If you're thinking of getting Sprint's Samsung Exclaim, the phone now comes with another cool function.
Scanbuy, the company that's been at work putting its ScanLife application on camera cell phones, announced Tuesday that its ScanLife 2D bar code reader application will now be preloaded on the Samsung Exclaim from Sprint.
(Credit:
Scanbuy)
This is the first wireless phone to be shipped in the U.S. with the ScanLife technology. The company expects additional models will ship with the application in the future.
ScanLife is an application that allows you to scan a 2D bar code with a standard camera phone to automatically launch a specific function associated with that bar code. For example, you could launch a mobile Web site or video, or get specific item information like company contacts or pricing. You can also view and share that information through social-networking communities, like Facebook and MySpace, with which the Exclaim easily syncs.
At Scanbuy's Web site, you can also create your own bar code that's associated with information of your choosing.
If your phone is not preloaded with the app, you can always install the application by going to www.getscanlife.com on your mobile browser. The app is available for free. I tried it with my iPhone 3G and it worked well. Note that once a bar code is scanned, the information will be directed to Scanbuy's server to determine the associated function. This means an Internet connection is required for this technology to work.
Nonetheless, this is a very useful and fun feature.
Don't even think about it. The ladies at the reception will know you are not me.
(Credit: Dong Ngo/CNET)I went to the gym yesterday and forgot my membership card at home. Like many times before, I was able to smooth talk the reception ladies into letting me in anyway. But the point is, it's really a hassle having to carry those cards around.
I have one for the gym, one for my car insurance, one for my health insurance, another for my dental insurance, and another, of course, for Subway. There's only so much room in a wallet.
Coincidentally, my colleague Josh Lowensohn pointed me this morning to a really cool iPhone app called CardStar.
Basically, it's database software designed to store most, if not all, of your membership cards for virtually all merchant and service categories: drug stores, grocery stores, gyms, libraries, retailers, and travel and entertainment agencies.
The app includes about 130 companies in the U.S., Canada, and U.K. If you are a member, you can just enter the membership number and the barcode of the card will be automatic retrieved and stored in the iPhone. Next time you need to use the service, you can just display that code on the iPhone's screen and show that to the scanner instead of the card.
The nicest thing about CardStar is that it also allows for entering membership of merchants or companies that are not already included in the app. I tried that with 24 Hour Fitness and it worked. Now all I need to get into the gym are tight shorts and my iPhone, which I would normally carry anyway.
Mesa Dynamics, the developer of CardStar, said that going forward, it would add more features, including access to additional information of a merchant, plus coupons and promotional content.
The CardStar app is available now at App Store. It normally costs 99 cents, but currently is available for free. Do your overstuffed wallet a favor and go get it.
An Android-based smartphone, the G1 from T-Mobile.
(Credit: T-Mobile)After preloading an iPhone app on Sansumg camera phones and expanding to Mexico, Scanbuy announced Tuesday that its ScanLife multi-bar code reader is now compatible for mobile phones running on Google Android.
As in any other mobile device, the ScanLife application allows for scanning a 2D bar code and automatically performing an action or function associated with that code. The action can be displaying a specific Web site, launching a video, dialing a phone number, or anything else a smartphone can do.
This way, bar codes can help eliminate the need to use the phone's tiny keyboard. You can even go to Scanlife's Web site to create your own bar code and associate it with whatever Web page or contact information you want.
The application supports major 2D bar code formats (including Datamatrix, EZcode, and QR) and can be downloaded for free from www.getscanlife.com when you visit the site on the mobile browser.
With the addition of Android, the ScanLife software is now compatible with virtually all popular mobile operating systems including BlackBerry, iPhone, Java, Symbian, and Windows Mobile.
Bar codes have become more popular in the last few years. If you fly now, most airlines allow you to print your own boarding pass that contains several types of bar codes. American Airlines even lets you use your mobile phone that displays a bar code to board their airplanes at selected airports.
Scanbuy, the developer of the 2D EZcode bar codes, announced on Wednesday that it has secured a global agreement with Samsung to preload the ScanLife mobile 2D bar code reader application on Samsung's camera phones.
(Credit:
Scanbuy)
The deal comes into effect as early as next month when Samsung starts selling these phones in Spain, Italy, and Denmark. With this move, Scanbuy hopes to quickly expand the use of EZcodes in other major markets, including Mexico and the United States.
EZcodes allows for instantaneously executing an action that the code is associated with, such as launching a Web site without you having to remember its Web address and typing it on the phone's browser. For example, if you see a product that features an EZcode, you can take a photo of that code using your mobile phone's camera, and the ScanLife software will immediately gives you information related to that product such as its price, functions, specs, or even place a call to its technical support. Aside from EZcodes, the application also reads major 2D bar code formats designed to quickly recognize and process information.
As part of the global agreement, Samsung will preload camera phones with the ScanLife application for each new country that's rolling out Scanbuy's complete solution. Samsung will also use EZcodes to promote and market its extensive portfolio of consumer-related electronics.
Personally, I've tried the ScanLife app on my iPhone 3G a couple of times and thought it was really cool. However, this kind of technology only makes sense if it's implemented ubiquitously, which is exactly what Scanbuy is trying to achieve with this deal.
Now, your pictures can speak for themselves.
Labels That Talk, from Kailua Hawaii, has come up with software that lets consumers print high-density bar codes on strips of paper that store recorded voice messages. Scan the paper with a cheap handheld scanner--or a cell phone with a built-in scanner--and it plays back a message. The strip of paper you see in the picture can hold about eight kilobits, enough for a ten-second voice message, said Ken Berkun, president and founder.
"We're trying to get it to twenty seconds," he said.
This strip of paper holds about eight kilobits, enough for a ten-second voice message.
(Credit: Michael Kanellos/CNET News.com)The idea is to let consumer enhance their mementos with sound. "I have a daughter and I have photo albums," Berkun said, explaining how he came up with the idea for the company. Another large potential market lies in pharmacies and hospitals, which would put labels on medicine bottles. Thus, Mick Jagger, via your plastic prescription vial, could sing "You go running to the shelter of your mother's little helper" every time you go for a Paxil.
Hewlett-Packard is working on something similar called Memory Spot, which is a sticker that contains a NAND flash chip. Memory spot prototypes can contain 256 kilobits to 4 megabits of data, so you could store videos in them or additional pictures. Pictures and videos on Memory Spots could be beamed to a nearby computer or cell phone via an integrated networking interface.
Although flash costs continue to drop, chips invariably will always be more expensive than paper, Berkun said. HP, in fact, has estimated that Memory Spots could cost ten to 50 cents each when (and if) they finally come out. Labels will cost far less, says Berkun.
Other companies have experimented with talking bar codes too, but the bar codes typically contained canned messages from a vendor.
Labels that Talk wants to concentrate on making and selling the software to consumers and printer makers. The company is currently trying to line up partners to make scanners. Some cell phone makers, he said, are already in discussions with the company.
Although you don't see a lot of start-ups like Labels that Talk out of Hawaii, some believe the picture could change in the future. Ira Ehrenpreis, a partner at Technology Ventures, calls it one of the last untapped geographies for start-ups. His firm has made a couple of clean energy and medical deals in the state in the past few years. The state's somewhat generous tax credits offered to in-state tech companies help too, added Berkun.
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