Jaxo Offers Free 2d Code Reading Application For Mobile Phones

Add Jaxo and their SnapABar application to the Physical World Connection list.

Jaxo has created a free java app QR code reader, called SnapABar. The app synchs with your camera and then translates the QR code you photograph. They also offer "Barcode generator," which encodes text into four different QR codes.

The chief advantage of QR code over standard barcode is that it doesn't require great resolution to be understood by a QR code reader. Even a low res digital photo of QR code is readable. This means your camera phone can turn into a QR reader just by installing a reader application.

The options offered for actions on a QR code include; SMS, Voice Call, WWW and email.

To see how easy it is to create your own QR code (physical world hyperlink) click here and type any text.

BeeTagg Now Supported By Mobile Carrier One

A couple things I like about BeeTagg. Their mobile barcode is very easy to identify which gives them a great advantage for mobile marketing. Second, they recognize that a physical world hyperlink (PWH) will be used both as an advertising tool AND a mobile information application.

Christian Spanring has the details on Physical World Connection player BeeTagg being supported by One, the mobile carrier recently acquired by Orange.

By taking a picture of a special graphical code, the BeeTagg , with a cell phone, users are able to retrieve information about a product, location, etc. from the internet.

Proprietary mobile codes like BeeTagg will always have great value because they are easily identifiable and you know what information/application is expected when scanned.

More stories about BeeTagg.

Daily Disruptions

Tipping Point For Solar Energy Adoption?

Universal DNA Database The ramifications for this could be enormous.

A couple radio frequency (RF) stories involving disruptive technology in the medical industry.

1.Scarless Cosmetic Surgery No more scars with any surgery? What medical device companies are affected? Demographics and scarless surgery...the right time for the right product?

2.Using RF To Eliminate Wrinkles Is a consumer anti wrinkle device far behind?

First Nuclear Plant In 30 Years What companies will play a role in this reemerging industry growth.

Blackberry Killer Or A Rebirth For Palm? This new mobile phone could have a major impact on Blackberry, Sprint and Palm.

Is there a "killer app" in one of these stories?

Visa Unveils New Contactless Payment Device..Visa Micro Tag

How much longer before this application is embedded in mobile phones.


Visa announced today the availability of the Visa Micro Tag, a new key fob payment device embedded with Visa payWave, Visa's contactless technology feature. The Visa Micro Tag is designed to easily attach to a key ring, and it allows cardholders to pay by simply waving their Visa Micro Tag in front of a contactless smart card reader without the need to physically swipe or insert the device into a point-of-sale terminal.

The Visa Micro Tag allows financial institutions to offer cardholders a companion smart card device to an existing Visa credit, debit or prepaid account. Designed to be small and durable, the Visa Micro Tag makes paying for purchases faster and more convenient.

Is Physical World Connection Starting To Happen?

Are we starting to see the tipping point for Physical World Connection PWC?

I am seeing more consumer good products with 2d barcodes placed next to the old 1d barcode.

DuPont is starting to place the21st Century Barcode on consumer good packaging. The next step is for mobile marketing companies to build campaigns around these. Using a camera phone and a barcode scanning application, a consumer can scan this 2d code and be directed to any website.

Colgate-Palmolive appears to be the company in front offering the most physical world hyperlinks on their products.

In Jan 2008, physical world connection player Scanbuy , will be launching a pilot in the US, with the 5 biggest carriers.

Next time you're in the supermarket, take a look at what companies are starting to place 2d codes next to 1d codes. These companies should be the ones introducing PWC in their advertising campaigns.

There will two main forms of Physical World Connection.

First, 2d barcodes will already be placed on consumer goods and will act as a physical world hyperlink that the brand can use for various advertising. In addition to a cashier scanning a 1d code at register, a consumer could scan a 2d code and be directed to a website.

Second, individuals will be able to create and place their own 2d barcode allowing a direct connection when scanned with a camera phone to the Internet (FaceBook, MySpace, ecommerce site, etc).

