29th April 2010

April News Round Up

Each month Maxatec posts a quick round up of interesting news items relating to EPOS, mobile computing and technology sectors.

In April we have discovered that; e-commerce has peaked, Mobile EPOS and barcode scanning is booming in Ireland, we can now use our phones to scan barcodes, and that charging your PDA just became an eco friendly activity!

Read the summaries below:

Online Retailing Peaks

Luxury retailers and e-commerce websites reported the best retail sales growth during March 2010 according to a report released in April by Reuters.

The report identifies that sales of luxury items rose by 22.7% in March, while online sales moved up 18.4%, its eight consecutive month of double digit growth, according to MasterCard Advisors’ Spending Pulse, which estimates total retail sales across all payment forms.

Mobile ePOS booms in Ireland

The Irish Post reported that Mobile electronic point-of-sale (ePOS) hardware systems have become increasingly popular in the Irish Market.

The emergence of Geo-tagging

Geo-tagging utilises the convergence of two technologies; the mobile phone and the new generation 2D barcodes. Certain smart phones such as iPhone, Google Android and the Blackberry now have the ability to scan a barcode and direct users to a website about that product instantly.
This month, the media has been full of stories regarding how this technological advancement is going to be used;

• The Guardian reports that Barcoo – an innovative iPhone application will help ethical shoppers by enabling them to check a company’s social responsibility and environmental credentials by scanning the barcodes of products they see in shops. This will allow instant purchase decisions to be made by eco conscious shoppers.

• Entertainment Weekly – (a US magazine) is one of the first to publish 2D barcodes from Microsoft. Readers of the magazine will scan the 2D barcodes with their mobile phones and be directed to a YouTube video where they can see an exclusive movie preview video.

• Interactive barcodes which link to additional content when photographed by a smart phone were launched in Ireland by advertising company Digital Reach Group. Local paper -the Irish Herald used the barcodes to entice readers to read links and view adverts on third party sites.

Eco friendly charge up alternatives

We all know that the Achilles heel of any mobile device, whether it is a hand held PDA, a mobile phone or iPod, is keeping them charged up especially when you are on the move. We have all forgotten our charger or struggled to find a power source at some time! Recent news highlights that as the nation becomes increasingly environmentally aware, there is a trend towards purchasing portable solar chargers. These harnessing the power of the sun resulting in free and completely clean energy source that you can use anywhere.

Posted by andrea 29th April 2010 at 9:26am