Wasp Online Barcode Maker

Google and Print ads go 2-D

The future of print ads and landing pages... Google knows what they're doing.

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Strong financial results from Wasp Barcode Technologies

PLANO, Texas – July 31, 2008 – Have small businesses survived the economic downturn unscathed? According to Wasp Barcode Technologies, the answer is a resounding yes.

Wasp, which sells its products almost exclusively to small businesses, charged ahead in the second quarter with revenue growth of 22 percent and earnings up 14 percent over the same period last year. These numbers also represent strong sequential growth, with revenue rising 11 percent over the first quarter of 2008. Solid financial performance reached across all of the company’s channels and product lines.

“Small businesses are simply not being negatively impacted by economic challenges the same way large companies are,” said Tom O’Shea, general manager for Wasp. “The news is dominated by reports about industry giants. But the media doesn’t see what we are seeing: more and more small companies making investments in technology to improve their ongoing efficiency and productivity.”

Signs remain strong for the remainder of the year, thanks to an expanded channel program coming online in the third quarter, new products planned for the fall, and the recent addition of two new models to Wasp’s barcode printer line. Loaded with features, the Wasp WPL610 and Wasp WPL608 are fast, rugged industrial barcode printers that offer the best performance on the market at a competitive price.

In the second quarter, Wasp also earned several awards:

- Everything Channel selected Wasp as a CRN Emerging Tech vendor for 2008. The Emerging Tech list recognizes companies that deliver high margins for solution providers via innovative, easy-to-use technology that undercuts industry giants.

- The MCM Awards, which are co-produced by the Direct Marketing Association and Multichannel Merchant, granted the Wasp web site a silver award in the business specialty products category. The company’s United Kingdom web site won a silver award in the international category.

- The Comerica Bank Collin 60 Awards named Wasp one of the fastest-growing private companies in Collin County, Texas, ranking it at No. 33.

About Wasp Barcode Technologies

Wasp Barcode Technologies provides data capture and tracking solutions designed specifically for small business. Products include inventory control, asset tracking, time and attendance, barcode scanners, barcode printers, and point of sale (POS) solutions. Wasp products help small business owners manage their companies more efficiently with improved productivity and profitability. Learn more at www.waspbarcode.com or call 866-547-WASP (9277).

Easily Integrate Zebra Printers into a Wide Variety of Applications

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Inventory Control Trend Setter: Prada Meets System ID!

Since being founded in Milan, Italy in 1913, Prada has won numerous fashion awards and opened over 150 stores worldwide. Norman Rasmussen oversees the Prada warehouse that supports the five New York stores.The warehouse stocks the products, store supplies, and store fixtures.When a store ran out of stock on a product or needed to put up a new display, a request was sent to the warehouse. Speed in fulfilling those requests is crucial when considering the competitiveness in the fashion industry and how a whole new line of apparel is released every quarter.
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One More Reason To Never Leave the House

The NYT has a happy review of the new Ikan grocery scanner, a home countertop item that scans your empties and maintains an online grocery list for you. When the cupboards are bare simply log in, place your order and wait for your replacement sustenance to knock on your door.Okay, so I love the technology. A consumer-level gizmo that reads barcodes? Yay! A gizmo that reads barcodes and communicates with the interwebs? Super awesome! An "online database of one million products"? Neato!But we don't get outside enough as it is. Not one of us. We're isolated from other humans in ways unfathomable even 20 years ago. We work online, go to school online, shop online, chat online and meet potential dates and spouses online. Look, it's creepy. Internet-dependent living is just creepy. I'm as web-addicted as the next nerd but I refuse to give up my scratch-paper-and-pen grocery list. I won't abandon my twice- or thrice-weekly trip to the neighborhood grocery store. At the store I can smell the birthday cakes being made in the bakery. I can ogle the olive bar, admire the asparagus mountains, fondle the navel oranges until I find just the right succulent few. I can chitchat with the checker, smile at the bagger, experience the actual sights, sounds, smells and sensations of an actual public place. And that's super duper awesome if you ask me.

