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New Cell Phone Bar Code Scanning Camera Technologies
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Bar Code Scanning
Picture this, you’re driving by a property and notice a for sale sign out front and you snap a picture with your cell phone. With the use of an app you can discover how many bathrooms, bedrooms and the square footage of the property. Additionally, the click of the button on the app will provide you with the realtor’s contact information and other pertinent information about the property.
Through the use of new barcode scanning technologies, you can use your cell phone to read bar codes in grocery stores and scan QR (Quick Response) codes in magazines and on business cards. This technology also allows for barcode scanning in unique new realms, such as house hunting.
It probably comes as no surprise that you can use your cell phone/smartphone to decipher barcode labels; what is intriguing is the amount of information that can be embedded in a single barcode. Companies are using barcodes in magazines, business owners are using barcodes in place of traditional information on a business card and you can even discover information on movie and music previews and use your cell phone as a continual link to shopping. Why pay more for Item A at one store when you can scan the barcode with your cell phone and discover that the same item is less expensive at Store B?
In order for your smartphone to read a bar or QR code it must have a built in camera. You simply open the app, hold your phone up to the code you want to scan and the embedded technology takes care of the rest. The technology is being used at McDonald’s in Japan where the company has put barcodes on the wrappers of the hamburgers. The codes allow the customer to scan it and see the nutritional information of the burger. The technology is being implemented in more ways than were originally imagined when bar code scanning was typically only used in grocery stores and warehouses for tracking goods.
Because the use of barcodes and QR codes are becoming so prevalent, industry professionals are finding the possibilities for their use are endless. Barcodes are popping up for use in airplane boarding passes, making reservations, or for obtaining a car insurance quote. They continue to be used in grocery stores. Pharmacists are scanning medications and even individuals who are enmeshed in MySpace can use the scanning technology to upload their profiles to their phones, and vice versa.
In addition to the ease of which consumers can gather information through barcode scanning technology, advertisers are also gathering a lot of valuable information. Businesses that are incorporating the QR and barcode scanning can see how many people are scanning the codes, their locations and, depending on how much personal information you share, advertisers can gather demographic info from you as soon as you scan. Technological advances open worlds of new possibilities through the use of barcode scanning and your cell phone.