CBS television in Chicago reports on ScanBuy's camera phone barcode application that's designed for snapping a photo of a product and receiving a list of prices, typically from Amazon and PriceGrabber for electronics, CDs and books. The video report has been posted on the station's Web site (see above left).
The CBC channel 2 reporter, Dorothy Tucker, concludes her report by saying, ""experts agree shopping with camera phones is the hottest trend going." Hmmm. I might say downloading music, snapping photos or playing games would be the hottest trend(s) in wireless.
Still, Tucker did a good job and noted that ScanBuy's shopping application may be used with only certain phones that obtain prices for only a few categories of products from a couple of Web sites.
Wireless barcoding
The enthusiasm of "experts" notwithstanding, I certainly believe in the value of wireless barcoding. ScanBuy has been one of the most visible companies and doing a good job of promoting the concept.
It's not always easy to take a photo of a barcode that's good enough to be read, as I've discussed in articles in the "Barcode" category. And it hasn't been easy for wireless barcode companies to convince cellular operators to actively market the concept.
Cellular operators are still taking a go-slow approach to barcodes. One reason might be that there are a few "standards," ranging from software that reads existing barcodes to software designed for new, wireless-specific barcodes.
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