Visit Barcode Nerds - another great barcode blog

Applications for Bar Code Technology in Construction

We have a lot of tasks in construction that could benefit from some automation. Perhaps the most tedious of all is the collection and recording of data. That data could be the time someone started work, when they took their breaks and when they quit working, along with the GPS coordinates of where they were on the jobsite each time that data was collected. It could also be the number of nails at the jobsite, along with the GPS coordinates of where they were, at noon on any given day so an order could be placed that would result in more nails where needed by the start of work the next day.

On many job sites those kinds of data collection and entry items either never get collected and entered, or they are a day late and a dollar short. The result is the data is pretty much useless for anything other than reacting to something. Efficiency can go up if we can be proactive and that means getting the data in time to actually do something that prevents a problem. And we all know that in construction we spend way too much time solving problems when we ought to be building things.

So, here's something that will make you want to go out in the parking lot and do handstands. There's no reason today that your lead carpenter couldn't punch the clock using his cell phone. You have a barcode on the wall at the jobsite, he scans it with his barcode scanner, the data, including the GPS coordinates, is time-stamped by the phone, transferred wirelessly to your computer in the office where it is automatically recorded in a time sheet.

Or, your super takes a tour of the site and using her cell phone scans bar codes on certain materials in particular worksite locations. She adds a quantity and presses the send button. The volume of material at that time and at that location is recorded on a data sheet at your computer, and if you have it set up really well those items having quantities that are at a lower level than a predefined threshold are rolled into a master order of materials from all job sites. At 3 pm you push the send button, the materials order goes in, and the materials are at the sites before the beginning of the next workday. There are no "we ran out of" excuses the next day, the job moves forward at amazing speeds, and you are a hero.

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Barcode Plantage

an algorithmic visual representation of barcodes, of which the numerical codes determine the positions, curves & colors of Bezier curves in a tree structure. the number of curves varies in correspondence to the number of figures in the code. in addition, information details of the country of origin, manufacturer, product number & sum are displayed.

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If your business has a mobile work force and a service reputation to uphold, then you know how important it is to empower that work force with the right tools. That's what we do best... so you can focus on what you do best... run you business.

Visit System ID for Field Mobility Solutions

Mobile Barcode News Round-up.

The folks over at Social Innovation Camp have come up with a bright idea. They want to “Create a site for storing user generated information to be stored against a product, identified by its barcode number. People would be able to access the info by entering/scanning the barcode number. The kind of information that would be stored against the product would be things like reviews, manufacturing conditions, news stories about the product/manufacturer, farm subsidies paid to the manufacturer etc. All entered in wiki form by end users.” Check out their web site for more information.

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Choosing Wine Cellar Accessories

Barcode readers are a wonderful way to keep track of the different wines that are added to or removed from your wine cellar. “But what kinds of electronic barcode reading contraptions will I need to buy in order to use a barcode system?”, you may ask. It’s really very simple. There are very easy to use plug and play barcode readers that can plug right into the USB port of your computer.

USB barcode scanners typical run between $120-$175 USD and can automatically discriminate between all the popular bar codes. You can use your own barcode tags or input any required information to use the barcodes already located on each bottle of wine. When it’s time to uncork or add a new bottle of wine to your collection, simply point the barcode scanner at the barcode label and pull the trigger to update your records.

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Ideas for Interoperability of Secure Barcode Tickets

Barcode ticket security is a growing issue (we get asked about it all the time) and there aren't any standards yet for preventing unscrupulous individuals from altering the tickets that are issued.

Barcodes are being used as a form of virtual ticket that you can print from your PC at home or show on your phone screen to gain access to airport check-in, bus tickets, train tickets, promotional coupons, to gain access to a venue or be entitled to something valuable.

What do we want to achieve?
Barcode tickets that can be used to allow a virtual transaction, such as on a PC or a mobile phone to provide an instant ticket to the customer, with which they can instantly prove entitlement at a venue.

