Symbology is a term used in automatic identification (barcodes, biometrics, RFID, and etc.) to describe a process nature of communication and recognition. This process nature of DIGITAL communication and recognition is also used in every day life and aids in the immediacy of communicative understanding. Symblogogy attempts to share stories of this DIGITAL communicative understanding, found on all levels (including AI tool modified), that may enhance communications in everyday life.
A United Nations report shows that there are over 4.1 billion mobile subscriptions around the world - that's about 60% of the world's population.
The increase in use has been particularly large in areas where traditionally communications networks infrastructures have been poor, with the continent of Africa having the fastest growth.
For many, it's hard to remember clearly what life was like before the mobile phone.
Much of the increase is said to have been fueled by the ability of mobile technology to bring automated money transfer without having the necessity of an established bank account.
We now live in a world where the question - 'Why climb Everest?', has been replaced with - 'Why call Neiman Marcus from the top of Everest?' … the answer being 'because we can'. (ht: NowPublic)
In the 1980s, McKinsey & Co forecast a world maket of 900,000 phones by the year 2000. Today, 900,000 handsets are sold every three days. Image Credit: The Next Web
Enterprise Mobility Born Twenty-Five Years Ago
It's hard to imagine but yesterday, Oct. 13, 2008 marked the 25th anniversary of the first commercial cellphone. Today, more than three billion people worldwide use cellphones, making them the most popular personal electronic device ever.
The Brick Cell Phone. The first cell phone that most of us remember. Image Credit: Motorola
The first cell phone that most of us remember is the one that’s now called “the block” or “the brick”. The name comes from the fact that it was about the shape and size of a traditional brick. It wasn’t quite as heavy as a brick, of course, although it might feel like it today to those of us that are used to using the thinnest and lightest cell phones available on the market.
These were the phones that were available to people in the 1980’s, the phones that were based on the Motorola DynaTAC 8000X design.
Martin Cooper and the First Cell Phone. You might not recognize Martin Cooper’s name but you’ve probably seen his picture because he was photographed excessively when he made the first call on the world’s first cell phone back in 1973. The phone call was placed to a rival working at Bell who was also attempting to make a mobile phone. It happened on the streets of New York City and people were apparently struck dumb by the site. It’s funny to think about today since you’d be hard pressed to find someone walking New York City’s streets today without a cell phone in their hand or pocket. This phone may be clunky and impossible to use today but it’s the one that set the stage for all that came after it. Image Credit: dialaphone.co.uk
This excerpted and edited from the Technology Expert –
The Cell Phone Celebrates 25 Years Technology Expert - Tuesday, October 14, 2008
When I watched an old 1988 thriller, "Miracle Mile," one of the things that struck me was the huge cellular phone used by Denise Crosby. And even that handset was five years newer than the phone used in the first commercial cellular phone call.That call was made on October 13th, 1983, 25 years ago. Bob Barnett, president of Ameritech Mobile communications, called Alexander Graham Bell's nephew [Martin Cooper] from Chicago's Soldier Field using a Motorola DynaTAC 8000X handset.
That baby was known as the "Brick," based on its heft (2.5 pounds) and shape. 8 hours of standby time and 30 minutes of talk time (woo hoo!). Service plans were a bit pricey, at costing $50 a month for the service, plus 40 cents a minute at peak hours and 24 cents a minute at off-peak times.
Everyone has been through a day when their mobile phone’s battery has died, because of the absence of a charger. But, soon, up may just need to take a brisk walk to revive the charge of a dead battery in a cell phone. Researchers have developed a new device that will allow people to generate electricity while walking. Image Credit: Arthur Kuo, Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineers, University of Michigan
Mobile Power Supply Solution With Legs
What is the essence of mobility (enterprise mobility) … is it not movement, the ability to move anywhere, anytime and be able to remain connected to the aid and information provided through technology?
What if one were able to recharge the tools that provide power to the devices we carry to remain connected to our information age? Well, here is an invention that never requires a person to ever be near a traditional power source in order to recharge the batteries of the devices we use to keep connected as we move about.
Engineers from three universities in Canada and the US have successfully developed a generator that is able to harvest and convert the energy we produce from walking into electricity. The generator is embedded in a brace that is worn above and below the knee to capture the motion power that walking creates in order to turn the mechanical energy of human muscles into electrical energy.
