How timely this story is.
At one of the top venture capital conferences, scanning a barcode was discussed as one the Next Big Things in Tech
Scan a barcode with your mobile phone and get the best prices using pricegrabber.com.
From NBC4.com (Washington) New way to comparison shop
What's in a barcode? When it's read by a camera phone equipped with ScanZoom, software from a company called ScanBuy, it can mean a lot of information, according to Olivier Attia, CEO of ScanBuy.
After taking a picture of the barcode, the software uses the phone's data service to go out to ScanBuy's computers to comparison shop for you. The company currently uses shopping.com and pricegrabber.com to pull down those prices. "What do we provide to the user? The top 5 best prices for the item you just scanned," says Attia.
I don't think price comparison will be the catalyst that launches this type of application. I do see brands using their barcodes as a way to interact with the consumers.
1 comment:
Interesting that it seems ScanBuy is infringing on NEOM IP; their "frivolous" lawsuit against NeoMedia for copyright infringement was thrown out. NeoMedia's patent infringement case against them is moving forward. It's interesting that ScanBuy seems not to own this IP, yet they don't disclose this. I guess since they are private, they aren't obligated to be forthcoming about all the facts.
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