Ideally, to get the largest acceptance of barcode tickets, the designers of venue ticket systems should be free to integrate the ticket validation in whatever hardware or software they want to, and without any onerous security requirements - that way whatever cash registers (tills/EPOS), handheld scanners or gate systems that a venue uses can be used at their convenience.

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Ticket Text - Competition for TicketMaster for Irish consumers?

A couple of weeks ago, there was a press release from the company Ticket Text covered in both the Irish Examiner and the Irish Independent. According to the article:

The credit card-based service is currently offering tickets for various events including the Punchestown National Hung Festival, the Arts Festival and a number of top music concerts.

To me, the Ticket Text service is a great new concept – you buy your tickets online, and they arrive to your phone by text, with a barcode. You then just bring your phone to the gig and the barcode is read to allow you entry. Those who’ve recently visited Croke Park will be familiar by now with the ticket barcode scanner – though I’m sure it’s elsewhere by now also.

The big selling point (apart from the obvious convenience) is that Ticket Text claim to “save you money by never charging postage & packaging fees, plus we always keep our booking fees low”. According to the Irish Examiner article,

Ticket Text’s chief executive Mark McLaughlin said Ireland was the first place the company identified a demand for an alternative ticketing provider.
So, do we have an alternative to the much-maligned TicketMaster? Unfortunately, that I can discover after doing a bit of investigaton, Ticket Text are not going to disrupt the stranglehold that TicketMaster have over Irish ticket-buying consumers.

As a check, I went to buy 2 adult tickets for Ireland v Columbia in London coming up soon. And would you believe it – there is no comparison to be made. You can buy one sort of ticket on the Ticket Text site (home fans = Irish Fans), and on the TicketMaster site, you can only buy away fan (Columbian fans) tickets. So, for the same game, you can't buy the same ticket on both sites.

Intelligent Mail Barcode (IMB) Basics

As more details regarding the USPS’ plans for the Intelligent Mail Barcode (IMB) are available, it is possible to start deciding how it will effect you, and planning how to use it.
Originally, the plan was to force the mailing industry to drop the old Postnet bar code and change over to the IMB in January 2009. Even though they have adjusted their schedule, you should begin planning. There are already many benefits you may wish to take advantage of. Currently, you can continue using Postnet until May 2010. It will still receive the base Automation discounts available with “Basic” IMB. “Full Service” IMB will receive an extra discount beginning in May 2009.


We’ll pause here for some definitions. Postnet is the old postal bar code that’s been around for years. This is the pattern of tall and short bars underneath the address, or down in the lower right corner. If you wanted to do tracking, you could also add a Planet bar code. This looked the same, but was usually placed on top of the address. If you wanted to use ACS (Address Correction Service), more codes, in text, had to be placed above the address. If this sounds ugly and crowded, it was. A lot of people avoided these advanced services for that reason alone. Here is an example address with Postnet, ACS and Planet codes. It’s not the sort of thing designers like to see on their artwork.




The Intelligent Mail Barcode has been in development for a while now, but has only recently started appearing on letters. It looks similar to Postnet, but has bars that go both up and down. It was originally called the 4-state bar code, and is now being renamed to the OneCode. Here is the same example address, with the same services, using the IMB.




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A History Of The Barcode And Barcode Scanners

Have you ever wondered how long barcode scanners have been in use for in major retail shops? For many people, this is the only means of security and accurately storing information about the product. Those many of the younger generation will not know that this system has only been around the seventies, even though the barcode did not pick up properly until the eighties.

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Google Finds Advertisers for Print Barcode Test

Google is moving ahead with its print ad program involving barcode technology with a couple of advertisers acting as test cases.

Google’s enables advertisers to place small square barcodes beside print ads. Readers who see the ad can snap a picture of the barcode with their mobile devices and view promotions on their handhelds, reports ClickZ (via MarketingVox).

