AOL Has So Much Mobile Potential

AOL is sitting on a mobile goldmine but they just can't see it, or can't execute. They have a mobile search application on 20m plus phones. Wouldn't that be a good start?

From NY Times AOL A punching bag in need of a hit

Wall Street is not expecting sudden miracles from the planet's biggest media conglomerate. And, yet again, there is one standout reason for the blasé view of the company: the prospects for America Online, officially rechristened earlier this month as the zippier-sounding AOL.

The company is hoping to win over critics in the coming weeks by starting up a social networking product, to be called AIM Pages, that will compete against the likes of MySpace and Yahoo360 on the next Internet battleground.

Here's my idea.

AOL Could dominate the mobile search space with the mobile "buddy list" and Find Me application.

By sending an instant message to a special username of AOL, can’t you let them resolve the query? Instead of sending an IM to an AOL member, you’re sending an SMS/search query to an AOL server requesting/doing a search. Instead of typing in 46645 (GOOGL) or 44636 (4INFO), AOL has created the short code for you with a special username.

Let AOL label this username as MOBLSRCH in our buddy list. AOL could automatically add this name when you download or reboot. AOL establishes an easy way to start a mobile search when you IM MOBLSRCH.

The “Find Me” buddy application is the GPS function, and the buddy list with MOBLSRCH creates the search window. They already have their own mobile search application on 20 million plus cell phones. Will they capitalize on this? Do they even know what they have?

What do you think, is AOL DOA or AOK ?

Shakira Uses Mobile Barcodes

Verizon Wireless today announced it will be presenting Shakira's "Oral Fixation" North American tour this summer and leveraging wireless technology to ensure her fans have
a unique concert experience.

From Chron Shakira tour uses mobile barcodes from Verizon

In a music and wireless industry first, Shakira will send a multimedia personal video invitation customized to each city she goes to, inviting her fans to come hear her play in their local arena.

Fans with Verizon Wireless phones will have the option to text or click through to purchase and win tickets. Some Shakira concertgoers will receive a multimedia message barcode ticket sent to their Verizon Wireless phones. When they arrive at the concert, the wireless bar code tickets will be scanned to get them into the show.

Fans will also help Shakira determine what songs she performs on the tour. Verizon Wireless customers will be able to text which favorite Shakira songs they feel should be played on the "Oral Fixation" tour

Physical World Connection In Business 2.0

This month's issue of Business 2.0 has a special pullout called "Your Wireless Future".

Carlo Longino of MobHappy does a great job of listing the companies to watch for specific applications (productivity, voice communication, location-based services, entertainment/social networking).

In the location-based services category he lists Semacode as a company to watch.

Semacode connects the mobile to the physical world using camera phones as bar-code readers.

Semacode is just one of the companies that provides this ability.

How does it work?

Semacode works by embedding a URL (web address) into a sort of two-dimensional barcode which looks like a dense crossword puzzle.

This is an open system. Anyone can create as many semacode tags for as many different URLs as they wish. Millions, even. As long as you own the domain name, the tagging system is completely unrestricted.

Congrats Carlo and nice job.

Bar Code To Mobile Patent Awarded

Johannesburg-based Mobicode has won the South African patent for distributing bar codes to mobile devices, introducing the infrastructure to deliver tickets, coupons and vouchers directly to local consumers.


Mobicode was awarded the patent after securing the rights to use technology developed by Mobiqa in the UK to deliver bar codes to any mobile device in SA that conforms to international GSM standards.

Mobicode will provide a Web-based bar code distribution service as well as Web-application hosting where required to organisations that want to send either linear or 2D bar codes to mobile devices

Mobiqa (Mobicode’s licensor) has been awarded a patent in South Africa for the "Optimised Messages containing Barcode Information for Mobile Receiving Device", patent number 2005/03057.

Internet Of Things Or Phase 2

Howard Rheingold called it Phase 2 . It's when every physical object can be connected to the Internet. Another term is the "Internet of Things".

This article is dated, but it gives a great summary of how physical objects will be able to connect to the Net.

Most industry observers agree that the next wave of growth in the technology sector will be outside the realm of the traditional PC desktop. But many think of that growth in mundane terms -- with such things as cell phones and PDAs.

In reality, we stand on the verge of an era that will see previously unimagined networked devices and objects.

With the official release of the Electronic Product Code Network, we are about to see the "Internet of things" paradigm enter the big time -- the world of mainstream commerce.

At the core of the Auto-ID Center's infrastructure for RFID technology is the EPC code, the numeric data transmitted by a tag. The EPC code is, in effect, intended to be the next generation of the Universal Product Code (UPC), or bar code, that is found on virtually every consumer item today.

