Reality TV Show Uses Scanbuy's 2D Codes

Physical World Connection (PWC) player Scanbuy has updated their website and announced a PWC application for a French reality TV show.


Scanbuy’s EZcode is being used on the popular French primetime TV show “Treasure Hunt” (modeled on the U.S. “Amazing Race".

The “Le Carte aux Tresors” application is a clever—but decidedly non-mainstream—application for 2D codes. The real benefit of this weekly television program is its consumer education value! For the entire season, French TV viewers (in any week, ~20% of the French population) are exposed to EZcode, how to scan using a cameraphone, information/content discovery, and the application’s ease-of-use



Link to video

Scanbuy is a leading global provider of mobile marketing solutions that use the camera phone as the link between the physical and digital worlds. Scanbuy’s 2D barcode capture technology is revolutionizing the way carriers, handset manufacturers and marketers around the world provide information and services to consumers on their mobile devices.

See how the mobile world is using Scanbuy today.

Kooaba's ooLink Hyperlinks Physical Objects To The Internet

Add Kooaba and their ooLink application to the list of Physical World Connection companies.

Kooaba was founded in November 2006 as a spin-off company from the ETH Zurich, an outstanding science and technology university in Switzerland. Their mission is to simplify access to digital information from mobile devices by hyperlinking objects in the real world.

Kooaba has strong ties to the Computer Vision Lab of the ETH Zurich. Therefore, we are able to embed the latest research into highly innovative products.

ooLink allows publishers to hyperlink their print advertising with digital content. End-users can access the content by sending a picture of the ad to their service.


How does ooLink compare to 2d bar code scanning applications?

Currently, several companies offer solutions which link objects based on 2d-barcodes, which are attached to the object, e.g. to the advertising panel. (An example of such codes are the QR codes.) The advantage of their solution is that no codes are required, since the object itself is recognized.

This has several benefits:

-Users don't need to install a software on their phone.
-The ooLink solution works even if parts are covered (occlusion, see above). If a code is partly covered it is unreadable.
-The codes look often unattractive. With our solution the original design of the ad does not have to be changed.
-The space for the codes can be saved. (Important for advertising in magazines where space savings directly reflect cost savings).

Mobile Bar Code Scanning Technology...Which One Is Right?

Amir Rozenberg has a great summary about mobile bar code scanning called Mobile Code Scanning: Selecting The Technology

For all companies that are looking to add Physical World Connection to the list of their advertising methods this post offers a great summary.

"There are key factors in making that decision, and those, to mention two, are the code format and the features that the complete solution can offer."

"The code format has implications on the user experience, the value driven through simple or complex use cases, through to the control an operator has on their ecosystem and the ways in which revenue can be generated."

He even gives his opinion on the Mobile Codes Consortium.

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.

Remember When We Used To Say "Can You Hear Me Now?"

The days of saying "can you hear me now?" might soon be over.

The BBC reports on new home technology on the block, known as femtocells, and if the hype is to be believed, it will end signal problems forever.

The paperback sized-boxes are essentially compact, personal, mobile phone base stations that plugs straight in to your internet connection.

Make a phone call on your mobile and, instead of routing the call through the network of base stations and masts that cover most of the country, it sends the call over the internet using your broadband connection.

Until now, they have been the preserve of big business, but sometime in the next two years they could come bundled with your mobile phone contract.

It is one of several offerings from companies such as Airwalk or Ubiquisys, which recently rose to prominence when search giant Google invested in the firm.

At the same time, large networks operators such as Vodafone and Softel have announced they will trial the technology.

That might explain why one US company, that is directly involved with this technology, has had an unusually large amount of insider buying recently.

Mobile RFID Codes Coming

From ETN News Mobile RFID Code In Use

For the first time in the world, a wide range of products being distributed in the domestic market will be attached with a mobile RFID code from upcoming October.
　
Mobile RFID codes can be categorized into 3 types such as mCode with interoperability with ISO standards, micro-mCode for acceptance of two-dimensional bar-codes and mini-mCode developed for a mobile RFID pilot service.

The National Internet Development Agency of Korea had a public hearing on guidelines to establish mobile RFID services and management measures for mobile RFID codes in Gangnam, Seoul on July 25.

The Agency will officially open a webpage for mobile RFID registration (www.mcode.kr) by the end of this month. Before October when a formal registration service will begin, temporary codes (mCode and mini-mCode) will be issued to organization in need for mobile RFID codes.

