Pop! Technology Bar Codes...Disruptive Technology For How Long?

In my opinion, this technology is a must have for any retailer involved with perishable items. ..until RFID becomes widely adopted.

It would have been disruptive about 10 years ago, but more advanced technologies are coming that will disrupt this shortly.

Pop! Technology's 'smart' barcodes provide users with real time information about the status and condition of their products at all points of the supply and distribution chain, from manufacture to end-user.

The Company's barcodes, which are compatible with current scanning devices, can provide users with a range of critical information, including product temperature, retail placement, fraud detection and shoppers' buying patterns.

Here's the problem, the item still has to be scanned manually. RFID tags will offer the same function, and many more (dynamically). This bar code is still passive.

Example: their barcode can detect if a carton of milk or package of meat has been exposed to improper temperatures (the barcode is able to determine if the packaging went over x number of degrees) preventing the item from being sold to consumers.

The barcode contains irreversible temperature sensitive ink.

They just announced they have retained Growthink to raise $2.0 million in Series A capital for Pop! Technology, a creator of 'active' barcode.

"Pop! Technology's smart barcodes are indeed very smart, and have the potential to be a disruptive technology that can be utilized by a wide range of industries. We're excited about our client's potential for growth," said Emily Burg, Growthink's Director of Strategy.

In my opinion, disruptive yes, but length of impact very limited.

Growthink is a very reputable and forward thinking investment banking firm, but I am a little surprised they are working with this technology. I wonder how long before various forms of RFID tags leapfrog Pop!'s smart barcode technology.

More on Pop! Technology from Texas Startup

Am I missing something, let me know.

Microsoft Shuts Down Mobile Bar Code Project

According to Microsoft's Aura site, they have decided to stop this mobile bar code reading project.

"Microsoft Research AURA project and all AURA services have terminated as of June 30, 2007. The Microsoft Research Community Technologies Team thanks you for your interest in this research project, and hopes that it has been a valuable resource. Please feel free to contact us with any questions or feedback."

Neomedia's Mobile Barcode Patent Challenged

Until patents have been proven in court, shouldn't they be used as a defense of a business or application?

When companies wave their patents around, until they have been proven in court, doesn't this stifle innovation?

Last Fall the EFF asked for help in debunking a barcode patent.

Today they announced they would be officially challenging it.

EFF Challenges Bogus Patent Threatening Consumer Awareness Products

llegitimate Patent Inhibits Innovation in Market for Mobile Information Access

San Francisco - The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) took aim today at a bogus patent threatening innovative technologies that enhance consumer awareness, requesting a reexamination by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (PTO).

NeoMedia Technologies, Inc., claims to own rights to all systems that provide information over computer networks using database-like lookup procedures that rely on scanned inputs, such as a barcode. NeoMedia has used these claims not only to threaten and sue innovators in the mobile information space, but also to intimidate projects focused on increasing awareness among consumers about the social and environmental impact of the products they buy. (red print emphasis is mine).

Numerous Physical World Connection (PWC) companies have expressed concern that this company, and their supporters, are doing just that. (my comment separate from the EFF story)

For example, the Consumer Information Lab at the College of Natural Resources at the University of California at Berkeley uses such technology to examine how health, environmental, and social information affects consumers' shopping behavior and decision-making. Were NeoMedia to control the patent rights to this technology, such projects could be severely limited and potentially shut down.

NeoMedia should not be allowed to use this bogus patent to inhibit consumer awareness, education, or research into the impact of information on consumer choice," said EFF Staff Attorney Jason Schultz. "This is the opposite of 'progress,' something the patent laws are supposed to promote."

EFF's reexamination request shows that the functionality covered by NeoMedia's bad patent was repeatedly included as part of prior patent applications from other companies -- demonstrating that the idea of forming a network connection from scanned items was well-known before NeoMedia made its claim. EFF, in conjunction with Paul Grewal and James Czaja of Day Casebeer Madrid & Batchelder, ask the PTO to revoke the patent based on this and other evidence.

For the full NeoMedia patent reexamination request:
http://www.eff.org/patent/wanted/patent.php?p=neomedia

Companies interested in this EFF story might also find this of interest.

Who really "owns" the intellectual property in question?