It would make sense for GoDaddy or Verisign to start offering this application when domains are purchased don't you think?

Augme Uses Barcodes On Tshirts

Augme.com is now selling T-shirts that can be scanned by a mobile phone. When the phone reads the T-shirt, it will visit the website of the person wearing it.

The T-shirts feature a datamatrix barcode, known as a “tag”. Using a mobile phone camera, a person may take a picture of the tag, and software on the mobile phone can read it. The mobile phone then launches a browser and visits the website of the wearer.

The person wearing the T-shirt can choose any website, social networking page, photo, video or music to link the tag to. This includes the ever-popular Facebook and Myspace websites, as well as Augme’s own profiles which are designed with mobile-viewing in mind.

Augme.com allows users to create and manage phone-readable tags. Visitors to the site may create tags for any purpose and use them as they see fit. Augme, Inc is dedicated to linking information on the internet to physical objects. The Augme website is at http://www.augme.com for computers and http://m.augme.com/ for mobile phones.

T-shirts are available from http://stores.augme.com/ and http://www.extendedidentity.com

Daily Disruptions

New Chemical Catches Terrorists Literally Red-Handed

DuPont Develops Breakthrough Soybean

Price Of Gold Hits 27 Year High What industries/companies/products does this affect?

Eavesdropping Advertising On Calls Has long distance calls become too expensive that people will resort to this?

Major trend emerging...
Climate Change Moves Up On Firms' Priority List Will CEO now stand for "Chief Emissions Officer"?
The world's biggest companies are making climate change a higher priority, in part through more widespread disclosure of carbon emissions.

Daily Disruptions

SCO Files Chapter 11
A lesson for those without deep pockets when fighting the big boys on patents.

Bottle Cleans Water In Seconds The filthiest water drinkable in a matter of seconds.

Free Local And Long Distance Calls How does OOma affect the VoIP players? One time fee for free calls.

The New Fuel Station? Airports across the country are getting upgrades in order to handle flyers who want to recharge their portable devices between flights. The electrical charging stations, which are often kiosks, are covered with advertising.


Turning Off Genes In Plants The revolutionary technology is being used in more than 3000 laboratories worldwide to create new plant varieties ranging from blue roses to virus-resistant cereals and nutritionally improved crops.

Lung Cancer Blood Test

McDonald's waste to power buildings" Could McDonald's food actually have value?

Microsoft In Talks With Retail Chains For RFID Software

From Economic Times Microsoft In Talks With Retail Chains For RFID Software

Microsoft is in talks with retail biggies, financial service providers and government agencies for its new radio frequency identification device (RFID) software.

The software, called Microsoft Biztalk server 2006 R2, can be used across sectors to improve business processes such as asset tracking, supply chain management and inventory control.

Could Microsoft be developing an RFID browser? A software application that allows any RFID tag to connect to the Internet?

My thinking on how and why Microsoft could do this.

Orange Chooses Mobile Barcodes Over Bluetooth

Orange Chooses Barcodes Over BlueTooth For Mobile Ads

Orange’s French operation has announced it is abandoning its Bluetooth localised advertising trials in favour of allowing mobile phone users to choose the ads they want by scanning in a barcode.

The trials, which essentially allow Orange to beam local adverts via Bluetooth to mobile phone users when within range of a billboard or in a store, have reportedly gone down well, but have had only limited success as they require users to opt into the program.

Orange is now testing a new program which is less invasive for its mobile phone users across France - when they see an ad that interests them, users simply scan in a quick response bar code, known as 2D, using their cameraphone.

Aeritas Reacquires Mobile Barcode Patent Portfolio And Becomes A Physical World Connection Player

From All Pay News Aeritas reacquires mobile barcode patent portfolio from GTech

With this mobile barcode patent portfolio, Aeritas is added to the Physical World Connection company list

Aeritas, the Mobile Barcode Company reacquired its extensive mobile barcode patent portfolio from GTECH Corporation, (a wholly-owned subsidiary of Lottomatica S.p.A., traded on the Italian Stock Exchange (LTO).

