I think every major TV market now has been exposed to the capablities of using a camera phone and a barcode. After people realize that other codes besides a 1D code can be scanned, you will see other applications than price comparison.
From CBS3 Cell phone price check
Scanbuy's Shopper takes the camera's that are built in on the cell phone and essentially uses them as a scanner.
The server will then take the bar code, will interpret it, will match it against an online price matching service, and then send you back a message.
The Scanbuy Shopper also works by just punching in the bar code number, instead of taking a picture so you don't need a camera phone.
Scanbuy searches sites like Amazon and Price Grabber to find you the best deal.
3 comments:
I read on some stock board that Scanbuy is being sued for patent infringement by Neomedia and that they don't have any prior patents. It appears that Scanbuy may be doing some heavy lifting ultimately for Neom.
Makes way more sense for these two to join forces rather than fight each other. Scanbuy Shopper introduced the other day has lost its sparkle: You have to enter the barcode numbers manually rather than take a picture. Hmmm. Threat of treble damages for possible infringement may be finally taking its toll? It's got me wondering....
I dont think to the decision to have the user enter the barcode digits has anything to do with patents.
A manual entry option adds more devices to the supported list and in the end gets more people on the physical world connection bandwagon.
I suspect other versions that support barcode scanning catering to camera phones will be out soon.
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