Barcoding News

Now available in a white bezel option, the Pioneer POS StealthTouch-M7 offers the versatility to meet the needs of virtually any application. The state-of-the-art 17″ touchcomputer provides more and faster connectivity: a Broadcom 10/100/1000 BaseT network, 1 Parallel, 4 Serial, 6 USB, plus 12 volt and 24 volt poweredUSB ports that eliminate the need for an additional power supplies.

Ideally suited for healthcare, the M7 can be easily wall mounted and has a depth of less than 3 1/2″. The StealthTouch-M7 also offers wireless RF 802.11 for mobile applications that utilize a cart and a built in webcam to allow for remote patient interface. For applications that require added security, the webcam also offers facial recognition plus an integrated privacy filter to protect sensitive patient information.

The M7 is spill resistant and offers a variety of add-ons including a magnetic stripe or barcode slot reader, biometrics fingerprint reader, 10″ LCD dual display, and proximity RFID reader.

Innovative Solutions for the Mobile Workforce that Redefine Work Flow and Enhance Service and Delivery Performance

EVERETT, Wash.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Jun. 3, 2009– Intermec (NYSE:IN) today introduced the CN50 and CN4 – the most advanced, rugged 3G Wireless WAN (WWAN) mobile computers for field mobility applications. The CN50 includes 3.75G WWAN HSUPA radio technology in a small, lightweight, ruggedized form factor providing mobile workforces in postal, field service, transportation, and delivery operations with the industry’s highest performance mobile computer. The CN4 is the ideal mobile computing solution for operations requiring support for fully-rugged front line transactions, including commercial transportation, store delivery, and demanding field service applications. Both products enable customers to leverage enterprise mobility applications with higher data exchange requirements, and offer a range of features designed to maximize mobile worker productivity, uptime, and on-the-route service capability.

“The CN50 is the smallest and most technologically advanced rugged mobile computer on the market today,” said Héctor Calva, chief information officer of Coca-Cola Femsa. “As an organization that accounts for almost ten percent of Coca-Cola’s global sales, our mobile workers need a rugged mobile computer that will make their workday more efficient and enhance the customer experience. The capabilities of the CN50 will revolutionize our delivery operations and enable us to increase the amount of sales transactions we complete.”

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Meeting the challenges in the current state of the economy, PioneerPOS announces the release of the Stealth-M5/LX, a rugged 15″ all-in-one touchcomputer. Using best of breed components including an Intel processor and Microsoft Windows, M5/LX offers better performance and more connectivity, including a Intel 1GHz processor, gigabit network, 6 usb ports, 1 parallel port, and 4 serial ports.

PioneerPOS Stealth M5/LX specifications

PioneerPOS Stealth M5/LX

Microscan has just announced two new products that will be available in early June.

HS-1 Linear CCD Scanner

The HS-1 is an ideal low cost handheld barcode reader for reliable decode of linear barcodes in common applications such as printed black and white labels.

HS-1 Linear CCD Scanner specifications

HS-2D Handheld Imager

The HS-2D is a low cost handheld imager for decoding both barcodes and 2D symbols in common applications. It reads symbols in any orientation, includes a built-in dual LED targeting system for quick and easy data capture, and is designed to withstand rugged industrial environments.

HS-2D Handheld Imager specifications

Datalogic Scanning is pleased to announce the new Gryphon I GM4100 cordless linear imager. This new imager is the ultimate solution for applications in retail and light industrial environments where mobility is required. Featuring the Datalogic STAR Cordless System, the most reliable radio in the market, the Gryphon GM4100 imager provides full flexibility in the workplace, providing scalable solutions from simple point-to-point to point-to-multipoint applications and eliminates the restraints caused by cabled devices. An optional display with a 3-button keypad provides battery status, radio coverage indicator and enables operator interaction with the host system.

Extremely versatile and durable, the Gryphon GM4100 cordless linear imaging readers are the ultimate solution for applications in retail and light industrial environments where mobility is necessary for improved productivity. Mobile communications also eliminate the restraints caused by cabled devices, providing a safer and more efficient environment for employees.

Read more in the Datalogic GM4100 specifications sheet

Great Barcode Scanning applications are already on the Android Market – nod to ShopSavvy – but Google has just added that function to their own stable of services within Google Product Search. A post published on the Official Google Mobile Blog highlights the addition.

Google Shopping suffers from the same issues as apps like ShopSavvy – it usually only works with certain types of products and Google acknowledges this:

Today, barcode scanning works best for products like electronics, books, movies or video games, but we’re working on adding more barcodes for other items. Of course, if your scan does not return a result, you can always type in the product name just as before.

