Most of today’s youth have access to smartphones or tablets and through those pieces of technology a whole world of media such as videos, infographics, podcasts, etc. are at their fingertips. Bubbles technology brings a new way to incorporate the use of digital media content into traditional learning modes. Bubbles containing QR codes are spread throughout textbooks; thus students and teachers will have access to short, interactive modules. This could help a student get a much deeper understanding of the course material through audio clippings and visual snippets that complements the curriculum.

All the student or teacher has to do is simply scan the QR code via a tablet or smartphone with a free QR reader app, or click the link if it’s an eBook, to unlock a 60 to 90 second interactive lesson. For example a math textbook trying to explain a complex equation, the text can only do so much. A QR code associated with this complex equation can be scanned prompting an interactive lesson to open and explain the equation in much more detail using animation, audio, and graphics.

It is believed that the future of education lies in what they are calling a “flipped classroom”. A flipped classroom is the idea that students would study the content at home using books and interactive technology. Then the following day in class students would complete practice exercises with the ability to discuss last nights learning material with other students and teachers. QR codes have been used in many areas of the world and they could be utilized to help teach the next generation.

To read more about QR codes in textbooks, read “QR Code Technology Brings Textbooks To Life“

Barcodes, Inc. would like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

To celebrate the holidays Edeka, a supermarket, thought of a great way to surprise their shoppers by playing Jingle Bells using their check out scanners.
What a great way to spread the holiday cheer!

Check out the viral video below and also check out our in- counter barcode scanner selection!

In 1974 a pack of gum was purchased using the first ever barcode. Since then the use of barcodes has skyrocketed and has taken many forms of symbologies. The symbology of a barcode includes the encoding of the message in the bars and spaces, including any start and stop markers plus the size of the quiet zone (a blemish free space around the code to help readers locate it) that is required to be before and after the barcode. There are a few different types of barcode symbologies from the linear Code 128 and Code 39 to the newer 2D QR Codes, Data Matrix, and Micro PDF.

What has the barcode done for this world? It’s made life easier. Its helped the retail industry keep check of the number of products they have in stock and a way to see what products sell at higher volumes. More importantly its helped consumers get in and out of stores quicker by dramatically improving the check out line. Imagine a world in which you would have to wait until the cashier looked up every single item you wanted to purchase? In that scenario the checkout lines would be ridiculous, luckily the barcode is here to save us from that nightmare.

Retail is just one of the many industries that barcodes has helped improve; another is the healthcare industry which has greatly benefited from the barcode. In the healthcare industry you’ll find barcodes on patient samples and the wristbands patients wear. There’s systems in place that would automatically generate a new barcode every time a patient has their blood drawn, making it so that the blood sample can be tracked from the hospital floor to the laboratory for testing. Human error of course is still possible, but with the use of barcodes those errors have been greatly minimized.

To learn more about barcodes visit our FAQ or read more about the rise and use of “The Ubiquitous Barcode”

For any questions or a quote on barcode software or barcode labels please contact us at Barcodes, Inc.

Elo just announced the next generation of PayPoint, point of sale solution for iPad and Android. The all-in-one mPOS solution provides everything a merchant needs including a fully integrated 2D scanner from Honeywell, a 3-inch printer from Star Micronics, an encrytable MSR from Magtek, full-sized 16- inch cash drawer and connections for third part peripherals. Featuring a large touch screen display and rotating display head allowing customers to participate in loyalty programs, view their purchases, and sign to complete their transaction. Paypoint Plus’s single-cable design makes setting up the POS system fast and easy, ideal for retail, salons, hospitality, restaurants, and entertainment venues. Merchants can customize the platform to their needs by third party peripherals, including a scale, secondary cash drawer, handheld scanner and EMV terminal.

Paypoint Plus for Android Includes:

• A full high-definition (HD) 15.6-inch TouchPro Pro-G projective capacitive (PCAP) display, multi-touch capable, enabling up to 5-touches simultaneously
• A Qualcomm Snapdragon octa-core processor
• WiFi 802.11 b/g/n/ac 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz band and Bluetooth 4.1 connectivity
• 3 GB of RAM and 32 GB of storage
• Android 7.1 (Nougat) and EloView compatible
• Fully integrated Star Micronics TSP100III 3-inch printer, Honeywell N3680 2D barcode reader, and Magtek 3-track encryptable MSR
• A full-size 16-inch industry-standard cash drawer offers a 3-position lock and the ability to use a second cash drawer through an additional I/O port
• Four USB 2.0, one mini USB 2.0, two RJ45 serial, one RJ12 cash drawer port, one micro HDMI, one 12V power USB, and one ethernet (Gigabit) ports
• 3 year manufacturers warranty

Paypoint Plus for iPad Includes:

• Docks designed for use with 9.7-inch iPads or a 12.9-inch iPad Pro model
• SDK support for iOS 10 and later
• One type A USB (for charging), one mini USB (for charging), and two RJ45 serial ports
• Fully integrated Star Micronics TSP100III 3-inch printer, Honeywell N3680 2D barcode reader, and Magtek 3-track encryptable MSR
• A full-size, 16-inch, industry-standard cash drawer that offers a 3-position lock
• 3 year manufacturers warranty

The possibility of being able to continuously monitor a person’s vital signs to detect early warnings on potential abnormalities is coming. All thanks to researchers at Cornell University that have been working on a new project. For this to really get off the ground it’ll have to be as noninvasive as possible with no interference of wires and electrodes. With RFID technology that’ll be possible. Researchers have created a new touch free monitoring system that’ll be able to monitor an individual’s breathing, heart rate, and blood pressure all with a RFID Tag small enough to fit in someone’s shirt pocket.