Nokia has already developed an RFID phone and I think Microsoft is producing an RFID browser

Microsoft Taps Electronic Games For Advertising

Merging internet ad technology into a number of popular sports games, Microsoft and EA have developed a dynamic in-game ad system for the Xbox 360 and PC platforms.

Ars Technica reports that the deal will enable Microsoft to actually change ads and sponsors that appear within popular sports games, turning ongoing gameplay into fresh income opportunities for potential sponsors, as well as Microsoft and EA.

Imagine the advertising and revenue potential when Microsoft does this .

Corning Introduces Revolutionary Bendable Optical Fiber

Corning is finding its way around very tight corners to help high-speed Internet service reach high-rise apartments and condominiums.

The world's largest maker of optical fiber said Monday it has developed a new fiber that is at least 100 times more bendable than standard fiber, clearing a major hurdle for telecommunications carriers drawing fiber into homes.

"This is a game-changing technology for telecommunications applications," said Corning's president, Peter Volanakis. "We have developed an optical fiber cable that is as rugged as copper cable but with all of the bandwidth benefits of fiber."

Current optical fiber doesn't carry light well when it is bent around corners and routed through a building, making it difficult and expensive to run fiber all the way to homes and businesses. The ultra-flexible technology allows the fiber to be bent with virtually no signal loss, Corning said.

Internet Of Things, Or Physical World Connection A Superb Investment Opportunity

From BusinessWire After A Decade, Internet Of Things Offers Superb Investment Opportunity

What now appears to be an inevitable explosion of data and connections to the Internet generated by billions of ordinary and not-so-ordinary devices and sensors is creating a huge investment opportunity for venture capitalists, says Terry L. Opdendyk, a General Partner of ONSET Ventures.

The opportunity comes from the emerging need for new applications to leverage an increase in network traffic of several orders of magnitude. Such traffic is produced by devices ranging from the billions of tiny, wireless RFID tags increasingly used for inventory management and location control to sensors in buildings, factories, homes, or everyday objects that report or react in real time to changes in status.

Additionally, says Opdendyk, as the underlying software enabling the “Internet of Things” becomes available and new sensors enable even more information to be harvested, thousands of additional reasons to connect devices to the Internet will emerge, creating a virtuous cycle of disruptive proportions.

This “Internet of Things” or the “pervasive Internet” is a new paradigm that describes a world where inanimate objects of every conceivable type – from toothbrushes and toasters to environmental monitors, motor vehicles and industrial machines – will communicate effortlessly through a network that – thanks to wireless and fiber optics – is beginning to bathe the planet.

ONSET believes, that a tremendous opportunity is being created for startup companies – like the early days of enterprise computing. “There is such a paradigm shift about to occur that it’s ‘déjà vu, all over again’,”

Dial "DIR-ECT-IONS" 347-328-4667 For Mobile Directions

Turn your cellphone into a free GPS.

Want directions but don't have GPS service?

Now mobile phone users in San Francisco, New York City and Los Angeles can dial DIRECTIONS (347-328-4667), say where you are and where you're going.

Dial Directions sends a text message with driving directions supplied through MapQuest.
The service is free but includes an ad at the end of the text message.



The next services I see is a link to the MapQuest map included in the text message.

Relevant ads (based on location) should be included in the direction text.

Disruptive Technology Disrupts TV Advertising Market Again

TIVO and DVR (digital video recording) technology disrupted the TV advertising industry. Now technology has been created for a "skip proof" TV ad that could bring the industry back to life.

GlobeAndMail reports about an ad created by Canadian toy maker Spin Master Ltd. turned out to be impossible to race through with the fast-forward button.

TV networks must be buzzing this morning over that news.

It won’t be long until someone figures out what it is that makes some ads skip-proof, and the technology will be used by everyone. This would remove a major stumbling block in the advertising game. If we all go back to advertising-supported viewing, advertisers would be more comfortable paying the rates they’re asked, and production studios could be ensured of better financing.

Moreover, a technology that makes ads skip-proof suggests that perhaps other technology could be similarly embedded into the signal stream to foil video piracy.

This is the kind of stuff that shakes an industry. And it will affect your viewing habits too.

Texas Rangers Use Tickets At Phone For Mobile Ticketing

Mobile phones are tickets to Rangers games

Starting today, your mobile phone can be your ticket to the game.

