Barcoding News

Receipt Printer with Integrated Check and ID Scanning Ideally-Suited for Billing Applications

Epson, a leading supplier of value-added Point of Sale (POS) solutions, announced that Southeastern Data Cooperative (SEDC), a provider of hardware and software solutions to utility companies, has selected the Epson TM-H6000 multifunction printer with digital check imaging and ID scanning as part of its suite of billing, accounting and capital credit software platform to support over 200 utility customers. Epson’s TM-H6000 is the only POS printer with both integrated check reader and ID scanner, which allows utility companies to implement electronic check conversion (ECC) and capture ID images at the point of presentment, lowering check handling costs and reducing fraud and liability. Sixty of SEDC’s 215 member customers have been updated with the new hardware, and the remaining 155 customers are scheduled to roll out in the coming months.

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Today, more and more industries are adopting the use of two-dimensional or 2D bar codes. The benefits of two-dimensional barcodes include the ability to include more information in a smaller space, offer higher levels of security and reduce unreadable codes due to printing issues. New user-interactive applications such as mobile marketing, mobile ticketing, electronic coupons and loyalty clubs, typically feature 2D Quick Response or QR codes, which requires a 2D barcode scanner for reading.

Datalogic extends its heritage in imaging technology with the introduction of the Gryphon 4400 series of 2D area imagers. New to the Gryphon 4400 series is the GD4400 corded desktop model, which is ideally suited for stationary applications in retail, manufacturing, and healthcare. Additionally, the GD4400-B “All-in-One” reader with its unique stand design is perfect for retail point-of-sale environments where the need for both handheld and presentation style reading is required.

Based on state-of-the-art area imaging technology, the Gryphon 4400 readers go beyond the typical performance specifications by incorporating features that simplify everyday scanning activities.

Datalogic’s exclusive Motionix™ motion-sensing technology intuitively synchronizes the scanner with the user’s actions allowing seamless transitions between handheld and hands-free style reading. When the device is in your hand, it’s in handheld mode; when the device is still, it’s in presentation mode. It’s that simple.

All Gryphon 4400 series scanners can decode virtually any 1D and 2D bar code symbology and can read codes from LCD monitors, cell phones, smartphones and other mobile devices. The deep-red illumination of the 4400 series eliminates the irritating “flicker effect” found in competing products, allowing for comfortable all-day usage. The center-cross aimer with four corner dots provides a clear indication of the reading area, making targeting codes quick and easy. Datalogic’s patented Green Spot technology provides additional visual good-read confirmation which is a necessity in noisy environments or when silent scanning is desired. Datalogic Aladdin™ configuration software and Remote Host Management provide simple tools to manage deployed devices and keep them synchronized across an enterprise.

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A very common industry standard, OPOS enables programmers to write code once, but support any flavor of POS equipment (Star, Epson, Bixolon receipt printers, etc). Without it, developers would need to learn the specific command language for every single device manufacturer they wish to implement in their software, making integration a very long and painful process when one wants to support many products. For software vendors who want to be completely hardware independent, OPOS is one convenient way to go. Though each have separate purposes, the OPOS, JavaPOS, and POS for .NET standards fall under one collective name called UPOS (Unified Point of Sale), all of which is maintained by the NRF ARTS committee. Furthermore, OPOS isn’t just for receipt printer implementation; it supports 36 POS devices in total, including cash drawers, pole displays, pinpads, and etc.

Get top performance from your Datalogic mobile computers by following these best practices for handling, charging, care and maintenance of installed battery bases.

Today’s mobile computers come with a full range of modern features which demand the best possible battery power to capitalize on. Whether you are using your mobile device for network communications, cell phone calls, internet access, barcode scanning, credit card transactions, GPS navigation, or color imaging, a dead battery will impact your productivity and ultimately affect total cost of ownership.

Datalogic has spent years studying the science of optimum mobile device performance, and we have compiled this documentation to help end users and administrators to employ proven battery management techniques to increase your operational success with our devices.

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The LXE Thor redefines the expectations of what a vehicle mounted computer can accomplish with a processing platform that is dramatically faster. Three patent-pending breakthrough features that enhance productivity and efficiency in ways never before imagined:

• Field-replaceable front panel that gets you back on line if the touch-screen, keyboard or defroster fail
• Quick Mount Smart Dock allows one-handed move of units between vehicles to save cost and reduce down-time
• Ignition control makes the computer ready for work when you are

The Thor is designed for enterprises using forklifts, cranes, trucks and heavy machinery in warehousing, ports, manufacturing floor, natural resource, and trucking/transportation applications.

The Thor will begin shipping in April 2011.

Key Thor Benefits

State of the art processing platform

• Thor’s processing platform is dramatically superior to all other CE vehicle-mount computers in processing speed, RAM and flash.
• 802.11 a/b/g and Bluetooth 2.0 comes standard, and by adding WWAN w/GPS (available in Q3), the advantage of Thor over other vehicle-mount computers becomes overwhelming.
• Cold Storage configuration, indoor & outdoor displays, and true space diversity antennas for WiFi, contribute to a device ready for virtually any industrial environment.

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Can barcodes represent the algebraic characterization, persistent homology?

