Yahoo Search released the Inquisitor application for Iphone on March 5th. The app speeds up searches like no other through a nifty auto complete and suggestions feature.
"Inquisitor Mobile Search auto-completes your search and gives suggestions as you type to refine your search. When you type in your query, websites and suggestions appear immediately below the search box. Inquisitor also speeds up your search by quickly loading site summaries and allowing you to navigate between results and the browser with just one click."
The 12Pixels sytem provides a end user the ability to draw and share pixel based imagery using only the keys on the standard mobile phone. See the video below, you will be amazed at the stuff you can do with such a simple interface.
12pixels was recently released in Japan in association with Sony Style. The images drawn by the end users can be saved on the phone as wallpapers, converted to emoticons and even sent to friends in messages.
I loved the simplicity of the user interface to make the images, even though the system is not flexible enough to make the monalisa but sure makes it simple to make emoticons. Cool toy to have !!! Some of the works of art are below, you can find more here and here. A blog post by the creator describing the project is here.
The CardStar iPhone application allows users to store their rewards and membership cards on their IPhone from where most merchants can scan them directly from the IPhone screen using the regular laser scanners.This is neat ! think about the clutter it will remove from people's key chains. My key chain currently has (apart from keys) the little barcoded tags of Pathmark, Shoprite, Stop n Shop, NYSC....(the list goes longer each time I visit a new store).
Whats taken such a app to come out for so long? Previously, 1D barcodes, which are used at most stores, could not be scanned directly from the LCD screen by Laser scanners (used in almost all retail stores at point of sale). Working with the Symbol CS 1504 scanners in my early years taught me this lesson the very painful way.
The CardStar people however, have figured a way out. Scanning a barcode from the screen is difficult as the screen is really made up of red, green, and blue lines, which interfere with a laser scanner. The folks at CardStar were able to get around this by re-configuring the way the barcode/image is rendered on the LCD in portrait mode. Nice !!!!
The success of the application lies in the high successful scanning percentage and the technology offered by CardStar has shown pretty high numbers in controlled environments and general environments. I believe more tests would be conducted before there is a push for adoption. I for one am a big supporter of this technology as it really does not impact the retailers as much and hopefully the application on the phone will be free for the end user in the near future :) (Its currently priced at $0.99).
The Utrecht Monuments Fund is celebrating 65 years. The foundation is responsible maintainence of historical buildings in the city of Utrecht. The foundation, working in partnership with One Shoe has placed QR codes on the buildings to allow people to get more information on the buildings.
Visitors can use their mobile phone to scan the barcode and visit a mobile website that contains the historical facts of the particular building , including photographs of the interior and exterior. This allows the visitors to have a interactive experience while they tour the old heritage buildings.This is believed to be the first time QR codes are being used for tagging monuments.
I am amazed with the traction that the QR codes are getting in Europe. I would have imagined that the 2 D symbology of choice in the european market would have been Datamatrix.
I was trying to find a mention of the scanner that the foundation is recommending but couldnt find any. I guess any QR code scanner would do since the codes are all direct codes and have the url of the mobile site encoded in them.