The Company's principals pioneered the mobile barcode and mobile ticketing space.

Aeritas' patents and technologies enable 1D and 2D barcode and other images to be displayed on the screens of mobile phones and handheld devices and used for a wide range of payment, mobile ticketing and other transactions.

Its patents, including many granted as well as several still pending in the U.S. and 30 other countries, cover a broad range of mobile applications.

The Company's patents and technologies encompass processes that enable 1D and 2D barcode and other images to be displayed on the screens of mobile devices and used for a wide range of payment, mobile ticketing and other transactions. (In my opinion, because a mobile barcode will/can be on various displays/items, these patents appear to have more value than just connecting the barcode to the net).

Aeritas' patents and technology encompass systems and methods that enable images, such as 1D and 2D barcodes, to be transmitted and displayed on the screens of mobile devices, including cell phones, PDAs, Blackberry and other handheld devices as well as laptop computers.

Aeritas' patented techniques, already in use, are revolutionizing new paperless transactions for sports, concert and event mobile ticketing, airline, train and bus tickets and boarding passes, mobile payments, retail coupons, prepayments and customer loyalty promotions, and a wide range of other uses.

Daily Disruptions

Phone Displays Double Battery Life
What technology could lead to better reception?

Revver Pays For Online Content
What are your home videos worth? Will YouTube be next?

Verizon Files Suit Over 700MHz Wireless Auction This could have a big impact on many companies and applications. Lots of people affected here.

Facial Scans Diagnose Genetic Disorders

Google Targets The Moon

California Outlaws Teens Driving With Mobile Phones The new law bans teens from driving with their cell phones and a few other devices while driving.

McDonald's Uses RFID For M-Commerce...Or Is It McCommerce?

From eWeek McDonalds Implements RFID And Mobile Phones For Ordering

This trial is much more an RFID effort than a traditional mobile experiment. Most of the phone's communications capabilities and its display are barely used, with customers having to download a McDonalds application into their phone

At each table, there is an RFID reader and a menu that has built-in RFID chips. Customers plug the reader into their mobile phones and point them at the item on the menu that they wish to eat or drink.

The McDonalds trial is interesting, if for no other reason than it is demonstrating yet another way to deploy mobile commerce. Some use the phone's calling capabilities and screen while others leverage the phone's digital camera to do some 2D barcode-selling.

Original RFID story from Korean Times

H&M Uses Semacodes For Mobile Shopping

University of Miami Uses Semacodes In H&M Ads




The University of Miami involved billboard and magazine print executions that contain an embedded semacode in Europe for H&M, aiming to create another point of sale opportunity with this high-tech technology.

As what you see in the photo, consumers could buy the clothes that available in printed media carrying a small bar code, via their cellphone’s integrated camera. It’s a very cool and innovative idea for shoppers.

According to this blog, this is a concept ad from the University of Miami.

Daily Disruptions

The next great investment is usually found from emerging trends, disruptive technology or government mandates.

Things that make me ponder.

Inkjet technology replaces hypodermic needles
Can Hewlett Packard be classified as a drug company?

Free Mobile Calls

Open-airwaves Internet Access Project In Question Could both Google and Microsoft lose? Who stands to be the biggest loser?

New Approach To Fighting Obesity Could a change in starches be the key?

Could Peer To Peer Networks Solve Bandwidth Issue? Could this lead to a virus mess?

500 Mile Electric Car Battery Would this make internal combustion engines unnecessary?

Tangerine Peel Could Help In Fight Against Cancer Salvestrols may offer a new mechanism of dietary anti-cancer action. Many people no longer eat the skin of fruits and this may be a major contributory factor to the increasing incidence of some cancers in the human population.

Starbucks To Target Kids Morally wrong or great marketing?

