Tuesday, October 24, 2006

Cell Phones As Bar Code Scanners

From Entrepreneur.com Cell phones as bar code scanners

Today's handheld interactive devices offer another promotional opportunity--one that Japanese businesses are already profiting from.

Using bar code scanners added to camera phones and PDAs, customers can scan bar codes in-store and conduct price checks, or take a photo of a bar code with their web-enabled mobile device, then e-mail the code in to get more information or a special offer.

Mobile devices in the U.S. are already equipped with these capabilities and might even include bar code scanners, but U.S. consumers haven't jumped on the scanning bandwagon--yet.

Companies like NextCode and PaperClip assign designations to pre-existing bar codes so web-enabled mobile devices connect that code with a particular website, eliminating time-consuming texting on tiny keyboards

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