Scanbuy and Telefonica Moviles Espana to Launch Solution Allowing Widespread Use of Barcodes with Mobile Handsets in Spain

NEW YORK, April 10 /PRNewswire/ -- Scanbuy, Inc., a global provider of wireless commerce solutions, today announced the completion of its mobile barcode platform created for Telefonica Moviles Espana, the largest wireless operator in Spain (TME). The platform is the first of its kind in Europe to combine multiple uses of barcodes on mobile handsets.
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"Being selected by Telefonica Moviles Espana, the leading mobile operator in Spain, is not only proof of Scanbuy's best of breed mobile barcode technology but it also positions Scanbuy as the global industry leader," said Jonathan Bulkeley, Chief Executive Officer of Scanbuy, Inc. "Scanbuy provides mobile operators and content providers with more complete utility than any other vendor. Scanbuy will continue to add functionality to its platform and work with handset manufacturers to provide Telefonica Moviles Espana subscribers the best user experience possible."

Lara Croft llega a los móviles a través de códigos bidimensionales

Movistar introduce los códigos 2D para descargarse juegos, ejecutar vídeos o acceder a páginas web

L.F. - Madrid - 21/03/2007

Movistar ha utilizado el tirón del videojuego Tomb Raider para lanzar una nueva tecnología, los códigos 2D, formados por cuadros blancos y negros, que contienen información binaria, que permite descargarse un videojuego, entrar en una página web o sustituir a una entrada de cine.

El funcionamiento es sencillo. Sólo se necesita una aplicación gratuita, que se obtiene enviando un mensaje de texto (sms) al 404 con la palabra "BIDI", y un teléfono con funciones multimedia que incluya una cámara de fotos. Actualmente, el 80% de los clientes de Movistar usan terminales con estas características.

2D Barcode Manifesto

Posted by Tommi at 02:50 PM | Categories: Nokia S60 applications

Seven months have passed since I wrote the post titled "2D barcodes will rule the earth", which provoked a lively discussion. Thank you for that.

Now, we are finally about to put Nokia's Barcode Reader application under N80 and N73 support pages, and to the Download! client. In addition, the app should be in the latest N93 firmware in all variants. However, it will work only in these devices. There is a simple explanation for this: to ensure the best possible user experience, we will have to do tweaks for each camera module, and build separate versions of the app.

Anyway, here's my 10-point manifesto about 2D barcodes, mimicking Guy Kawasaki's famous presentation style. I wanted to publish this post on the day that the app becomes available, but I'll be on vacation during 13-26 December. I hope the app becomes available during this time.

Read on, my friends.

Vegan Barcode Fashion T-Shirt

New Bar Codes Can Talk With Your Cellphone

From New York Times 04/01/2007
By LOUISE STORY

It sounds like something straight out of a futuristic film: House hunters, driving past a for-sale sign, stop and point their cellphone at the sign. With a click, their cellphone screen displays the asking price, the number of bedrooms and baths and lots of other details about the house.

The ability of cellphones to read bar codes is still rudimentary in the United States, but here is a basic demonstration.

Media experts say that cellphones, the Swiss Army knives of technology, are quickly heading in this direction. New technology, already in use in parts of Asia but still in development in the United States, allows the phones to connect everyday objects with the Internet.

Barcodes for Cellphones - Why the US isn’t Ready Yet

Posted by ericobrien in advertising, wireless, Internet. trackback

The NYT published an article about barcodes for cellphones in yesterday’s Sunday Times. The article does a good job summarizing many of the benefits of using your cell phone as a barcode scanner that can translate specialized two-dimensional barcodes from print or other offline media into some piece of digital information - a URL, a coupon, a ticket, etc. We think the concept is long overdue - barcodes and cellphones can bridge the offline world with the online world in many compelling ways. But frankly, we were surprised to even see an article in reference to barcode use in the US, as we believe the structural nature of the wireless industry here will keep us from enjoying the benefits of cellphone barcodes for a long time to come.

It will be difficult, as the article points out, for barcodes to enjoy widespread use if a client download is required to make things work. This is where the carriers can significantly accelerate adoption, by getting their handset vendors to pre-load the software onto phones so that barcode functionality comes by default. But alas, what’s in it for the carriers? More data traffic? A cut of advertising revenue?

Personal Barcode Scanner

If you ever wanted to do an inventory of all your cool (and not so cool) stuff then the Intelliscanner is just what you’ve been waiting for, your own personal barcode scanner.

With the Intelliscanner, you read the barcodes on the items you want to list and monitor and then upload them to your PC. The system comes with software for managing wine collections, home inventory, groceries, books, cds, dvds, comic books, etc. I can see it being useful for DVDs and things but do you really need to know how many cans of beans you’ve got in the cupboard (frozen pizzas maybe).

The Intelliscanner Mini is available at TG for $299.99 and if your comic collection is worth more than that you probably need it