Today's smartphones are, by their nature, quite versatile. It's impossible to guide every lover on Valentine's Day to the app for their particular needs, because despite the requisite "flowers, chocolate, *something*" expectations, we all do it differently. I tried to round up a few apps that might appeal to just about anyone who participates in tomorrow's festivities. Happy Valentine's Day, if that's your thing! Going out to eat If you're trying to get a reservation, one of the fastest ways to check and make a reservation is with OpenTable (hopefully your area's restaurants are on-board with their system). If you're out and looking for somewhere to eat, I still use one of the first big breakout apps from the App Store, UrbanSpoon. Of course, you can always ask Siri, but if you don't have a 4S, try Yelp. Going out to find someone to love Personally I've had a great experience Read More

By Leanna Lofte, Saturday, Aug 13, 2011 | Every week a few of us from team TiPb will bring you our current favorite, most fun and useful App Store apps, WebApps, jailbreak apps, even the occasional accessory, web site, or desktop app if the mood strikes us. As long as they’re iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch related, they’re fair game. To see what we picked, and to tell us your pick, follow on after the break! Especially with school starting back tomorrow, I figured it would be smart to get it in early. Now put it somewhere safe!!! I jumped on the Google+ bandwagon early. I never liked Facebook, and I was tiring of Twitter. If you haven’t already tried Google+, there’s a great forum thread where you can get an invite, if you can’t already get yourself in there. The app works a lot like the web client, only it Read More

...@BBCAMERICA RedLaser http://j.mp/qjGyet... Read More

The Barcode Battler was the epitome of early 90's handheld electronic gaming contraptions. It was a huge piece of black plastic with a LCD display and a few cryptic face buttons that absolutely decimated any batteries you put in it. When I first read about the device in whatever gaming magazine I was reading at the time, my mind was blown. The idea was that you went scavenging around hunting for barcodes, and after scanning them in to this monstrosity you discovered if that barcode was actually a powerful fighter, a useful item, or something like that. Incredible, right? Well, it was back then. Unfortunately actually "playing" with the thing was entirely underwhelming, as it almost never could read any barcodes. Also, when it did, it just displayed three numbers indicating whatever statistics the device used to display your character. In other words, the Barcode Battler itself turned out to be Read More

...Redlaser http://bit.ly/fKzQcS... Read More

Mit ‘360 Panorama‘ (0.79 €; App Store-Link) in Version 3.0 erreicht eine ‘Echtzeit-Foto-Stitching-Software’ den App Store, die vom iPhone-4-Kreiselinstrument Gebrauch macht. Der Nutzer muss zum Aufreihen von Rundum-Bildern lediglich in der Lage sein, den großen (roten) Aufnahme-Knopf zu drücken und sich halbwegs ‘normal’ im Kreis zu drehen. Sind diese Anforderungen erfüllt, entstehen innerhalb von wenigen Sekunden wahrhaft beeindruckende Panorama-Bilder, die sich in die Fotobibliothek exportieren lassen. Extra für das Web aufbereitete Beispiele, wie hier aus dem Techcrunch-Büro, geben einen mehr gelungenen Rundumblick. Aber auch ohne zusätzliche Nacharbeit entstehen sehr breite Fotos. Die Qualität hängt zweifelsohne von einem ruhigen Händchen (oder Stativ) und guten Lichtverhältnissen ab. Die Vorgänger-Version von ’360 Panorama’ bekleckerte sich in diesen Punkten zuvor nicht mit Ruhm. Die aktuelle Fassung liefert eine weitaus bessere Performance. ‘360 Panorama‘ ist natürlich nicht konkurrenzlos im App Store. ‘‘ (2.39 €; App Store-Link) oder ‘You Gotta See This!‘ (1.59 €; App Store-Link) verfolgen Read More

by eBay has released version 2.0 of its primary Phone app, eBay Mobile, the company announced Monday. Version 2.0 [iTunes link], which appeared in the App Store Friday, allows users to buy and sell on eBay’s flagship auction site, as well as scan product barcodes for comparison shopping. Previously, the latter two capabilities were available only in independent apps, eBay selling [iTunes link] and RedLaser [iTunes link], the latter of which was acquired in June. Now users can do everything on their iPhones that they could previously do on eBay.com — and then some. The integration of RedLaser’s barcode scanning technology is particularly useful, allowing users to quickly compare eBay’s prices to retail, and to pre-populate information about the items they’re selling (which, admittedly, will only be useful for those few goods that still have their barcodes intact). For a more comprehensive overview of the new features, check out the video Read More