Daily Disruption feed

Police Scan License Plates Using Physical World Connection

There's so much more to Physical World Connection than scanning a barcode with a mobile phone. Anytime a physical object is scanned and linked to an electronic database using a machine readable identifier, Physical World Connection takes place.

In this case the license plate acts as the physical world hyperlink.

In IBD.com a story called Police Tools Databases and Cameras highlights a $20,000 device that uses small infrared cameras mounted on the police car to automatically scan license plates and match the numbers against databases of stolen vehicles and people wanted for crimes.

The readers let officers scan about 75 times more plates during an eight-hour shift than the traditional method: writing down numbers and running them past a dispatcher.

Notice the marking on the police car: "License Plate Recognition Vehicle"

G2Tactics is responsible for this technology and must be added to the list of Physical World Connection companies.

23Half Introduces Physical World Connection Software Download For Mobile Phones

A $5.99 download allows Physical World Connection to Sony Ericsson phones.

Add 23Half and their Visual Browser software download to the growing list of Physical World Connection companies.

From TMCNet 23Half Intros Thrrum Virtual World Browser

Camera phone technology company 23half, Inc., recently released its new Thrrum Visual Browser for selected Sony Ericsson phones.

Priced at $5.99 as a download, this software enables users to search and browse for information merely by pointing their phone at an object.

Now users of Sony Ericsson camera phones can point their camera phone at a book, a product label or any print material, click, and get relevant search results right inside the Thrrum Visual Browser on their phone. With , camera phones become visual information browsers for the users' environment.

Thrrum Visual Browser uses a one-click method to hyperlink physical objects and their related information.

Supported phones

Daily Disruptions

YouTube Becomes Big Problem For Net
Find out what the real problem is. It's not what you think.

Lawmakers Take Aim At Patent Trolls
A new wrinkle for patent speculators.

Minimally-invasive, Closed-chest Bypass Procedures
Outpatient bypass surgery?

Tracking Ad Exposure Through Cell Phones

Specially designed software on cell phones study which ads (anywhere) work best.

RFID Implants (Chips) Linked To Cancer

A link between radio frequency identification chips and malignant tumors. How could this affect Verichip ?

Could Radio Frequencies Solve The Upcoming Water Crisis? Most remarkable science for water in 100 years.
Scientists excited by the prospect of using salt water, the most abundant resource on earth, as a fuel.

Have a disruptive technology story? Let me know about it.


Archive of Daily Disruptions

Coupons Go Mobile

From WSJOnline Coupons Gain New Market On Cellphones

One of the advertising world's most durable but low-tech marketing techniques is getting a new lease on life as marketers look for a way to get their brands on cellphones -- without irking consumers concerned about privacy.

Cellfire lets cellphone users sign up for mobile coupons that offer discounts on products ranging from CDs and DVDs to fast food. Hungry cellphone talkers can, for instance, use coupons for buy-one-get-one free chili dogs at hot-dog chain Wienerschnitzel's stores.

About a million people have signed up for the service, offered by mobile marketing firm Cellfire.

To cash in the coupons, consumers show their cellphone screen -- where the coupons are displayed -- to a cashier at a checkout line.

What Does The Death Of Business 2.0 Magazine Tell Us?

Could Business 2.0's death be the pin that pops the Web 2.0 bubble?

There is more to this story than the death of a great magazine.

While there are a lot of great applications coming from these Web 2.0 companies, so many seem to be relying on advertising as their business model.

I wonder what happens to a lot of these startups if the economy does slow down and they can't find a way to generate revenue outside of advertising.

At some point the bill for servers, hosting, advertising etc has to get paid.

"Executives at Time Inc. were weighing whether to shutter the seven-year old business/technology publication as the magazine’s ad pages precipitously dropped this year"

The monthly publication will close next week, after they finish the October issue.

The irony here is that a publication focusing on emerging trends/technologies couldn't adapt to the changing advertising model.