The Texas Rangers are among a handful of Major League Baseball teams to launch Tickets at Phone, a technology that sends a barcode to a mobile phone or device that's read by a scanner to gain entry to a game.

While the so-called mobile tickets today include only a bar code, officials hope to soon be able to target key customers with customized offers for tickets and merchandise over their mobile phones.

The Rangers' mobile ticketing technology was developed by MLB Advanced Media LP's unit Tickets.com and partner Mobiqa Ltd. of Edinburgh, Scotland.

Tickets.com rival Ticketmaster is also developing a mobile-ticketing technology and expects to launch it in Ireland this month and in the U.S. next year.

I also know that Ticketmaster is developing an authentication system for tickets as well that involves Physical World Connection.

Ryanair Selects Ticket Text For Mobile Ticketing

Ryanair, Europe’s largest low fares airline, and Ticket Text, a Dublin based mobile technology company, today (18th July) announced an agreement that will provide Ryanair’s 52m customers with low-cost tickets for concerts, sport, theatres, galleries and exhibitions in Ireland, UK and the rest of Europe.

Using Ticket Text’s innovative mobile technology, customers will receive their tickets as unique barcodes sent via text message straight to their mobile phone. Customers simply take their phone to the venue and then scan the barcode to gain admittance.

Receiving tickets by SMS through Ticket Text saves money too because Ticket Text will not charge their customers any over inflated postage and packing fees. To celebrate today’s launch, the first twenty customers to buy tickets for the Take That concert in Barcelona using Ticket-text’s revolutionary service will receive a FREE Ryanair return flight from London.

Welcoming this agreement Ryanair’s Head of Ancillary Revenue, Santina Doherty said:

“Thanks to Ryanair’s low fares, it has never been cheaper or easier to travel to concerts and other live events around Europe. Ticket Text’s innovative and easy to use service provides an ideal match for passengers who want to combine their trip abroad with concerts, festivals and other live events. This is a fast growing part of our business and we look forward to developing it with the help of Ticket Text.

How the ‘mobile ticketing’ process works

Customers buy a ticket from the Ticket Text website using their credit cards as normal. The ticket is sent to their mobile as a 2d barcode. The customer will also have a print-at-home version e-mailed to them which can also be scanned at the venue. They take the bar code ticket to the venue and present it at the gate to the scanner, where they will get quick and easy entry to the event avoiding queues at box offices. If they lose their phone or accidentally delete the bar code, they can send another SMS ticket through their Ticket Text account.

About 2d barcodes

2d bar codes contain many times more information than the traditional barcodes found on the side of most products in a supermarket. One 2d barcode can contain, for example, entry to a venue, or dinner and drinks.

More info on how mobile ticketing works using Ticket Text.

Nokia...A Location Based Service Provider?

Nokia launched a service on Thursday which it said would cut the time a GPS-enabled cellphone takes to pinpoint its whereabouts, opening new opportunities for location-based online services.

Nokia hopes the service, available for users of its flagship N95 phones, will cut the startup time to one minute, from up to three minutes currently. The slowness has so far hampered takeup of cellphone navigation.

Nokia bought into the navigation industry last year through its acquisition of German firm Gate5 and started to offer free maps and routing data in February 2007, while charging extra fees for navigation.

Business 2.0 Discusses Emerging Trends But Fails To Act On Them

I hope this doesn't happen. One of the best publications on emerging companies and technologies, is suffering the same fate as other print publications.

There are so many ways Business 2.0 could have linked readers and advertisers to the Net, but failed to do so.

From the N.Y. Times Ad downturn threatens Business 2.0


Business 2.0 magazine, a seven-year-old Time Inc. publication that covers start-ups, technology trends and changes in the new economy, might publish its final issue in September, according to people briefed on discussions about the fate of the magazine.

Though a reprieve is still possible, according to these people, executives at Time Inc., the nation’s largest magazine group, are threatening to shut down Business 2.0 in the midst of a sharp drop in advertising at the San Francisco-based magazine.

Microsoft Uses QTags For LIVE Promotion And Raises A Question

I think this is the first text message promotional campaign I have seen for Microsoft.

Something to ponder here. Why is Microsoft using another shortcode (Qtags) to promote their major mobile application?

Microsoft is using qtags text keywords to satisfy their cravings for awareness & use of their LIVE Search for mobile phones.