According to NeoMedia's latest financial filing,

On Page 18 ">All Of The Company’s Assets Are Pledged To Secure Certain Debt Obligations, Which The Company Could Fail To Repay

Pursuant to secured convertible debentures, dated as of March 27, 2007, August 24, 2006 and December 29, 2006, in the principal amount of $7,459,000, $5,000,000 and $2,500,000, respectively, issued to Cornell Capital Partners, LP, the Company was required to secure such secured convertible debentures’ repayment with substantially all of its assets. In the event the Company is unable to repay the secured convertible debentures, it could lose all of its assets and be forced to cease its operations. If the Company is found to be in default under the debentures, the full principal amount of the debentures, together with interest and other amounts owing, may become immediately due and payable. As of December 31, 2006, the Company was in default of a covenant contained in the financing agreements due to the Company’s pending registration statement to register the underlying shares of the convertible instruments not becoming effective by the specified date. (bold print emphasis is mine)

On Page 21
At December 31, 2006 and 2005, approximately 57% and 39%, respectively, of NeoMedia’s total assets used in continuing operations were intangible assets and goodwill, consisting primarily of rights related to NeoMedia’s patents, other intellectual property.

This should develop into an interesting story.

Comments are welcome, but before I get bombarded, note I am not a patent attorney.

In this case, judication appears to rest with the courts.

Microsoft Adds Color And FeaturesTo Barcode Scanning

Things are really starting to heat up in the Physical World Connection space. I see lots of interesting physical world connection applications here. Microsoft creates their own unique 2 dimensional code (2d code) and signs a licensing deal with the major bar code numbering agency.

Will Microsoft and the ISAN create a "registry" for physical world objects that can be connected to the Internet?

Microsoft has a 2d code scanning application for a camera phone, and a 1d code scanning application.

Because DuPont and Microsoft are launching Physical World Connection platforms, this seems even more unnecessary now.

Microsoft's HCCB code offers authentication as well as a connection to the Internet.

From IT Jungle Microsoft breaks the color barrier for barcode


The IT industry has seen various improvements in labeling technology, starting with simple two-dimensional barcodes, more advanced three-dimensional barcodes, and, finally, radio frequency identification (RFID), the "barcode killer." Now, Microsoft is trying to infuse new life into the tired black-and-white barcoding scheme with a new colorized barcode format.

The High Capacity Color Barcodes are expected to start showing up on DVD discs later this year.

According to Gavin Jancke, director of engineering for Microsoft Research and the inventor of the new high capacity color barcode (HCCB) format, color barcodes hold more information and look better than traditional black-and-white barcodes.

Microsoft declined to disclose financial terms of the agreement with the ISAN International Agency. The PC and mobile-phone software needed to read the high-capacity bar codes will be available for free.

What will this do to the PWC space?

On Monday, Microsoft announced that the International Standard Audiovisual Number International Agency ((ISAN-IA), the Swiss agency charged with administering the ISAN numbering system, has licensed HCCB technology and plans to incorporate it into an authentication system for weeding out legitimate motion pictures, video games, broadcasts, and digital video recordings from forgeries.

In addition to authentication, HCCB has other uses. As the technology improves, Microsoft envisions barcodes being displayed on TV or computer screens, on movie posters or DVD or CD cases, or on magazine ads or billboards. To get more info, consumers would scan these color barcodes with their camera-equipped cell phones or Web cams.

New security features can also be incorporated into the color barcode. Microsoft cites a company called DatatraceDNA that plans to use HCCB to build anti-counterfeiting security protection features that could be added during the manufacturing process of most products. The company refers to this process as Digital Nanoparticle Authentication, or DNA.

Jancke has a European patent on the High Capacity Color Barcode, and a U.S. patent is pending.

Physical World Connection Summary At CTIA 2007

The CTIA show is always informative in many ways. There are press releases for new products, new(games, search engines, email apps) and numerous companies exhibiting the "next thing" in mobile. My focus is on mobile phones connecting the physical world to the Internet through physical world hyperlinks (PWH).

I have often found the key developments are discovered off the main showroom floor though.

The easiest way to find out what is really happening in this space (and I encourage going to CTIA for this reason) is to talk to the companies that will or can adopt this technology. It is becoming clear which Physical World Connection (PWC) companies are getting their platforms adopted, and who is still trying to get traction.

I saw all of the PWC companies on my PWC list that were there at the show, and discovered a couple new ones that I will be adding shortly.

Last week I saw a 1d code (barcode) scanning solution for camera phones that doesn't require any special lens attachment and works on major handsets. In addition, this application can read 2d codes as well. This solution could play a key role in the Physical World Connection space.

More on this company later.

In my opinion, the 2nd quarter of 2007 will be the tipping point for Physical World Connection adoption in Europe. One major wireless carrier has already embedded a PWC platform. Two additional major carriers should be announcing a PWC platform adoption shortly as well.

I had the chance to see some pretty exciting upcoming 2d code mobile marketing campaigns. These campaigns include scanning codes on various objects for videos, coupons, and a host of other permission based marketing. The brands using physical world hyperlinks (PWH) is impressive.

One of the biggest reality shows will be incorporating PWH into their upcoming season. This campaign and the PWH become part of the show and could be a terrific way to educate consumers on PWC. I can see how a brand could piggyback just one show and one PHW into a major campaign.