Out and about and completely tether free with the ability to power PDA’s, Cellphones, and all other enterprise mobility devices.
This excerpted from The Register (UK) -
Thigh-drive phone charger put through its paces Let your legs help your fingers do the walking By Lewis Page - The Register - Published Friday 8th February 2008 10:55 GMT
North American boffins have produced a knee brace which can generate several watts of power as the wearer's leg flexes while walking. The inventors believe the device could be useful for powering medical equipment - and even mobile phones.
In a paper for the boffinry journal Science, the researchers reveal their device's test results. The knee generator works on the same principle as the regenerative brakes used in battery-driven cars. It can clutch in and out, so creating resistance only during selected periods of the leg's motion.
If the gizmo engages itself only during the "braking" period, when the knee is bending to absorb the body's weight after a footfall - thus actually helping the leg somewhat with its task - it puts out an average of 5W when fitted to a man walking slowly. ---- It compares well with the output levels offered by portable batteries. The knee brace could power ten mobile phones, or charge them up. And unlike ordinary hand-cranked or pedal generators, it doesn't require any attention from the operator - though he or she does have to keep walking.
According to biomedics and engineering prof Arthur Kuo of the University of Michigan, one of the inventors, the leg generator doesn't require a significant level of effort from the user - though it's still too cumbersome. ---- "The prototype device is bulky and heavy, and it does affect the wearer just to carry. But the energy generation part itself has very little effect on the wearer, whether it is turned on or not. We hope to improve the device so that it is easier to carry, and to retain the energy-harvesting capabilities."
Kuo sees systems of this sort being used by soldiers, to charge the increasing load of electronics they carry. The idea could also power implanted medical gear like pacemakers or neurotransmitters.
One likely consumer app might be for hikers or other outdoorsy types wishing to keep their gadgets charged up. (Trade names: Walkman, ThighPod, You'll-never-walk-alone-Phone. Etc.) But it's hard to imagine regenerative knee braces being a big hit among those with frequent access to grid power. Reference Here>>
Obviously, this Brit has never been forced to endure being without power (and the information it can provide) in a mission critical situation.
Microsoft's Don Dodge, Director of Business Development for Microsoft's Emerging Business Team Picks Scanbuy As A Company To Watch In 2007 (December 20, 2006). Image Credit: Scanbuy, Inc.
On January 2, 2007, the United Stated Patent Office issued a patent to Scanbuy, Inc. (New York, NY) for a "System and method for decoding and analyzing barcodes using a mobile device".
The method will be known commercially as "ScanZoom" software and will enable a user of a cellphone with a camera to achieve a connection to objects and their corresponding websites and/or database information contained within the symbology that is scanned. This ability to connect to objects through digital information and electronic devices is becoming known as "physical world connection" and the symbol or rfid trigger the electronic device decodes or gets information from - a "physical world hyperlink" or PWH.
Soon all objects will have a PWH so that one will be able to connect and know the information about any object anywhere.
Patent #7,156,311 was issued to Scanbuy, a company Microsoft identifies a primary physical world connection player, with the following information found at the United States Patent and Trademark Office website.
Excerpts from United States Patent and Trademark Office -
Abstract
The present invention discloses a system and method for decoding barcodes using mobile device. Generally, the barcode image is acquired via a digital camera attached to the mobile device. After the barcode image has been acquired, software located on the mobile device enhances the barcode image and subsequently decodes the barcode information. The barcode information is then transmitted to a server via a wireless network. The server processes the barcode information and transmits media content related to the barcode back to the mobile device.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention provides a software application and system (hereinafter referred to as "ScanZoom") designed to successfully process and decode barcodes acquired via digital imaging techniques. ScanZoom software empowers a user to use a cell-phone or PDA equipped with a digital camera as a scanner of barcodes (one-dimensional and two-dimensional) or any other similar machine-readable code. It seamlessly integrates the barcode scanning technology with the digital camera (built-in or attached) of the cell phones/PDAs/Pocket PCs.
To utilize the ScanZoom software, a user downloads the ScanZoom onto his/her cell phone or PDA through wireless access protocol ("WAP"), infrared, or Bluetooth.RTM. connectivity. However, any protocol which allows a user to download a program to a mobile device may be utilized to download ScanZoom. Once the user has downloaded ScanZoom, the user launches the application. This causes ScanZoom to properly initialize the digital camera coupled to the mobile device to accept input. It starts the digital camera by calling its Application identification.
