Friday, February 24, 2006

Symbol Has A Really "Smart" Phone

Did anyone think Symbol could be a competitor in the smartphone space? Symbol, the barcode pioneer, offers barcode scanning in a smartphone. I know the ScanBuys and others are trying to get their barcode scanning application embedded on the mobile phone, did any of the physical world connection players think of asking Symbol?

From BusinessWeek Symbol's stylish handheld

Think about those handheld computers you see the local FedEx delivery driver using. They're an invaluable tool for the busy professional on the go. But let's face it: They're clunky, unattractive things that lack the handsome styling of the toys you see carried by the corporate elite.

Like all Pocket PCs, the MC50 uses Microsoft's (MSFT ) Windows Mobile operating system to deliver many of the same applications you'd get on another handheld.

The MC50 includes a 3.5-inch QVGA color touchscreen, your choice of a model with a keyboard or a unit optimized for making phone calls, built-in 801.11b wireless fidelity, and the ability to make voice over IP (VoIP) calls. There are options for push-to-talk, a 1.1-megapixel digital camera, and a bar-code reader.

Physical world hyperlinks that it can scan:
1D Symbology: UPC/EAN, Code 128, UCC.EAN128, RSS, Code 39, Code 93, I 2 of 5, Discrete 2 of 5, Codabar, MSI 2D Symbology: MaxiCode, PDF417, DataMatrix, QRCode Postal Codes: U.S. Postnet, U.S Planet, UK Postal, Australian Postal, Japan Postal. (they cover them all)

Wonder how soon before they introduce a phone that can read an RFID tag? There's a reason Microsoft teamed up with Symbol last Summer. Could they be developing an RFID Browser?

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Note that this is a $1200 phone. This is not for consumers but a strictly business phone that as one would expect is a barcode scanner at the heart.