I am going to miss this publication.

Daily Disruptions

Daily Disruptions are news stories and technologies that in my opinion, could have a disruptive impact and lead to tomorrow's "killer app". They can also be a great way to spot emerging trends and the next great investment.

These are the headlines that got me pondering this week.


Software Blocks All Internet Ads
What/how big of an impact will this have on Google, and the Internet advertising space?

Radio Frequencies Transfer Large Data Faster For Gadgets
Wi-Fi , and for larger distances the next leap is WiMax. Will this short distance data transfer create a new network called "Oh-Mi"?

Bandwidth As A Currency?
How much is your content worth?

Chinese Airline Offers In-flight Mobile Service
Many airlines are close to offering Internet service, but this is for mobile communications.

Fed OKs Fee For Priority Web Traffic
An HOV lane for high level Internet traffic. What is classified as "priority"?

System Helps Aircraft Avoid Turbulence
An FAA mandate in the works? or just a value added service?

Detect Cancer Without Drawing Blood
Could this method offer disease treatment next?


See the archive list of Daily Disruptions


See a story or technology that you think is disruptive? Let me know.

Chinese Airline Offers InFlight Mobile Service

China's Shenzhen Airlines has fitted its planes with communications technology that will allow passengers to use their mobile phones to make voice calls and send e-mail and SMS messages during flights.

The satellite based technology, developed by Airbus and Sita joint venture OnAir, will allow passengers to make in-flight mobile calls and send text messages on short-haul flights.

In a sign of changing times, the "No mobile" signs are to replace the outdated "no smoking" signs above airline seats with the introduction of in-flight mobile phone services.

OnAir said its equipment will be retrospectively fitted on Shenzhen's existing aircraft and line-fitted on new aircraft. The service is aimed at passengers with smart phones or basic handsets.

The deal with Shenzhen is the third such agreement OnAir has secured that covers an airline's whole fleet, following a pact signed last summer with low-cost carrier Ryanair and an agreement in June this year with AirAsia. The Ryanair in-flight communications service is due to go live by the end of this year, according to an OnAir spokesman, and the AirAsia service is slated to launch in early 2009.

Another method (faster and cheaper= disruptive) for aviation broadband, that is also a contender in this space is Adapt4.

Adapt4, is a supplier of efficient cognitive radio solutions that exploit unused frequency bandwidth in an FCC-certified manner. They are partnering with a bandwidth-efficient modem chip to offer a cost-effective and fast aviation broadband solution.

28 Weeks Later Uses QR Codes For DVD Release

From Guardian Camera phones to decode new ad widget

Next week's DVD release of the zombie-flick 28 Weeks Later will bring a revolutionary marketing widget, widely used in Japan, to the UK for the first time.

The film poster contains a square box full of black and white dots known as a QR - quick response - code. It contains information that can be decoded by the camera on a mobile phone with the right software installed. A huge poster showing nothing but a QR code has already gone up in London's Shoreditch to advertise the DVD.

These "bar codes" are widely used in Japan to store everything from web addresses and phone numbers to product details. Rather than laboriously typing in a person's phone number or an internet address into a phone, these codes give one-touch access to a wealth of information that can then be stored on a phone.

Using The Fingerprint For MCommerce

A fingerprint, a machine readable identifier, is also a physical world hyperlink and can be used for mcommerce.

Fingerprints as digital payments

A customer pays by putting his fingerprint on a special scanner instead of paying with cash or credit cards, in the Edeka supermarket in the western town of Grosen-Buseck, in December 2006.

The new system that scans customers' fingerprints and deducts the grocery bill from their bank accounts has taken supermarkets in southwestern Germany by storm and is being picked up by hardware stores, school canteens and even the country's ubiquitous beer gardens.

Daily Disruptions

Using radio frequency (RF) to wave cancer away

Wi-Fi to replace wired ethernet

Solar powered Wi-Fi