The awareness campaign includes radio spots in target cities which make it easy for the listener to connect to more information about the service, right away, in the moment of interest.


text 'live' to 78247 [and get what you want, when you want, right where you are....]


In a short time, Qtags has compiled an extensive list of advertisers using qtags for their mobile marketing campaign. The two big SMS players I see are 4INFO and Qtags. Media conglomerate Gannett, took a stake in 4INFO, who could be courting Qtags?

TixMob Delivers Tickets On Your Mobile

TixMob delivers tickets to various events to mobile phones.



1. Choose the event you're interested in and click book.
2. Choose the type and number of tickets you want.
3. Pay using your credit card.
4. Deliver your tickets to your mobile phone.

They redeem more tickets than any other company in the world.

Their parent company ActiveMedia Technology powers the Orange Wednesday two-for-one cinema tickets offer and they've worked with Virgin Mobile, British Airways and Ministry of Sound amongst many others to deliver secure, reliable mobile tickets since 2001.

A list of upcoming events TixMob is mobile ticketing for.

BeeTagg Uses Mobile Codes For Transportation Schedules

From SmoothPlanet BeeTagg uses mobile codes for bus schedules.

CarPostal (buses from the Post office in Switzerland - runs mainly in countryside) launch a test with Beetagg to get bus schedule on the mobile when scanning a 2d code.

Exbiblio Connects Text And Mobile Phone To The Net

Add Exbiblio to the list of companies that connect the physical world to the Net using a mobile phone.



From the Puget Sound Biz Journal:

A Seattle startup is working on a novel device that could capture a few words from a book or printed article and quickly find the full text on the web.

The company, Exbiblio , expects to have a prototype ready in the fall that could span the growing divide between the internet and the world of printed material.

The device Exbiblio is developing will house a small optical reader, which connects via a cable to a computer. Users can scan a snippet of printed text — as few as six words at a time — and use that “identifying barcode” to find the corresponding full text on the web, King said.

A person reading a printed newspaper, for example, could instantly get an online version of an article and e-mail it to friends or colleagues. Such a technology could take the advantages of the web — the interactivity and ability to directly measure traffic — and apply that to the printed word.

They are planning to introduce the first version of their product as a limited-distribution Beta release later this year.

What Could Google Be Doing With Mobile Bar Codes?

What could Google be doing with camera phones and bar codes?

Bill Slawsky makes a great discovery about a new mobile bar code patent awarded to Dr Harmut Neven. This is the same Harmut Neven that ran NevenVision, a mobile imaging recognition company, that was acquired by Google last August.

NevenVision has an extensive intellectual property property covering camera phones and physical world connection.

A couple things I find of interest. They received this patent pretty quickly and that this mobile barcode patent was filed after Google acquired the mobile imaging recognition player.

The patent summary:

"Content media having images associated with remotely stored information are provided with barcodes marked with indicia to indicate a source of the information. In this manner, a user, having, for example, a camera phone, will become aware that the particular content medium has images that can be scanned to retrieve additional information (from the remote information store) via their camera phone."

NTT DoCoMo announced they would be embedding NevenVision's image recognition technology on their phones. The NTT DoCoMo application is based on Neven Vision's patented facial recognition technology, which is uniquely designed to work within mobile devices without having to communicate with a central server system.

Google is very aware of the impact mobile bar codes and Physical World Connection will have on mobile search, mobile advertising and mobile commerce.


Want to know who I think is next to get gobbled up?

BuildHardLink Connects Physical Objects To The Net With HardLinks

This is a great idea and the timing for this application couldn't come at a better time.

BuildHardLink took the term "Physical World Hyperlinks" from the Pondering Primate, and created another dimension to it.



Now you can "link" any physical object, to any site/content on the Internet.

One word, number or a combination of both found on any physical object, links that physical object to content on the Net.

Go to http://HardLink.mobi and type the HardLink (and number, word or combination) found on any physical object, and be connected (directly or indirectly) to any desired content.

Hyperlink from any physical object to your Internet enabled cell phone using BuildHardLink.

Just as a hyperlink takes you from web page to web page, a HardLink takes you from a physical object to a data store of information about that object in the form of pictures and text.

Here's another big opportunity for them. A HardLink can also act as a portal for physical world objects. In addition to getting one URL for a Hardlink, a portal of links could be established for the HardLink.

-Better than SMS text messaging (shortcode and keyword) because Hardlinks offer a direct connect function with multiple options.