by Popular barcode-scanning, comparison shopping iPhone app RedLaser has just been updated with support for QR code scanning. eBay-owned RedLaser released the new version of the application earlier this morning, also piping in eBay and Half.com listings for product barcode scans — a nice bonus of the June acquisition. RedLaser [iTunes link] has already been downloaded more than 5 million times, making it perhaps the most mainstream user-friendly barcode scanning app on the market. Now that RedLaser possesses QR code scanning capabilities there’s no need for app users to download a separate application or go elsewhere for their QR scanning needs. Plus, more than 100 application makers have used the RedLaser SDK to integrate barcode scanning functionality into their application experience. That SDK is also getting a makeover, courtesy of eBay, to allow for even more options like VIN barcode scanning and gift card scanning. We think QR codes are on Read More

by on 13. Oct, 2010 in Whether you use it to find the lowest price, find other buying options, or even just for fun, it is always helpful to have a barcode scanner app on your iPhone or iTouch. Getting the lowest price is a common goal of many, and to do this, a barcode scanner is the perfect solution. With an easy to use interface that also looks nice, Red Laser makes it simple to scan and search prices of products. It scans only UPC and EAN codes, which the type used on nearly all products, and provides both online and local results, and you can view the purchasing results from the sellers within the app, or you can open it in safari. Tapping the lightning bolt brings up the screen to scan, and you simply line up the barcode in between the arrows, and wait for it to scan, Read More

Posted 08/13/2010 at 12:22pm | by Florence Ion Cue up the Rocky montage music and get ready for your Apple devices to strut their stuff. It's hard enough being in a competitive market with PC evangelists and Android users, so why not download a couple of apps that could really showcase your Mac and iOS device's true capabilities? Your technology has fast processors, video games and multitasking, too (the iPad is getting there…hold your horses!). Here are a couple of apps that can really show what your Mac, iPhone and iPad are made of. We know you're not a huge fan of widgets, but we promise that these are actually helpful. GeekTool 3.0 is a glorified preferences pane/system preferences module for Leopard and up that allows you display all sorts of nifty info on your desktop. For one, you could pin pictures of your beloved all over your desktop (we're incredibly Read More

Last December, Apple relented on the use of the otherwise private UIGetScreenImage() API. This function allows iOS developers to capture a screenshot on a device, regardless of the contents of the screen. In contrast, the standard SDK-safe approach to screen captures ([theView.layer renderInContext:context]) did not allow applications to access video layers, camera previews, or some OpenGL content. iOS developer Manfred Nerurkar writes on his blog that he was just called by his Apple Developer Relations contact and told that Apple has made an about face on this issue. Apps using UIGetScreenImage will no longer be greenlit for the App Store. Instead, developers will need to use standard Quartz methods (as mentioned aboved) or migrate their camera capture code to AVFoundation. As Nerurkar points out, this decision will force developers to refactor their code and, in doing so, limit screen capture to iOS 4.0 or later deployment. iPhone 2G users will not Read More

Digital commerce giant eBay announced this morning the international releases of its eBay Selling application and its eBay for iPad application. The free Selling application is now available in Germany and the UK, and the eBay for iPad application is now translated into French, Italian, German and Spanish and currently available through Apple’s 77 iTunes App Stores. In a separate release, eBay also announced that its Android app is now available for free download in the Android Market in Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom. The company says that the new, updated international Android application will feature a number of key upgrades to “My eBay,” immediate checkout through PayPal, and voice search capabilities unique to the Android platform. Sellers in the UK and Germany can now sell items on their local eBay marketplaces with the iPhone app, which already integrates with the RedLaser barcode-scanning technology eBay acquired a couple of weeks Read More