A major recording star is incorporating PWH into a campaign for their next album.

One PWC is finding a way to utilize a captive audience and incorporate their platform. Many will say "why didn't we think of that?".

Microsoft throwing their hat in the PWC ring is shaking up things a bit too. There were some interesting comments from the carriers and PWC cos about this.

2006 was a year some of the PWC players would like to forget too. Players in the space will know what event I am referring to.

Probably the two biggest developments I came away with at CTIA are:

1. a company with a 1d code (and 2d code) scanning application that is still in stealth mode
2. the impact DuPont and their 2d code announcement is having on the Physical World Connection space.

These two developments could allow all existing consumer goods and newly created consumer goods (packaging) to be connected to the Internet.

The figures for Internet advertising only continue to grow, and companies that measure clicks/ traffic on ads are being courted. I wonder what value will be place on a permission based marketing solution that can deliver ads/content directly to a mobile phone when the consumer is holding their product in hand?

There are lots of Physical World Connection opportunities for companies or individuals with vision

YooMedia And L'Oreal Use Barcodes For Mobile Marketing

From TotalTele YooMedia in L'Oreal deal

YooMedia Tuesday said it has launched a new proprietary mobile-based sales promotion technology with L'Oreal, which is trialling it as part of a nationwide hair colouring products marketing campaign.

The company said the newly developed technology, designed and developed by YooMedia, is centred around mobile messaging and secure, stand alone interactive promotional consoles known as 'Kerching kiosks', which together drive customers to the promoter's event or retail site.

This exciting new initiative allows promoters to send consumers barcodes or pin numbers via SMS, which can then be exchanged for special offers at branded Kerching Kiosks.

Physical World Connection Companies..Connecting A Mobile Phone With A Physical Object

When a display was added to the first mobile phone, a new media was created. Since then, Internet connection and a camera have been added that have created a new way to interact with the physical world.

Soon speech recognition will allow an additional way to browse the physical world too.

Every physical object will have a physical world hyperlink

That means every physical object will allow connection to a designated website and the mobile phone with it's physical world browser will be able to surf the "real world", the physical one.

I think you find THE NEXT GOOGLE in here.

Your ad could be here.

MOBILE BAR CODE COMPANIES

23half and their Thrrum Visual Browser
3GVision
5o9 Inc
Abaxia and their MobileTag
ABBYY
Active Print (Hewlett-Packard)
ActiveSymbols
Aeritas
Airclic
AlpsLab
Applied Digital Solutions and their VeriChip
Aura Interactive
Baracoda
BaToo
BeeTagg
BluePulse
BrandAttention
CamClic
[COD]mmunication
ColorZip Media
ConvergeLabs
CounterFight
DSPV
Daem Interactive
Denim Code
DiMoCo
Digimarc
Domino Solutions
Ecrio
Elcode
Evolution ViPR
Evryx
Exbiblio
G2Tactics
Gavitec
GenTag
GeoVector
GMedia
Google 2D Code
Google Voice
Hitachi
HookCode
Hypertag
Iconlab
Infokall
Innofone
Intelcom
Intellareturn's Append
Intrasonics
JagTag
Jaxo and their BarShow application
Kameleon
KoolTag
L.G. Electronics
Liquid Information
Luna Development
MBarc
M-Bar-Go
Matrix Solutions
MediaSeek
Mobicode
MobileAMA
Mobile Assets Corp
Hewlett Packard'sMobile Bristol
Mobile Discovery
Mobile Tag
Mobile2Win
MobilRelay
MobiMarketing
Mobot
Mobiqa
MyBestPrice
MyClick
MyMobileCast.com
Mytago
MyThum Interactive
NetInformer
Nextcode
Neven Vision
NewFound
NPCTelecom
nThrum
Nuance
Ontela
Kooaba and ooLink
OP3 and ShotCode
Opera
PaperDisk
PixeCode
PriceNoia
Psiloc
QuickMark
QMCODES
RealEyes 3D
Riya
SCANBUY
Scansoft/SpeechWorks
Secure Symbology
Semacode
Semapedia
Sintef
Skuair
SmartPox
SnapTell
Socket
SpyderLynk
SwiftPass
Tagit
TellMe
Trillcode
Tripletail Ventures and their VideoBarcode
Veritec
Tivik
Visual Magic
Vocalocity
VoiceGenie
VoxSurf
w3 Logistics Handyscan
Wappple
WideRay
Xerox
Xobile's Leapscan
XXTreme Measures
ZapCode
ZapLinks

List is not complete due to some companies wishing to remain private about their applications


If your company is not included, please send an email and I will be happy to include in this category.


Wouldn't your ad look good here?