Camera Phone barcode readers: Part II

Well I find myself posting a second part to placate some readers who REALLY wanted me to write on alternative solutions to the previous blog posting on ScanLife and the Sprint ad associated with it. To understand the fervor regarding camera phone barcode technology involves a discussion over Direct versus InDirect metatagging.

Direct metatagging and barcodes: The concept of a direct metatag is one where the information contained takes you directly to an Internet location whether it be an IP address or a DNS entry. A good example would be something like https://weblog.infoworld.com/geeks/ and if the name of the blog should ever change, the information contained in the metatag will be broken. I’m sure we’ve all seen broken tags in older webpages or missing graphics. (Similar in concept to absolute URI’s)

InDirect metataging and barcodes: This is a bit different, in that a URL with an indirect tag might not have a fully qualified domain name(FQDN)  but may have a link relative to the original page location. In the case of what the reader was commenting about Neoreader by by NeoMedia technologies utilizes a man in the middle approach where the much smaller barcode is looked up in the tag database called the NeoServer-OMS. This approach dramatically reduces the amount of information necessary in the barcode, and as pointed out by the reader, Neoreader also is capable of reading quite a few more barcode technologies than the before mentioned ScanLife product that’s being pushed by Sprint. Neither is Sprint or some others pushing to converge the mobile device reader software, also mentioned by the reader’s comment. Neomedia: Brief description

My Spin: I’m not sure I agree with the reader’s comments…I’m not exactly wild about having a man in the middle arrangement where slow links, or links denied because someone’s check was late paying for the sponsored link….use your imagination. So while I like the idea of less information in the barcode this also means less reader errors and smaller barcodes, I’m not sure the price is worth it in the long run. I also see this just as proprietary as that from ScanLife’s solution, with the exception that once the direct barcode has been created, you don’t seem to be tied back to the technology provider and recurring fees.

On a plus side, having a directory server means that advertisers can get quite a bit more information off the mobile browser and also have access to more historical browsing information than the direct method.

Since ANCL (Advanced Network Computing Laboratory at the University of Hawaii School of Ocean and Earth Sciences and Technology) was where Warren Togami chose to start the Fedora project while an undergrad here; I feel a certain leaning towards open source efforts like those by the folks at the zxing project that is supposedly going to become part of the Google phone project. One application already available is yelp where you can drag around on a Google map and have it generate 2D barcodes that give you references to things like restaurants, gas stations, etc in the area.

All in all, I think we’re going to start seeing a whole heck of a lot more 2D barcodes showing up on ads, magazine stories, posters and the like. Will the 2D barcode go further and start pushing vcard information into mobile devices, well we’ll just have to wait and see if standards actually start showing up instead of having to download a different reader app for every standard. It is my personal opinion that it will be someone like Symbian or Microsoft that will have to drive a standard by implementing barcode reader technology into the base operating system. Will this be one of the legacies that the Google phone will provide us? Or will Symbian and or Microsoft beat them to the punch?

Another reader suggested this URL as a source for more detailed information on the 2D barcode movement. https://2d-code.co.uk/

Last minute update: It would seem that the IATA (International Air Transport Association) has decided upon a 2D standard for checkins.