University of Pennsylvania Professor Robert Ghrist thinks they might. He has posted a PDF pre-print of a paper titled Barcodes: The Persistent Topology of Data.

This article surveys recent work of Carlsson and collaborators on applications of computational algebraic topology to problems of feature detection and shape recognition in high-dimensional data. The primary mathematical tool considered is a homology theory for point-cloud data sets — persistent homology — and a novel representation of this algebraic characterization
— barcodes. We sketch an application of these techniques to the classification of natural images.

5 internet points to anyone who understands the paper.

Backup: Barcodes: The Persistent Topology of Data

The Motorola MC9190-G mobile computer builds on the successful MC9090-G, offering more processing power to support today’s applications, more scanning options, better scanning performance, government grade security, a higher resolution display and a more rugged touchscreen and scanner exit window. The following chart highlights all the technology advances in this next generation in the MC9000 Series.

Executive Summary

University Community Health was in search of a 2D barcode scanner that could interact with its Panasonic Toughbook T8 to increase point-of-care safety and ensure the Five Rights initiative – right patient, right drug, right time, right dose, and right form. The solution replaces a pen and paper process with the introduction of a software driver, customized by Barcodes Inc, which allows the Honeywell 2D barcode scanners to communicate with the Panasonic Toughbooks.

Challenge

Driven by hospital specific directives to ensure the right hospital staff was prescribing the right medication to the right patients, hospitals are beginning to invest in barcode-based systems to ensure patient charting is performed electronically.

For patients being administered several forms of medication, healthcare providers routinely deployed a pen and paper patient charting solution that resulted in manual errors ranging from incorrect prescriptions provided to patients to unqualified hospital personnel administering medication. Due to a limited write space available on patient charts, the net result was an ineffective pen and paper process that was incapable of generating specific history of what hospital professional administered what dose at what time, thus reducing patient safety.

University Community Health Hospital decided to invest in an electronic solution to replace patient charts, including the capability to reduce manual errors and increase its space capability by providing nurses with Panasonic Toughbooks. However, the nurses soon realized that the solution, although safer for patients, was very tedious and demanded more time with each patient. Hospital employees were still required to include as much, if not more, patient information, as well as detailing all medication administered at precise times to each patient.

University Community Health was in search of a quicker, more effective solution that would not compromise its patients’ safety.

Solution

In response to the hospital’s need for a more effective solution, Barcodes Inc customized a software driver that would allow the Panasonic T8 Toughbooks to interface with the Honeywell 4600g HD and 4820HDHM barcode scanners. This solution allowed nurses the ability to scan all medication and patient information, while eliminated the requirement to manually input all the information into the Toughbooks. The solution is designed to allow nurses to scan a medication and patient wristband to ensure that the right prescription is going to the right patient. Additionally, after the patient consumes the right medication, the nurse validates that it has been administered by once again scanning the patient’s wristband.

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Datalogic is pleased to announce the Gryphon 4000 series of bar code readers has been expanded with the introduction of the Gryphonâ„¢ 4000-HC (Healthcare) models. The Gryphonâ„¢ HC series offers both corded and cordless linear imagers, targeting the healthcare industry and other bacteria-sensitive environments with special ‘disinfectant-ready’ barcodes scanner enclosures and patient features.

As global healthcare initiatives continue to push organizations towards automatic data capture, the Gryphon HC bar code readers include disinfectant-ready enclosures featuring silver ion-based antimicrobial additives. Coupled with industry leading sealing ratings, these special enclosures withstand daily cleaning with harsh disinfectant solutions, which helps reduce the spread of germs. The strength of these enclosures expands the life of the product, improves scanning performance and most importantly, secures a patient’s right to obtain quick and accurate data regarding medical treatments.

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LXE announced today the launch of the Tecton™ rugged handheld computer, targeting supply chain applications. The successor to LXE’s highly successful MX7 handheld, the IP-65 rated Tecton handheld computer accelerates real-time data capture with an industry-leading PXA 320 806 MHz processor running Windows® Mobile 6.5 or Windows® CE 6.0.

Lightweight and extremely well-balanced in the user’s hand, and with sleek design for an industrial tool, the Tecton handheld delivers its enhanced performance across a wide array of supply chain tasks. The unit’s multi-range scanning capabilities enable bar code reads from four inches to 40 feet, so operators can perform warehouse moves ranging from receiving to full pallet put-aways with the same version of the computer. Scan-intensive picking can be enabled with the Tecton computer’s available easy-grip removable handle with two-finger trigger, and every Tecton computer comes with LXE’s ToughTalk technology for voice-driven processes. The device also features a scan vibration signal that can be used to verify successful scans in loud warehouses, and multiple built-in data-entry options.

Performance and versatility come with field-proven ruggedness and customizations for the most demanding environments. Keypads protect against airborne and spilled chemical agents, and electrical components are secured to circuit boards to better withstand drops and shocks. An available cold-storage configuration includes programmable touchscreen and scan window defrosters, and a cold-tolerant backup power source that holds a charge longer in environments as low as -30°C.

“The Tecton handheld performs well in so many tasks because it’s light enough for scan-intensive picking, yet able to take a beating,” said Newell. “We purpose-built this computer for the supply chain with the right combination of ergonomics, ruggedness, and computing power.”