Unlike a UPC bar code, EPC provides for the unique identification of any physical object in the world.

Wikipedia defines this as Object hyperlinking.
"extend the internet to objects and locations in the real world; to create an internet of things"

These "things" will need a physical world hyperlink. There will also be a browser that can resolve these hyperlinks.

Veritec And Their 2D Codes Come Out Of Bankruptcy

Veritec, and their 2D codes, VERICODE and VSCode, are coming out of bankruptcy.

Veritec developed software to store, display and read a VeriCode® on the LCD screen of a mobile phone.

With the electronic media, information such as credit card, bank account, airline tickets, bus tickets, and medical information can be transmitted to the individual mobile phone. The mobile phone serves the function of an electronic credit card or ID card.

In 2003 Veritec developed and patented a new two-dimensional code, the VSCode®.


Data Matrix code cannot match the data density level of VeriCode® nor the large data capacity of VSCode®. An example of the importance of this feature is the LCD panel marking application where data needs to be contained in a tiny symbol. The VeriCode® symbol can be made as small as 1/30 the size of the Data Matrix symbol

Veritec offers VERICODE® which can hold more than 500 bytes of data and VSCode® which has capacity of over 4,000 bytes. This represents a significant amount more than 1D bar codes.

compare a 2D code to a 1D code (barcode).


Patents include:

US Patent No. 4,924,078 (1990)
US Patent No. 5,332,176 (1990)
US Patent No. 5,612,524 (1997)
European Patent No. 0438841 (2000

XXTreme's X-Code Connects Physical World And Offers Complete Mobile Marketing

I would have to say XXTreme Measures is most complete mobile marketing company I have seen so far in the States.

They offer marketing, billing, texting and they even have their own physical world hyperlink called X-Code .

XXTreme Measures and their X-Code, offer mobile ticketing, coupons and access to content on the Internet.
In addition, take a look at their supported carriers .

Add XXTreme Measures to the mobile marketing, mobile coupon and physical world connection lists .

Xxtreme SMS provides you an easy access to the content related to a unique eye-catching barcode.

You simply point at the barcode and are instantly directed to the associated content - music, media, graphics, text. Xxtreme SMS eliminates the need for manual multitap key-entry and lets you get to content faster!.


Xxtreme SMS also provide mobile ticketing, mobile coupon and mobile commerce solutions based on the creation, delivery and redemption of barcodes to mobile phones.

Xxtreme X-Code are barcoded tickets sent to a mobile phone. The Xxtreme X-Code is redeemed at the venue by simply scanning the mobile phone display with a standard scanner or a digital camera phone (software neccessary).

Locations include US, UK, China, S Korea and Brazil.

Look at the carriers supported both US and International.

The company has their own debit card company and has stated they would be utilizing this for various mobile applications.

Stay tuned, they should be offering some interesting mobile campaigns and applications soon.
Nice find Olivier

For more info

Xybernaut To Auction Off Location Based Wireless Patents

Xybernaut Corporation a high tech company currently in Chapter 11, has received court approval to sell its "Waypoint" group of patents at auction, with the objective of raising sufficient cash to come out of bankruptcy protection and successfully reorganize.

The "Waypoint" patent group sets forth technology and business processes to provide wireless direct mail by sending information to targeted mobile users at specific locations.

Xybernaut believes the Waypoint patents can allow wireless companies to provide location-based services to mobile devices such as cellphones, PDAs and portable computer devices. Locations can be focused in feet or miles, depending on the desired audience.

These services can include precisely-targeted ads, maps, restaurant locations, traffic reports and other useful information, all automatically queued off of the location and stated preferences of the holder of the wireless device.

Advertisers want to know that they are delivering the desired message to an interested audience at the right time and place. The Company believes that the Waypoint patents enable this exacting business solution.

While advertising has long supported access to radio and television broadcasts and much of the internet, Google has recently announced the first use of this model for wireless services

I wonder who buys these and for how much.

FDA Bar Code Mandate Implements Physical World Connection

An FDA mandate implements physical world connection.

At the end of April, the Food and Drug Administration will officially require drug makers and marketers to have a bar code on all drugs sold to American hospitals.

And although the biopharmaceutical companies may be starting to achieve compliance, hospitals aren't remotely equipped to use the bar-coded data.

What will they use?

The barcode scanning solution comes pre-integrated- no additional software or drivers required. Just plug the BlackBerry into barcode scanner and select "Scan barcode" menu item from the popup menu

Flowfinity Wireless , a leading provider of wireless application products and platforms, and Infinite Peripherals, a leading provider of custom mobile printing and scanning solutions, offer LaserField, a bundled solution that enables barcode scanning from any USB-enabled BlackBerry Wireless Handheld™.