The user then takes a picture of the barcode using the digital camera. As soon as the barcode is captured, the ScanZoom software decodes the barcode utilizing a decoding engine integral to the ScanZoom software. Alternatively, the Scanzoom software may send the image of the barcode to a central server for decoding by sending a multimedia message service ("MMS") message to the server containing the barcode image.
If ScanZoom sends a MMS message to the server, it launches the MMS Application Id, composes the appropriate message on the fly, and then sends the message to the SMS/MMS server. On the server side, a global system for mobile communications ("GSM") modem connected to the server has the appropriate security identity module ("SIM") card and takes the services from any mobile service provider. The server fetches the MMS message from the GSM modem queue and performs appropriate action depending upon the message. The server can then send back a simple SMS message or can send back a multimedia message service ("MMS") message which can launch a WAP browser on the mobile device and direct it to the appropriate website, or send back information to the user through any other existing wireless protocol.
The location of the decoding depends entirely upon the processing capabilities of the mobile device utilized. For example, if the ScanZoom software is operating on a mobile device with lower system capabilities, such as a first generation camera phone, the mobile device will automatically send the digital image of the barcode to a server for decoding.
The barcode decoding engine continuously runs in a loop until it's able to decode the image taken by the digital camera into a barcode. If the barcode cannot be properly resolved, the user is prompted to take another picture of the desired barcode.
Additionally, the barcode decoding may also be performed in real time. The ScanZoom software accomplishes this by constantly capturing and processing the image of the barcode until it is correctly decoded. This eliminates the extra step of the user having to press a button to capture an image of the barcode.
After the barcode has been correctly resolved either by the mobile device or the server, the mobile device displays the appropriate media content to the user. The media content displayed to the user depends entirely on the barcode scanned. For example, if a user scans a barcode on a compact disc, the ScanZoom application may launch a WAP browser and direct the user to a site which allows the user to purchase the compact disc electronically. As another example, if a user scans a barcode located on a food item, the server may return a SMS message to the mobile device indicating the nutritional contents of the scanned item.
Current Product Description: SCANBUY Media allows content providers and advertisers to streamline the access to mobile content by assigning to a dedicated two-dimensional (2D) barcode one or several WAP destinations. Image Credit: Scanbuy, Inc.
Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a software application and system capable of accurately and reliably decoding barcodes and other machine-readable codes acquired via a digital camera connected to a mobile device.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a software application and system which allows for the decoding of barcodes in a wide range of conditions.
An additional object of the present invention is to provide a software application and system for decoding barcodes which is quick and responsive.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a software application and system for decoding barcodes which is robust under adverse lighting, imaging, and focusing conditions.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a software application and system for decoding multiple barcode formats.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a software application and system which does not adversely affect device performance, usability, or form factor.
Furthermore, an object of the present invention is to provide a software application and system for decoding barcodes which does not significantly impact device power consumption nor degrade general camera performance.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a barcode decoding system which requires minimal or no changes to the manufacturing process of the mobile devices.
An additional object of the present invention is to provide a barcode decoding system having a low incremental cost per device.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a highly reliable barcode decoding system requiring minimal user support.
These and other objects of the present will be made clearer with reference to the following detailed description and accompanying drawings. Reference Here>>
Current Product Description: With SCANBUY Shopper, we now give consumers the power to become educated. Our ultimate mobile software allows them to compare retail prices with online prices right from their cell phone, and be sure they walk away with the best deal, wherever they are. Image Credit: Scanbuy, Inc.
As for Scanbuy, the company's mission statement states the following -
MISSION STATEMENT
SCANBUY enables camera phones to capture and immediately decode printed or electronically displayed barcodes. One scan to stream music, watch trailers, download ringtones, access information, and shop with your cell phone.
SCANBUY solutions are designed for handset manufacturers, wireless carriers, content providers and retailers.
SCANBUY integrates its products with an array of business platforms and provides SDK to be utilized with other proprietary solutions. Reference Here>>
Order sale items, online at Neiman Marcus, from your G3 cellphone ... without a bank account. Cellphone wallets and automated card transactions make purchases simple, fast, and initiated from almost anywhere. Image Credit: © 2009, Neiman Marcus