Companies testing the system can also incorporate different direct response triggers to the model; in some cases, that could be an 800 number, or even a special set of Google search terms that bring up sponsored links.

eHealth, a health insurance comparison site, has been testing the system and using site visits as its metric for success. Cruise.com is also looking at site visits to gauge the viability of the model and includes an 800 number with its ads as well.

Jewelry retailer Blue Nile used specialized search terms to accompany their print ads. Searching for “Blue Nile 100″ on Google brings the official site up as a sponsored link, whereas a search for the company name returns a hodgepodge of unrelated links.

Google admits the technology driving its program is still a year and a half away from being mainstream. But systems like this are already in use in Europe and have found some success.

Tax returns even faster this year

Missourians can not only expect speedy tax returns again this year, but they can expect them to come even sooner than last year. David Griffith, with the Department of Revenue, says the paperwork is getting done even more efficiently this year.

"The Missouri Department of Revenue really sets the standard in turn around time," says Griffith, "Right now we're averaging 2.84 days from the time we receive your return until your refund is mailed out."

The most important recent innovation in tax return filing has been electronic filing, which the Department of Revenue encourages; however, there is a new way Missourians can file their taxes using paper while maintaining efficiency.

"We encourage you to file electronically, absolutely," says Griffith, "There's also, on our website, an opportunity for you to use what's called the 2-D barcode form."

This new type of form includes a barcode that's not all that dissimilar from the barcodes we see in stores everywhere. Typical commercial barcodes are what's called a 1-D barcode, but this 2-D barcode actually contains more information. This allows the Department of Revenue to avoid entering each filer's personal information by hand; instead they just scan, substantially speeding up the process. Griffith says that while the 2-D barcode form is faster than traditional paper filing, electronic filing is still the fastest. If filed electronically, Missourians can expect their returns sooner than ever.

"Unless there's an error on your return, you can expect it in 3 or 4 days after you send it in," says Griffith.

Motorola Introduces 802.11n Wireless LAN Switch Enabling the All-Wireless Enterprise

SAN JOSE, Calif. – 12 March 2008 – The Enterprise Mobility business of Motorola, Inc. (NYSE: MOT) today announced its Motorola RFS6000, the latest addition to a family of high-performance multi-core processor-based wireless LAN (WLAN) switches, targeted at mid-sized enterprises. The RFS6000 supports an all-wireless enterprise vision, enabling businesses to build an enterprise WLAN that serves the entire organization from workers in corporate headquarters to manufacturing and distribution plants to remote branch offices.
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Space Saving Printer From Citizen Now With Front-Loading Rewinder

Citizen Systems Europe, the leading manufacturer of dot matrix, label and barcode printers, has launched the new CL-S700R industrial printer that features an internal rewinder, making it extremely simple to print labels in batches or individually. Like the existing CL-S700 models, the printer is extremely easy and fast to load and use, maximising productivity and minimising downtime.

The new printer’s internal rewinder makes printing large volumes of labels extremely easy. The CL S700R can be used for printing labels on demand, automatically peeling the printed labels from the backing paper, saving you time, and neatly rewinding the backing paper back into the printer. Alternatively, batches of printed labels can be taken back into the machine’s casing and rewound onto the spool. When all of the labels have been printed, the roll can then simply be stored until required.

The printer’s innovative yet easy-to-load rewinder only needs access from the front of the printer, eliminating the frustration of feeding the backing paper all the way to the back of the unit, common with other manufacturer’s machines. The internal rewinder spool can accommodate up to a 6" diameter roll of media or backing/liner paper, minimising downtime considerably. Like all of the CL-S700 printers available, the new model is ideal for use where space is restricted, with all of the standard operations, including paper loading, accessible from the front of the printer. The machine’s Hi Open™ metal casing minimises the footprint of the printer, providing easy access and simple media loading while maintaining the compact dimensions of the unit. Furthermore, Hi Lift™ mechanisms make ribbon loading quick and effortless using ARCP™ technology to eliminate ribbon wrinkle.

