first choice for professional users from all industries.

Juniper Research: Over 2.6 billion mobile tickets set to be delivered by 2011

New Juniper's research titled "Mobile Ticketing & Coupons: Strategies & Markets 2007-2011" suggests that over 2.6 billion mobile tickets will be delivered to just over 208 million mobile phone users by 2011.

Goss testing cell phone-to-print ad technology

The offering, GossRSVP, is based on a two-dimensional barcode that appears in a company’s print advertisement. Consumers use their cell phones to either snap a picture of the code or text-message a request about the specific ad to Goss, which in turn sends back a promotional reward and other marketing information to the user.

iMatrix updated, ShotCode support

iMatrix, a universal 2D code processing tool for iPhone has been updated. The new version features quite an interesting update. Universal code recognition application had support for QR codes and Datamatrix codes and now it also added support for ShotCode, making it truly universal.

Fastrack dials up mobiles in Arriva ticketing trial

Arriva is launching the mobile - or ‘m-ticket’ - trial and is looking for people who use the Fastrack B service linking Dartford, Gravesend and Bluewater to try out the system which will remove the need to carry cash.

New Fashion Concept: Analogue meets Digital

Through the integration of so called qr or mobile codes emma cott picks up a Japanese trend and combines the latest progress in technology with classical couture. Therefore, the label enables the wearer to communicate attitude and emotion through a mysterious kind of way and offers a whole new possibility of self portrayal.

Skuair: 2D Image Recognition, Beyond Barcodes

Barcelona-based Daem Interactive has unveiled their latest image recognition technology dubbed Skuair, a system that reads pictures and logos taken via mobile phone and immediately spits back relevant urls or other chosen information. Once the mobile photo is taken, a low-res version of the image is sent to Skuair’s processing server and the corresponding URL/content is returned.

Bar codes not just for groceries anymore

A group of Masters of Engineering Management (MEM) students is working to implement a 2D bar code system on campus this semester. This trial is the first of its kind in the nation; Case was chosen to host the trial due to its tech-savvy nature and its distribution of undergraduates, graduates, faculty, and staff, according to Leigh Ann Barnes, Case 2D code beta trial coordinator.

Trend: QR code-only Print Magazine

The print magazine Tada Gets, which basically means “things for free” is a magazine composed entirely of QR codes. By scanning the codes, users link via mobile phone to free ringtones, decorations, games, music, pictures, and other content.