This is pretty awesome if you ask me and an obvious next step for Google. Although I feel kind of bad for ShopSavvy who seem to be getting cornered out of the market, everything is free game and I’m sure that ShopSavvy will have its fair share of users stick around.

It is interesting to note that Jeffrey Sharkey, an Android Developer Challenge 1 Winner, was the developer behind a barcode scanning/shopping application called Compare Everywhere and he is now a Google employee working on the Google Android Team. However, he didn’t know about this new feature until I told him! Jeffrey informed me that he has been extremely busy with other fun stuff like widgets, for example.

Be warned, this is only available in the US and UK on Android Phones.

(Original article: http://phandroid.com/2009/05/14/barcode-scanning-with-google-product-search/)

One of the reasons we haven’t seen an accurate barcode scanner for the iPhone is due to its lack of a decent lens with auto focus. Some developers have tried work arounds, like ScanLife, which went out of its way to create its own proprietary simple codes the iPhone lens could actually scan, but this app doesn’t work with the standard UPC and EAN we see on almost every product in our local stores, thus pretty useless.

Occipital, a startup based out of Boulder, CO., today has released RedLaser, a new iPhone app that can scan standard UPC barcodes simply with an iPhone camera.

Here’s what it does – let’s say you find a DVD you’re interested in checking out prices of, turn it around and on the back you’ll find the UPC bar code. Yes, the one your friendly cashier usually scans. Load up your RedLaser app, carefully frame up the bar code, and scan. RedLaser then sends that information to Google product search and sends back results right to your iPhone. Simple as that. You can then click through to see Amazon results.

Jeffrey Powers, Co-Founder of Occipital explained the product works with basically any name-brand item including electronics, games, hardware and office supplies. Groceries scan well but aren’t usually in the database at this point. RedLaser will soon have support for books. I tried it on several of my DVD’s and CD’s and got 100% accuracy.

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Near Field Communication (NFC) is a short-range, high-frequency (13.56 MHz) wireless technology that allows for the exchange of data between two NFC-enabled devices, such as mobile phones, over a distance of a few centimeters. Among the applications enabled by NFC are contactless transactions for payment and transit ticketing, simple data transfers and access to online content. It’s one of the fastest-growing wireless technologies, and now a number of vendors are launching products that extend its capabilities.

In addition to mobile phones, a variety of devices and machines can be NFC-enabled, according to the NFC Forum, a Wakefield, Mass., organization formed in 2004 to advance the use of NFC technology, ensure interoperability among devices and services, and educate the market regarding NFC. These include cash registers or other point-of-sale (POS) equipment, vending machines, turnstiles, parking meters, ATMs and PCs. The technology can also be used with posters, street signs and other public points of interest, certificates, food packaging and other items.

The use of NFC technology is growing, says Peter Preuss, the NFC Forum’s marketing chair and a senior manager at Nokia. NFC devices are being used in more than 65 projects worldwide, he explains, enabling users to make payments and access bus gates. A 2008 study conducted by ABI Research found that more than 419 million NFC chipsets will be shipped by 2012, and that NFC chipset shipments and revenue will continue growing steadily over the next five years, as the market adapts to the new technology.

(Original article: http://www.rfidjournal.com/article/purchase/4784)

Addition of the Windows Mobile 6.1 Operating System Creates New Path for LXE and Software Application Use

ATLANTA – May 8, 2009 – LXE Inc., the rugged mobile computer business of EMS Technologies, Inc., announced today that the MX8 rugged handheld computer will include the Windows Mobile® 6.1 operating system. The MX8 is LXE’s ergonomic, lightweight, yet extremely rugged data-collection computer, ideal for use in a wide array of light industrial and supply chain environments.

“The MX8 handheld computer powered with Windows Mobile will extend LXE’s reach into new applications and markets,” states Steve Newell, LXE’s general manager. “We have seen growing sales of the product in the pharmaceutical and retail markets among others, due to its size, ergonomic design and voice capabilities. This computer was designed for scan-intensive or multi-modal voice applications. As such, we believe sales of the MX8 handheld computer will continue to increase with this expanded functionality,” Newell adds.

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Zebra‘s Z-Ultimate 2000T and Z-Ultimate 4000T label materials are similar to legacy Z-Ultimate 3000T label material in quality and performance, but offer additional savings.

Performance Key:

*** Excellent
** Very Good
* Fair
NR—Not Recommended