Sprint Promotes ScanLife Mobile Bar Codes In Wired Magazine

A major U.S. wireless carrier, Sprint, is recognizing (and promoting) how big Physical World Connection (camera phone and barcodes) will be.

On page 35 of this month's Wired Magazine Sprint has a full page ad called "The Captivating Future Of The Bar Code".

Sprint is advertising ScanBuy's ScanLife mobile bar code reading application for camera phones.

ScanBuy was the first physical world connection company to land a carrier and major brand.

Notable quotes from the ad.

"not since the electric toothbrush has such an ordinary object emerged to make the the world a more nimble place"

"you are about to experience the life-altering future of the bar-code"

" we can't say for sure (no one can), but we have reason to believe .

"we have reason to believe that the bar code is going to revolutionize the way people consume things"

Sears, Billboard, Burn Magazine, Nike are just a few companies that are using ScanLife's mobile bar codes to link camera phones to the Net.

If you have a camera phone text "SCAN" to 70734 and download the free application, It takes less than a minute. supported phones

Take a picture of the bar code on the screen (or the magazine) and receive your secret prize.
This poor image of the bar code, that was taken by a camera phone, can be scanned by the ScanLife application.

Google And Sprint Develop Mobile Portal Using WiMax And LBS

Could this be the tipping point for location based services and advertising?

Google and Sprint will now be able to tie in your location to all of their applications, including delivering relevant ads, on the mobile phone.

Sprint Nextel said on Thursday it would develop with Google a new mobile Internet portal using WiMax wireless technology to offer Web search and social networking.

Sprint's WiMax for high-speed wireless and its services for detecting location will be combined with Google tools including Gmail, Google Talk, Google Photo and other applications.

Through the partnership with Google, people using the service "will be able to see where everyone is on your [Gmail] contact list is," said Peter Cannistra, Sprint's director of strategic partnerships

Customers will be able to pay for the WiMax service and get access to the Internet everywhere in the city with such devices as laptops, MP3 players, digital cameras and cell phones.

In April 2008, Sprint expects to roll out the service to the general public in those cities and other cities not yet announced.

Sprint Launches Slifter For Location Based Search Engine

Introducing a GPS function with search opens a lot of opportunities for mobile marketing and social networking possibilities.

Keyspots, based on GPS location will be the equivalent to keywords for mobile marketing. Just like the keywords sex, travel, and news command high fees, so too will GPS locations with heavy traffic. Manhattan versus Des Moines, what will attract more traffic?

This is how Google Makes A Googol

Sprint is tying in their GPS capabilities with Slifters search engine to deliver location based search results.

Think of this as a mobile Froogle with GPS capabilities.

Sprint and GPShopper today announced the launch of Slifter, the first mobile local product search application that employs GPS technology to find products at neighboring retail locations.

Slifter makes real-world shopping more interactive: customers simply enter a keyword, product name, model number or UPC code (barcode) to find a product. They can then view product availability, price and promotional information. (Imagine the possibilities when a barcode is scanned with your GPS enabled phone.)

See the revenue opportunities for Sprint with this service?

Sprint GPS capabilities ensure the closest possible retailers are identified in the search. From video games to vacuum cleaners, using Slifter, Sprint customers can now search for more than 85 million products available at more than 30,000 retail stores across the country.

The big difference is Slifter powered by GPS uses your phone's GPS ability to give you even more accurate results then regular Slifter. N

Slifter is immediately available for download for $1.99 per month* with Sprint's GPS function.

Slifter, is North America's leading mobile local product search and shopping list application. It is accessible for free without GPS functions via SMS (text "SLIFTER" to 75438), wireless web, or java application download on almost any mobile carrier/device combination .

Would you pay an extra $1.99 per month for GPS to be included in all of your mobile applications? (search, maps, weather, alerts, traffic)