With over four billion users in the world, mobile phones are becoming an important channel for businesses and consumers to interact. Today mobile phones can "speak" to bar codes, read Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags and access the internet. By pointing and clicking a product or magazine, mobile phones bring information and service linked to a product closer to the consumer... and the consumer closer to the brand.
Brand owners and retailers rightly recognise that there are many ways to use mobile phones to offer consumers a richer shopping experience and more engaging services. This potential cannot currently be fully realised because the mobile ecosystem is not fully interoperable, and mobile services are not compatible across all mobile devices and operators - so it is costly and complex to launch scalable global services. Global standards and an open and neutral infrastructure, trusted by both business and consumers, must be found.
Here is where GS1 comes in. GS1 standards are used by over 1 million companies in more than 150 countries. These companies are working with GS1 to ensure they can leverage existing standards to develop innovative services to make consumers' lives better. By working on industry engagement and standards development at global level and implementation at local level, GS1 is helping these companies create and deploy mobile applications and services that are interoperable, scalable and cost-effective.
Article from synthesis Journal 2010
MobileCom and ISO Standard on Mobile Item Identification and Management
Some of the Singapore's Mobile Com Application:
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Wireless Learning Trail @ Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve. It is a new way of reaching out and deliver educational programmes that will appeal to the young and technology-savvy Singaporeans. Using webcam install on Ultra Mobile PCs (UMPC), students are able to receive information by scanning the 2-D barcodes that are located strategically along the wireless learning trail. Students are also prompted with stimulating questions on what they can see along the trail and even participate in various educational activities provided on their UMPC. |
There are 20 barcodes or stations along the Mangrove Boardwalk, it takes about 2 hours to finish the entire learning trail. After completion, students can include their thoughts and observations to build their own personal learning trail, and share the information with their classmates. This is a way to promote learning in the "outdoor classroom"
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iGepir for iPhone. Have you ever wanted to know
what information is coded in the barcode of your favourite
products? Which company is behind a particular product? Where the company is located and how to contact them? What are the main characteristics of a particular trade item? |
It is based on a collection of interconnected databases,
collating information on around 1.5 million GS1 member companies
spread across more than a hundred countries. Users can carry out 4
types of search:
1) Global Trade Item Number (GTIN). Brings information about
manufacturers or basic trade item data or more details (pictures
...) if available
2) Global Location Number (GLN). If the GLN belongs to a group, it
is possible to obtain the address information corresponding exactly
to the requested GLN, or the groups owner address details.
3) Serial Shipping Container Code (SSCC)
4) name search for one or more companies with different filters
The above numbers (GS1 Keys) are usually found directly below a
barcode.
Step 1: turn on camera mode.
Step 2: place the product barcode on the image capture area.
Step 3: end result of the scanning will return the company details of the product.
iGepir is now available for download from the Apple's App Store
