Almost every item available in stores has a bar code for tracking, and sales purposes. A new idea involving mobile bar code technology could give the consumer instant reviews about any product they’re thinking of purchasing in real-time while holding the item in the store aisle.

The idea is that the consumer can simply take a picture of the bar code on the product, and the phone would automatically identify the product via an integrated java program, and search the internet for related blog posts, news reviews, comparisons, etc. and report them back to the consumer in real-time to read up on the product and make sure its really the right one. Consumers can see what other people who have bought the same product really thought about it, and what problems may have occurred. Think about doing an instant price check on the product to see if it might be cheaper somewhere else, or maybe cheaper to purchase online. This could prove to be a valuable asset to price, and safety conscious people.

With the software and platforms that are already in development by MoVa Media Co. and the equipment that almost every single consumer in the world carries with them at all times, this will be a reality in the not so distant future. After the initial product launch, new applications and environments could emerge to enhance the experience. A central server with bar code information linked directly to well organized product pages would make the process much quicker and more informative. Within one scan and read of a bar code, the phone could instantly display a one-page info sheet showing comments on the product, some general pictures, price comparisons, user reviews, etc. instead of having to wait for the java software on the mobile phone to scour the internet for all of the information in real-time. Having this information sitting and waiting would make the service much more usable in a real world environment. Creating such a database shouldn’t be as much as a daunting task as it sounds. All items with bar codes have information already associated with it, a simple script could scour product databases to find product information and link it to product pages to automatically and continually update the central database of product pages. This central database could also prove to be a very useful resource.

Mobile Ticketing has been in use for over 5 years in Europe and other parts of the world, but has never hit mainstream as it should in America. Major League Baseball has finally introduced the use of Mobile Ticketing at a few ballparks, but still hasn’t adopted the money-saving technology fully.

The platform will be embedded in the merchant’s website ticketing system and will be fully customizable by the merchant via an easy to use online control panel. As customers purchase tickets, they can choose the traditional method, or choose the “Mobile Ticketing” option. After the order’s processed, the site automatically sends an MMS with the admission ticket and bar code, and the customer is ready to go. Being that everyone almost always has their cell phone in tow, this means no more lost tickets, or computer mix-ups meaning you might miss the game. Once the customer arrives, the same scanners used to read traditional paper tickets, can be used to scan the screen of a Mobile Ticket-holder’s cell phone.

**Retail Uses, and Coupon Adaptation

The same technology can be used in retail situations as well. By merchants utilizing mobile coupons, there’ll no longer be lost coupons, or situations when your standing at the register, and you were sure you had that 50% off coupon. Let the cashier scan a bar code that was sent to you by the store via MMS message.

Stores can setup campaigns in the embedded control panel of their website or intranet, to randomly send coupons and special offers to opt-in recipients, or distribute coupons to every customer in the database by the push of a button. Full statistics about the customers can be gathered and automatically entered into a CRM as well for tracking and sales purposes.

Instead of stores and clubs buying and distributing plastic cards to customers and members for rewards, points, etc, they could issue an MMS with a customer bar code that the customer could save, and use every time they visit the store or club. This would make sure the customer always has their card with them, and avoid costly re-issuing of lost cards. The list of applications goes on and on with this new technology.

Imagine visiting a car dealership on Sunday afternoon and picking out that perfect car, color and everything, without having an annoying car salesman following you around the whole time. What if you could scan a small bar code on the sticker of that specific vehicle and instantly receive text and multimedia messages with pictures, feature information, pricing information, availability and potential problems, etc while standing in front of the car.

On the other hand, what if you worked for the car dealership. On Monday morning, you’d have an email stating that there is a new potential customer that visited the lot on Sunday. The email would give a vast amount of information about the visit and potential customer as well. Such as, what time that customer visited the lot, his or her mobile phone number, the exact vehicle they’re potentially interested in, and much more.

This technology can be utilized in numerous industries and across several mediums other than the example above. By utilizing the camera that almost every mobile phone user has in their pocket, and a simple java based application that is free to download directly to the mobile phone, user can take a picture of the bar code where ever they may be, and the picture will automatically be processed in the java app to display the message or other information stored in the bar code.

MoVa Media Co. is a brand new company developing these new technologies and presenting them to consumers. News and information about our projects can be viewed daily at our MoVa Media Co. Blog

Justin Montgomery is the Chairman and CEO of MoVa Media Co, LLC, a new mobile application development company focusing primarily on mobile barcode recognition technology across several mediums and industries, as well as mobile ticketing and mobile coupon and voucher technologies.