The CL-S700R is capable of printing up to 10 inches per second, featuring a clear, flat paper path, which increases efficiency and productivity in a diverse range of applications. Due to the printer’s easy to use design, it takes just 10 seconds to change the media, making the time needed to change media and ribbons up to 10 times faster than that of competing printers.The new printer features parallel, serial and USB interfaces as standard, and internal Ethernet and Wireless LAN options can be added in a minute, providing remote control, configuration and monitoring of the printer.

Barcode Printer Learning Center

Get all the information you need dealing with barcode printers

HONEYWELL COMPLETES ACQUISITION OF HAND HELD PRODUCTS, INC.

Minneapolis, MN, December 20, 2007 – Honeywell (NYSE: HON) today announced it has completed the acquisition of Hand Held Products, Inc., a privately held Automatic Identification and Data Collection (AIDC) company, for approximately $390 million.

Hand Held will become a new line of business, called Honeywell Imaging and Mobility, within Honeywell’s Security Group.

“This is a great investment for Honeywell. Hand Held significantly strengthens and broadens Honeywell’s portfolio, particularly in wireless innovation and the high-growth data collection and communication space,” said Ben Cornett, President of Honeywell Security. “Hand Held is poised for growth, with strong positions in key vertical markets that complement ACS’s existing technology and solutions.”

“Becoming part of Honeywell begins a new and exciting chapter for Hand Held,” said Kevin Jost, President, Honeywell Imaging and Mobility business. “By joining one of the world’s leading technology companies, we will be able to deliver greater value and a more comprehensive offering of world-class solutions to our customers.”

Isle Of Man Pockets Motorola’s Covert TETRA Terminals

DOUGLAS, Isle of Man – 5th March 2008 – Motorola, Inc. (NYSE:MOT) has been chosen by the Isle of Man Government Department of Home Affairs to supply a fleet of covert TETRA terminals. Motorola will supply the covert devices in mid 2008, which will be used by the Isle of Man Constabulary and Customs & Excise.

Motorola worked closely with a number of public safety users including the Isle of Man Department of Home Affairs, Isle of Man Constabulary and Isle of Man Customs & Excise during the design process to ensure it delivered a covert TETRA radio that met the special needs of the users. The new TCR1000 TETRA Covert Radio will help improve operational effectiveness as the small ergonomic design means officers do not feel as though they are wearing a radio, helping them to disguise their equipment during covert operations.

“At last we have a covert radio that is fit for purpose,” says Robert Williamson, technical director, Isle of Man Department of Home Affairs. “TETRA is a very appropriate communications technology for policing activity, but until now we have not had a suitable form factor for covert operations. Motorola’s innovative TETRA radio design will be of real benefit in everyday covert activities. Our users are delighted with the new covert set.”

The small, lightweight design of the TCR1000 Covert TETRA terminal incorporates many innovative features to address the unique requirements of covert users such as discrete audio, radio control and battery lifetime. Despite the compact design, the Motorola covert TETRA radio performs to the same high standards as more mainstream Motorola TETRA terminals and offers excellent functionality including options for integrated GPS and end to end encryption.

Manuel Torres, vice president and general manager, Motorola Government & Public Safety, EMEA added: “Our close collaboration with the Isle of Man authorities has been a vital element in producing such a compact, powerful and well-suited covert radio. Those that’ll actually be using the radios have been very enthusiastic about the radio during the extensive and robust evaluation process, and we’re rightly proud of having developed such a well-received product.”

About Motorola
Motorola is known around the world for innovation in communications. The company develops technologies, products and services that make mobile experiences possible.
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Google finds new uses for barcodes

Google's efforts to get into the newspaper ad business have yet to yield much. One tool it hopes will eventually change that: Small, square barcodes, like the one at the right, at the bottom of print ads. When a person scans the barcode with a compatible camera phone, it takes their phone's browser to a mobile Web address encrypted in the graphic.

