In truth pretty much any smart phone with a camera can easily function as a barcode scanner, all you need is an app. Some free and some paid and what you plan to do with the scanned barcode will determine which you choose. Some of the more impressive scanner apps double as a price comparison tool. By simply scanning the barcode on any item the app will shoot off and return a list of online stores along with the price they charge. You might have to wait a little longer to get the goods but you will inevitably save when buying online.
Over the past 12 months smart phones have really grown in popularity but in conjunction with these, QR codes have also taken off. Retailers are now adding QR codes to a lot of their promotional material. So that when the code is scanned the phone will be redirected to the retailer’s website or a hidden message is uncovered, most likely in the form of coupons or discounts. The usage of these QR codes really came to prominence after the launch of “Google’s favourite places” where thousands of real world stores were sent QR code stickers to place in their store front. Since then many more retailers have realised the combined potential of a smart phone and QR codes.
With the increased functionality of these smart phones we are now beginning to see more and more companies that are moving their smart phones from the boardroom and into the warehouse and again the barcode scanning capabilities are helping to facilitate this, though not up to the same rigors endured by the traditional handheld barcode scanner, they are more then capable of handling a small work load. This along with Bluetooth connectivity and the additional features that a smart phone can offer is proving a useful tool in many processes of business life and not just for the high powered executives that spend the majority of their day in their office.
The world’s leading manufacturers have not missed the opportunities. Motorola in particular who have built their success on developing user friendly mobile phones have plans in place to launch a number of handheld computers that will run on the android operating system and you should expect to hear the first rumblings of this with the next twelve months. Though the majority of their handhelds will continue to run on Windows mobile or CE, they definitely see an advantage to using the Android operating system and for a number of reasons,
The amount of Apps currently available will easily run on these new handhelds
Android is an open source software with a huge amount of talented developers consistently developing a wide range of new and useful apps, the ability to run these apps on an enterprise handheld will prove a huge advantage.
Running on an open source operating system will be free, whereas running on a Windows OS isn’t.
A recently published study states that it’s looking highly likely the sales of smart phones will overtake that of PC’s within the next 2 years. It’s inevitable that the smart phone will begin to infiltrate nearly every aspect of business life. The traditional barcode scanner will always have a place in business but the choices that are becoming available will prove to be stiff competition for the leaders in the AIDC and data capture industry.