Will this be the first physical world connection device?

Bar codes are used for other purposes such as tracking medical devices and patient samples. The use of bar codes is expected to rise, presumably along with devices that can read bar codes and access the relevant data.

There's another solution for the pharmaceutical industry that involves physical world hyperlinks.

Bar Codes In Japan Provide Many Mobile Functions

From Monterey Herald In Japan, mobile phone replacing wallets, keys, credit cards

With cellular phone in hand, Japanese consumers can purchase from vending machines, buy train tickets, order a bowl of noodles, trade stock, bid at online auctions and change channels on a TV set.
It's not unusual, for example, to see pedestrians sidle up to concert posters and use their mobile phones to read small bar codes. Their mobiles process the bar codes, automatically taking them to Web sites for more information. Viewing their mobiles, users can see prices, pick out seats and buy tickets.

Magazine ads, publicity fliers and bus stops often have bar codes that allow mobile users to arrive at Web sites to make purchases or see information.

"You're reading a catalog in the bathtub, and you say, `Oh, I want to buy this.' And you read the bar code," said Jeffrey Funk, a commentator on the Japanese mobile phone market and professor at Hitotsubashi University in Tokyo.

An interesting comment.

One key difference, though, is the eagerness of Japanese carriers to provide more services to consumers without a clear revenue model, something U.S. carriers are unlikely to do

Microsoft Creates An Advertising Bar Code?

Can you see the opportunities with this?

From Media Week Microsoft agrees to use Ad-Id

Microsoft said has agreed to incorporate Ad-ID, the bar-code-like digital identifier which has been endorsed by both The Association of National Advertisers and the American Association of Advertising Agencies, into its online ad offerings.

Ad-ID , which has been likened to the UPC-code that is scanned into thousands of retail products in order to track sales, is being pushed by many top Madison Avenue executives as a means to improve the tracking of all forms of advertising, ranging from TV to radio to out of home.

Microsoft believes the future lies with identified, targeted, customized advertisements, and the best way to effectively track and measure results from advertising assets is by using Ad-ID, a universal code which provides end to end system connectivity.

Marketers using Ad-ID include Allstate, Blockbuster, BMW, Capital One, Coors Brewing Company, Discovery Networks, HBO, Johnson & Johnson, Masterfoods and Procter & Gamble.

What happens when Microsoft incorporates this .

Your Face Is A Bar Code

This is another example of physical world connection. Your face is a machine readable identifer.

From Japan Times Your face could become a bar code

For an hour or two each day over the course of two to three weeks, one of the station's ticket gates will be closed to the general public. A newly-developed biometric camera, capable not only of photographing faces, but of analyzing facial data and in essence converting each person's face into a unique bar code, will be at work, snapping shots of participants in the experiment as they pass back and forth through the gate.


Its point is to assess how well the camera works. If it works well, will it be adopted nationwide, in subway stations, train stations and elsewhere?

NTT Docomo recently adopted Neven Vision's application for this.

Count Calories With Bar Codes

This doesn't use a mobile phone yet, but it shows how barcodes can be used for more than price comparison.

Training Peaks, LLC, the leading provider of online training technology for endurance athletes and coaches, has developed the Calorie Scanner™, a cutting edge nutrition tracking system.

Ideal for anyone interested in monitoring their caloric intake, from professional athletes to business professionals, the Calorie Scanner fits on a keychain, in a pocket or purse. The database recognizes over a half million UPC bar codes and includes nutrition information for 50,000 “branded” foods, allowing the user to track calories per serving on the go or right in their kitchens

Sintef Uses Camera Phone To Connect 2D Codes

SINTEF developed in 2001 a system that allowed hundreds of 8-bit bytes to be input into the camera, using a single user-captured image as input.

The system is based on using a specially crafted two-dimensional barcode, which is printed on the desired objects. The image analysis software developed by SINTEF recognizes this barcode, and its content is subsequently input to the mobile phone.

This makes it possible for the user to e.g. scan a business card with a printed barcode, and get the information automatically into his contact list. The system thus enhances the user’s mobile experience by making the mobile phone able to interact with physical objects in the “real” world.

Matrix Solutions Uses Data Matrix Code To Connect Physical World

Add Matrix Solutions to the Physical World Connection list

Matrix Solutions uses a data matrix code and mobile phone, to connect the physical world.

