2D Barcode Discussed by Mobile Execs Today

Sometimes, 2D is better.

The 2D in this case is the barcode, and it might soon be the target of a world's worth of mobile phone cameras, if the stated goal of a London meeting of mobile executives is achieved. That meeting is to take place today, and representatives from Nokia, Vodafone, Sony Ericsson, Deutsche Telekom, and other industry leaders are slated to attend.

We have this technology already, of course, if the we we're talking about is South Korea and Japan. Customers in those countries certainly can use their mobiles to scan barcodes and find out all manner of pricing and manufacturing information about a host of products. But the we that is North America and Europe lags in that department. Common software is a big reason for this, but disagreements on implementation have held up such cooperations in the past as well. It is hoped that the London meeting will change all that.

Basic agreements on how to catalog and report barcode information are vital, as are manufacturers committed to the technology. DuPont has been up-front in its desire to affix 2D barcodes to cans, bottles, and other types of packaging for its products. Other companies seem poised to follow DuPont's lead. With any luck, all of this will come together at roughly the same time and we won't be kept waiting, again.

DuPont Packaging & Industrial Polymers & Scanbuy to Bring Interactive Packaging Technology to the Packaging Industry

EW YORK, Feb. 20 /PRNewswire/ -- Scanbuy, Inc., (http://www.scanbuy.com/) a global provider of wireless commerce solutions today announced an exclusive agreement with DuPont Packaging & Industrial Polymers (P&IP) (http://www.dupont.com/) to license Scanbuy's interactive 2D (two dimensional) barcode technology for packaging applications. As a part of the agreement, DuPont P&IP will be the exclusive marketer of Scanbuy's interactive camera-phone technology to the packaging industry.

DuPont P&IP selected Scanbuy as its exclusive technology provider to commercialize and market Scanbuy's interactive technology to select global brands under the DuPont banner. When imbedded in product packaging, 2D barcode technology enables a myriad of consumer interactive applications directly from mobile handsets. Some potential uses in packaging are checking nutritional content of food & beverages or determining if a cosmetic is suited for you, and more sophisticated uses like playing games & winning prizes.

"Smart packaging represents a key future packaging trend and opens up new opportunities that run the gamut from better inventory tracking to brand enhancement," said Dr. John Hillenbrand, Vice President, Innovation and Technology for DuPont P&IP business unit. "We chose to partner with Scanbuy because their barcode-capture technology and services platforms are clearly more advanced and robust than others in the market."

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