A professor of electrical and computer engineering at Cornell University, Edwin Kan and graduate student Xiaonan Hui developed the technology. Their method relies on near-field coupling. Near-field is the region of the electromagnetic field right around an RFID Antenna with a distance of up to 35 centimeters, or one wavelength, away. Kan and Hui’s demonstrations were able to pick up an individuals’ blood pressure, heart rate, and breathing measures with a high level of accuracy. All of it was possible using a small RFID antenna and RFID tag placed within 10 centimeters of an individuals’ body, and a RFID Reader located up to two meters away. According to Hui this method increases the sensitivity and the signal quality.

In the long term there could be life changing uses that come from Kan and Hui’s research. “There are several potential real-world applications for this, such as the next generation wearable devices, smart garments, healthcare monitoring, and clinical studies,” Hui continued. “The convenience and the high performance could be particularly helpful for smart garments. Imagine if your daily garments were able to gather your vital signs directly, and then report them straight to your cell phone.”

In the short term Kan and Hui are interested in using this RFID technology in hospitals. It could be used to monitor a large number of patients without hooking them up to separate machines and devices to check their vitals. The study also showed that their system could detect up to 200 RFID tags at once, all over the same wireless communication channel.

To read more about Edwin Kan’s And Xiaonan Hui’s research, click here.

For any questions or a quote on any of your RFID needs contact us at Barcodes, Inc.

Besides the movie that you are going to watch, the ticketing system are integral to the cinema experience as well. Kiosks can be used to purchase tickets, retrieve tickets bought online, and to place concession orders. This is especially important for movie goers who arrive with just a few minutes to spare. They can bypass the line to purchase tickets or snacks and still make it in time before the movie starts.

To make sure your cinema kiosk is reaching its full potential by considering these 4 things:

1. Your Kiosk should support a thermal printer– A cinema kiosk should support a heavy duty thermal printer with a jam free system to produce tickets in the fastest way. Star’s SK1-21 Kiosk Printer two inch series provides dependable, maintenance- free printers that have a fast print speed of 200mm/ sec with 203 dpi resolution. All SK-21 models will intergrate with many commonly used kiosk solutions. It provides high speed, reliability, and will integrate in your kiosk seamlessly.

2. Barcode Scanner- Movie theaters often offer their own loyalty program to keep the customers returning back.  Your customers love freebies and accruing points towards free movie tickets, so don’t keep them waiting on the full service line to rack up the points.

3. Integrated Speakers- Talk to the customer through the ticket buying process. This is important for those who aren’t familiar with the self-service kiosks check out.

4. Card Payment Acceptance- Not everyone carries cash, so make sure that your kiosk is equipped with a card reader and payment processing platform.

Check out the video below on a successful self service kiosk integration at Nitehawk Cinema.

For any questions or a quote on any of your printing needs contact us at Barcodes, Inc.

Sooner rather than later carrying cash around with you is going to be a way of the past. According to Mark Bolsom a business development director at Moneymailme “Consumers want to pay in the most convenient way for them, so with debit and credit cards so easy to carry around, and with the growing popularity of e-wallets, holding cash is simply not at the forefront of consumers’ minds any longer.”

Canada came in at the top of the list of the top cashless countries as the average Canadian carries two credit cards each, instead of having high levels of contactless cards. In Second came Sweden “Sweden is proof that a move to a cashless economy is not just a concept but very nearly reality. With electronic payments making up 95 percent of all retail transactions, it’s clear that in no time at all Sweden will have phased out cash altogether.” Bolsom Said.

To learn more visit realbusiness.co.uk for the full article. And read Mark Bolsom’s article on why it’s time to adapt to the cashless economy.

You can take a look below to see how the rest of the top 10 came out.

Barcodes, Inc. held a friendly competition all for a great cause. The point of the competition pitted department against department, all in an effort to see who could collect the most books during the company’s 1st annual book drive. At the end of the competition, Barcodes, Inc. collected a total of 260 books to donate to Open Books.

Open Books is a nonprofit organization that looks to provide literacy experiences for tens of thousands of readers each year. Through their instructional programs they cultivate the literacy skills of thousands of children and youth each year, from those who need intervention to those who desire enrichment. Through their book programs they provide readers of all ages with engaging, appropriate, and high-quality books. Open Books delivers thousands of books to schools and nonprofits across the Chicagoland area each week.

The Panasonic Toughbook 31 is more than just a reliable laptop equipped with Intel Core i5 and i3 processors. The leader in fully rugged design is also being used by the Chicago Police Department (CPD) in their roll out of new police squad cars. The new squad cars will be used to help reduce the gun violence in the city of Chicago and the Toughbook 31 will be lending a helping hand.

The rugged laptop computer will come equipped with ShotSpotter app, an app that will instantly alert law enforcement personnel of gunfire. Each alert will provide crucial information for each incident including: incident time, number of rounds, and the location of the incident with a highlighted evidence search area. Along with the ShotSpotter app the Toughbook 31 will also have real-time crime mapping, police databases, and electronic crash reporting.

The first roll out of the new CPD squad cars will feature 40 vehicles and should reach a total of 550 vehicles patrolling the street come early next year. All to help keep the streets of Chicago safe.

When you think about RFID one of your first thoughts probably isn’t how it can benefit your pet cat. Many pets today have an RFID chip in them for identification purposes but beyond that, the technology doesn’t really come into play in their day to day lives.

Ben Milliam realized that he could enhance his cat’s general curiosity and ‘mobile’ hunting drive with the aid of some RFID tagged wiffle balls and a modified electronic feeder he embedded an RFID reader in. Now his cat, Monkey, gets a taste of being an outdoor ‘hunting’ cat in the comforts of home.

You can find a detailed breakdown of Ben’s process and how be built everything on his site.