The future of mobile marketing has already begun. Matrix Solutions' innovative systems transform the mobile phone into a universal tool. This is potentiated by the Data-Matrix-Code: the cell phone as an admission ticket, a voucher, or a means of payment.

Matrix Solutions offers :
PicTicket
Order a ticket from the organiser via the Internet or a call center. Consumer uses Matrix PicTicket as the form of output, and pays with their credit card number and hangs up.

In the background, the ticket data and SIM card ID are merged in a matter of seconds to generate a unique Data-Matrix-Code which is sent to the mobile as a Matrix PicTicket, along with the relevant concert information.

The consumer receives a Picture SMS. At the entrance to the concert they open the message, and the PicTicket will be read by a scanner and verified on the fly
PicCoupon
For the user, Matrix PicCoupon works dead easy. Consumers order vouchers or coupons on the Internet, load them onto their mobile devices, and redeem them at the store. This is facilitated by our pixel-based Data-Matrix-Code.
and
PicTAN

Order fingerprints online or from your mobile. Load Matrix PicTAN directly onto mobile phone. Scan PicTAN at POS and pay cashless.

Notice how long the list of physical world connection companies is getting. This technology will have an enormous impact on many industries. It's only logical that many players will enter it.

Nokia RFID Phone

RFID tags are physical world hyperlinks. Soon mobile phones will be able to read/scan an RFID tag and retrieve information.

RFID Weblog discusses some applications for Nokia's RFID phones.

This phone is the Nokia 3220 which is one of the two Nokia GSM/GPRS phones that includes an NFC shell which can be used for reading and writing RFID tags.

Who may be developing a mobile phone RFID browser?

Barcode Reader On Mobile Phone Tops List For Adoption

Want to know what's next for wireless in the States, look at Japan.

Survey of Japan's mobile phone consumers reveals potential product strategies for the U.S. market.

Japanese wireless subscribers demonstrate a higher level of usage of, and interest in, advanced mobile phone features than do consumers in the United States, according to the findings in a new report from The NPD Group , a leading provider of consumer and retail information.

Japanese consumers are the world’s early adopters of the latest mobile technologies and features. The market is therefore seen as a key test bed for innovation, which is why industry professionals around the world look to Japan to understand “what’s next” in wireless.

Emerging features currently available in Japan, but less ubiquitous here, also display a strong growth potential for the consumer wireless market in the US. These features include:

-Barcode reader (27%)
-GPS (26%)
-FM Radio (22%)
-Voice recorder (18%)
-Analog TV tuner (18%)
-Mobile commerce and emoney capabilities (16%)

SMS ShortCode Search Engine List

Want to know who owns a shortcode? Want to know what services are offered by a specific short code?

Until shortcode owners come out and publicly advertise their shortcode (I still dont know why they don't), I put together a list a SMS Shortcode Search Engine Engines.



OTAir

Shortcode.info

SMS Today

US Short Code WhoIs


If you can't find it on one of these, just Google It


Or you can get one of your own.

If you know of any other sites that offer this service please let me know and I'll include them too.

Scanbuy Compares More Than Prices With Barcode

Mission Impossible III uses Scanbuy for mobile marketing.

From RedandBlack Camera phones to aid shoppers

A new technology now stands to eliminate the frustrations of comparison shopping.

The company Scanbuy, Inc., has developed software that enables camera phone users to snap a picture of an item’s barcode, which then cues the phone to launch an application to search the Internet for the lowest prices at nearby retailers or online.

In Spain or the United Kingdom, camera phone users contemplating whether Tom Cruise’s upcoming movie really does provide all the thrills and explosive action it promises can scan a barcode located on a “Mission Impossible III” movie poster.

From this scan, users will have the movie’s trailers, reviews and even the option of buying tickets all at their fingertips.

Scanbuy’s technology also has the ability to reveal the history of many items.

Scanbuy recently introduced Scanbuy Coupons.


Coupons and Tickets can be ordered through multiple means such as SMS, USSD, barcode capture.

Barcode Coupons and Tickets can be sent through SMS (EMS or Picture Mail), MMS, WAP Push, Personal WAP account, or even managed through a dedicated Client App

Recognizing the fact many in the United States still do not have camera-equipped cell phones, Attia’s company will launch an application this May that will allow users to simply type in the barcode number to get the same information

Keep Your Teen Alcohol Free On Prom Night With Text Message

What a great idea. Send a text message to to your teen to stay safe and alcohol-free on prom night

The Century Council is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to fighting drunk driving and underage drinking.

You've told them you love them, you've encouraged them to have fun... make sure they get one more important reminder to stay alcohol-free.

This campaign was done by the same people that provide ShortCode Info