-Better than TinyURL..who wants to type any sized URL in a mobile browser.

-No camera phone required to link any physical object to the Net.

Phone numbers, bar codes, brand names, sports teams, zipcodes can all be used as HardLinks.

An example could be using a barcode number for the HardLink . Type in the barcode and get options for (coupons, price comparison, recipes, nutritional, related products). A Hardlink owner can create many options using just one HardLink. Any brand could "turn on" their bar codes with this application.

Another example. Fergie uses "Fergie" as her HardLink. Type in "Fergie" and get a host of options (concert dates, ringtones, upcoming CD releases, pics, videos, TV appearances).

If you you would like to build your own hardlink, go to and click on the 'Build Now' icon to experiment and create your own. When finished you can test your new number on our cell phone simulator or on your own phone.

Some HardLink Examples

How does it differ from a "Dot mobi" site?

A domain name with the dot-mobi extension is specifically designed for and accessible by Internet enabled mobile devices, such as cell phones. A HardLink is a Physical World Hyperlink that links a physical object to targeted information on Internet.

Build your own HardLink in seconds

Their basic service is free. If you would like to place a particular link name in your account so that only you can edit it, that cost is 38 cents each. If you would like to set up a private access business portal account contact sales to find out about those prices.

Google Maps, Internet Of Things And Mobile Codes

How much longer before Google introduces a site or application, where users can create a 2D mobile code?

Or do they acquire a company with an application that can scan both 1d and 2d codes?

The ability to scan a 1d barcode, create and scan 2d barcodes, could instantly add billions, if not trillions of sites (content) to their database.

Wired Magazine has a story Google Maps Changing We Connect With World that discusses how Google is, and could, link the the physical world with the Internet (Internet of Things) using mobile codes.

The Internet of Things

What if you could walk down an unfamiliar street, use your camera phone to take a picture of a building, and instantly know everything about it, from the architect to the list of tenants. The technology to make common objects clickable, like hyperlinked words on a Web site, is available today in the form of 2-D barcodes.

These digital tags look like empty crossword puzzles. Users create them online, print them out, and paste them around the city. Then anyone with a phonecam can "click" on them. A program on the phone decodes the pattern and redirects the curious pedestrian to a Web page.

One project, called Smartpox, is using these barcodes to build online communities that center around, for example, scavenger hunts and restaurant reviews. Members slap a barcode on a given establishment, and in-the-know passersby can get the dirt on its crème anglaise.


At Semapedia.com, you can drop in any Wikipedia URL to instantly generate a 2-D barcode pointing to the corresponding entry.

TrillCode Offers Branded Mobile Codes

TrillCode , another Physical World Connection player, announces the availability to include brand/ targeted images within their mobile code. They have also increased the speed and accuracy of the TrillCode reader.

One of the obstacles I see with Physical World Connection adoption is users asking Whose mobile code are you and where will you take me?.


Branded mobile codes, or mobile codes that are easily identifiable, eliminate this obstacle.

The main features of TrillCodes are:

-is build from the ground to be used with camera phones

-it's one of the few which has the decoder integrated in the phone application and does not rely on server decoding - this mean no data traffic and more important no cost at all for users

-is scalable, you can input 8-210 characters (numbers, letters, signs) and the size accommodate with your data.

-is fast

-has a very good rate of recognition even at small code dimensions

- allow placing a logo image inside the code

-has a distinct and pleasant looking design

-is omni-directional

-is the first to embed forms making it easy to place orders or generate feedback

Candian Scooter Uses Mobile Codes For Vespa Marketing

From MarketingMag Candian Scooter Vespa Uses Mobile Codes For Ads

Canadian Scooter Corp. has begun a marketing and contesting campaign for its Vespa brand motor scooter in Toronto, an initiative featuring posters armed with QR (Quick Response) code technology.

The wild postings on Toronto streets show the white outline of a Vespa against backgrounds of various colours. Each poster also features the simple text command, “Scan Me,” and a QR code, which resembles a bar code.

Passersby with QR-enabled phones who snap a shot of the QR code with their cellphones instantly receive a message on their phones telling them whether they have won a prize. (Cellphone users whose handsets are not QR enabled are directed to a website to learn more about QR and download the software.)

"QR technology has been incredibly successful for marketers in Japan and we expect similar success in Canada," Michael Gramlow, CD interactive at Dentsu Canada.