What's the point? This has three benefits: First, it saves the reader the trouble of typing in a Web address into their phone -- an annoying process for the majority of wireless subscribers that don't have phones with QWERTY keypads. Second, it can take the reader to a very specific page, based on an individual ad -- like a coupon or a map to the advertiser's store. And third, it ties into Google's analytics tools, so advertisers can get a very specific sense of which ads work and which don't, when people are viewing them, where they're standing (GPS), etc.

These barcodes are big in Japan -- we were there last December, and saw them everywhere. A Google exec presenting at a NY Advertising Club meetup the search company hosted Monday night said the barcode software's penetration is about 10% right now in the U.S. We're told that's a liberal estimate -- a mobile marketing exec we talked to at the meeting said he'd be surprised if the software is set up on even 1% of phones in the U.S.

Either way, there are big hurdles before the barcodes catch on here. The biggest:
Getting the four biggest mobile carriers, which sell the vast majority of cellphones in the U.S., on board.

First, Google, carriers like AT&T and Verizon Wireless, and phone manufacturers like Motorola and Samsung need to figure out how to split up the revenue pie. Second, they have to get the software on enough phones to be relevant. And third, they have to convince advertisers that people know what the barcodes are for, so they don't get confused.

Some of Google's (GOOG) problems will be solved as it rolls out Android, its mobile operating system, later this year -- Google can put pretty much whatever software it wants on those phones. But there are 240+ million wireless subscribers right now in the U.S., and none of them runs Android. Google has its work cut out.

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10 Tips for Recession Proofing your Business

System ID provides productivity enhancing technology that helps businesses better manage inventories, assets and data collection by improving accuracy and efficiency.

The Prosen Center is a business partner of System ID and has developed the 2008 Ten Tips for Recession Proofing Businesses. By using these tips, we hope this will help you have a smoother ride through the potential recession period.

1. Always run leaner than the status quo would prefer, especially in good times.
   Warehouse Automation
   
   Time and Attendance
   
   
2. Verify that at least 50% of customers are loyal. Meaning, they will continue to buy from the company and willingly provide their testimonials and referrals.
   


3. Identify the organization's top 3 most critical objectives and have measurement tools in place to ensure they are being met.
   


4. Take a critical look at the corporation's performance management system to make certain rewards are tied to results and not how hard people work.
   


5. Weed out sales people who haven't been meeting their numbers. Ensure all recognition systems rewards margin, drives revenue and encourages accountability.
   


6. Evaluate the accuracy of every sales forecast and make the necessary adjustments to improve the reliability of winning future business.
   Mobile Sales Force
   
   
7. Get receivables in order and ensure appropriate inventory levels.
   Inventory Control
   
   Asset Management
   
   
8. Measure employee productivity and immediately stop working on non-essential initiatives.
   


9. Ensure that your company can operate with a 15% drop in sales, and put a plan in place just in case that should happen.
   


10. Discourage buying into the theory that recession means failure; rather, plan ahead to increase efficiency and win a larger share of the available opportunities.
    Efficiency Tools for Every Business.
    

Symbol Mobile Briefing Center - San Antonio

Step inside Motorola’s Mobile Briefing Center and learn how Enterprise Business Solutions can help you transform your enterprise with mobility strategies that seamlessly and securely link people, assets and information to build a truly mobile workforce.

Click here if you would like to register for the San Antonio event.

Visit the completely redesigned Mobility Solutions Center to experience:
• Interactive demonstration of Motorola hardware and systems including Advanced Data Capture, Mobile Computing, Wireless Infrastructure and Management Software—learn how these systems can improve data capture, inventory turns, warehouse productivity, and reduce human error

• Advanced technologies from Motorola, including RFID and Mobility Services

• Industry solution demonstrations for Transportation, Retail, Warehouse & Distribution, Manufacturing and Healthcare environments• Device management and communications software from Motorola +PLUS Validated software partners

• Plus—Talk one-on-one with a System ID expert about any advanced data management projects you may have