The creative was designed by Toronto agency Dentsu Canada, whose Japanese corporate parent Denso-Wave is credited with developing QR technology, which has been used for several years in Japan.

Physical World Connection Player Nextcode Is Hiring

Last month Nextcode partnered with Network World for 2d barcodes to their weekly magazine.


Nextcode, owner of the ConnexTo mobile code platform, is looking for a web developer to join their development team in Concord, Mass.

Nextcode is a mobile software development firm that specializes in optical barcode reading technology for camera phones. We are a startup company ,creating exciting new products that change the way consumers and businesses use mobile phones to access content, buy products, and use mobile services. We are working with customers throughout the world to introduce innovative mobile services based on our platform.

More details on the position


Respond to "Jobs at NextcodeCorp dot com"

Physical World Hyperlinks Coming Soon!

New barcodes on signs, posters and the like are expanding the mobile web.

From Sydney Morinng Herald Physical World Hyperlinks Coming Soon!

The world of the so-called 2D barcode is nearly upon us. After several false dawns, hyperlinks for the physical world are becoming a reality, thanks to mobiles with higher resolution cameras and the emergence of 3G high-speed connectivity.

ScanBuy, a New York provider of technology capturing 2D barcodes, has signed a deal with Nokia to embed its software in the mobile maker's S60 and S40 models - primarily in China, a country with 500 million mobile-phone users. And global packaging company DuPont is offering to print the codes onto its customers' products using ScanBuy's technology.

These more sophisticated versions of traditional barcodes (universal product codes) used in retailing can be scanned by cameraphones and converted into text, images or video. They can simply contain information - up to 1MB in some cases - or act as web links, making the tricky process of surfing the net via mobile as easy as "point and click".

Slippery Rock University Uses Physical World Connection

Imagine what can happen when the RFID reader is embedded into the mobile phone and the scanning environment extends beyond a college campus.

From RFID Journal Slippery Rock Adds RFID To Cell Phones

The Pennsylvania university is giving out passive 13.56 MHz RFID tags to attach to mobile phones, allowing attendees to pay for a range of goods and services, both on campus and off.

Starting in August, Slippery Rock University's 8,500 students and faculty members will each receive a passive 13.56 MHz RFID tag they can attach to their cell phones. This tag will allow them to pay for everything from laundry and copier services to movies and groceries in the surrounding town of Slippery Rock, located about 50 minutes north of Pittsburgh.

Upon enrolling at the university, students open a Rock Dollar FDIC-insured bank account, in which they (or their parents) can deposit spending money. The ID card's mag-stripe can be swiped at point-of-sale terminals or vending machines, with the money automatically deducted from the Rock Dollar

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."

Air Canada Uses Mobile Codes For Ticketing

Air Canada uses 2D codes for ticketing

Last week, a select group of passengers began testing the utilization of 2D barcodes on their mobile devices (cellular phone, Blackberry, Personal Digital Assistant, etc.).

Passengers involved in the pilot test first check in without baggage on mobile.aircanada.com. This generates a 2D barcode – in fact an e-boarding pass – which is sent directly to their mobile device.

They then use this e-boarding pass to cross screening check points and to board the aircraft. 2D barcodes can be found on all Web itinerary receipts and on the paper boarding passes issued by an agent, at a kiosk or through Web check-in.

This new technology will expedite processes for our customers at the airport, where they will be able to cross multiple touch points using a single document, thus simplifying their travel experience.

Air Canada is conducting the six-week testing period in partnership with Lipso, UQAM’s École de Technologie Supérieure and Aéroports de Montréal

Local.com Gets Mobile Search Patent

Local.com Receives Patent For Mobile Search

Local.com,the Irvine, California-based company said the patent relates to responding to directory assistance inquiries using protocols including voice-enabled and SMS systems.

The patent can help search results to be provided to consumers via mobile channels, including voice.

"Obviously the market considers it valuable," Canaccord Adams analyst Colin Gillis said by phone.

"People are realizing that they have got this little company that can control the future of mobile local search," Gillis said.

Gillis said it can block its competitors from competing in the mobile search environment.

Local.com Corporation, formerly Interchange Corporation, incorporated in March 1999, is a provider of paid-search services on the Internet. The Company provides advertisers' sponsored listings in response to searches on the Company's Distribution Network, a network of Websites and search engines that have integrated the Company's search service into their sites and the Company's own Website, Local.com