Browsing the App Store this weekend?  Here are fourteen new or updated apps for the iPhone and iPad worth taking a closer look at if you are: Microsoft’s official Bing app has been updated to include the scanning of barcodes and cover art to go with the expanded shopping section, where there are more reviews and price details.  Free, US Only. Online auction house eBay has recently acquired RedLaser, the barcode scanning utility, and staying true to their word they’ve made this previously pay-app available for free!  Free. Designed for both the iPhone and the iPad, this is a pinball game revolving around metal band Slayer.  There are multiple angles for ease of play, with the added bonus of portrait or landscape modes, plus multi-ball and mini games.  The current price is an introductory offer with 40% off the regular price.  $2.99/£1.79. An interactive book which teaches English grammar and provides Read More

...Laser is FREE!!! Go get it. Best barcode scanner. http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/redlaser/id312720263?mt=8... Read More

...gratuita para escanear códigos de barras: http://bit.ly/5luy3Q (cc @JaimeSayYeah)... Read More

...Laser iPhone App for free http://itunes.apple.com/mx/app/redlaser/id312720263?mt=8... Read More

by eBay has acquired RedLaser, a barcode-scanning app that helps users locate the best price for a product and uncover further information, from technology startup Occipital. Occipital will remain a freestanding company. The paid app [iTunes link], which was featured in Apple’s “Shopper” commercial for the iPhone (see below), is now available for free. eBay will begin to add its more than 200 million listings from eBay into the app, along with products from the 7,000 merchants partnered with Shopping.com (which, according to eBay, includes 95 of the top 100 retailers). eBay also intends to integrate RedLaser’s barcode-scanning technology into its own iPhone applications, including eBay Marketplace, eBay Selling, StubHub and Shopping.com, which have already been downloaded by more than 10 million users collectively. Many other applications already use RedLaser’s technology, from grocery shopping lists to gift registries. “Mobile enables consumers to make impulse buys and convenient purchases wherever they are, Read More

Leena Rao currently works as a writer for TechCrunch. She recently finished graduate school at the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University, where she studied business journalism and videography. From 2004 to 2007, she helped lead Congresswoman Carloyn Maloney’s community outreach and relations efforts in New York City. She graduated from Columbia University in 2003, where she was... → Learn More eBay just announced that it has acquired RedLaser, a nifty barcode-scanning application for iPhone, and related technology from Occipital. Terms for the deal were not disclosed. The app has seen over two million downloads from the App Store and is one of the most popular barcode-scanning applications for comparison shopping. RedLaser’s barcode-scanning application, which looks up price comparisons in its product database, was created specifically to deal with non-autofocus cameras (i.e. mobile phones) and has licensed its technology to over 70 companies (though it’s unclear what the future of Read More

...?? Impossibly accurate barcode scanning.? FEATURED ON THE LATEST IPHONE TV AD!? 50% off for a limited time. Hurry, ..... Read More

...@TwitNewApps Top iPhone App: RedLaser - Occipital RedLaser ―― Impossibly accurate barcode scanning. ►... http://bit.ly/a4Gj96... Read More

...@TwitNewApps Top iPhone App: RedLaser - Occipital RedLaser ―― Impossibly accurate barcode scanning. ►... http://bit.ly/a4Gj96... Read More

...one of the best iPhone Apps I've ever bought http://itunes.apple.com/mx/app/redlaser/id312720263?mt=8 http://bit.ly/9RNrjl... Read More

...@TwitNewApps Top iPhone App: RedLaser - Occipital RedLaser ―― Impossibly accurate barcode scanning. ►... http://bit.ly/a4Gj96... Read More

By Jeremy Sikora, Friday, Apr 9, 2010 | Apple recently just release yet another iPhone commercial and this one is called “Shopper”. This particular commercial only highlights one 3rd party application, a barcode scanner app called RedLaser. [iTunes Link - $1.99] The man in the ad is in search for a espresso maker for a gift for his wife. He first uses Safari to do a little research, then he shoots off a text message to seek advice on what color espresso maker to purchase, and finally he uses RedLaser to scan the barcode to check for cheaper prices. It’s all about the apps… Video after the break! [Thanks to everyone who sent this in!] Read More

Our second iPhone advert of the week, after Concert, shows us more of the iPhone’s versatility.  Shopper features a guy on the hunt for a present for his wife, in this case an unromantic – his words – espresso machine and one where he wants to save money as well as ensure it’s in a color she would want. Shopper demonstrates the email and web browser along with a single application; the barcode scanning RedLaser. Both Concert and Shopper are excellent adverts, emphasizing just how helpful the iPhone, or any decent smartphone for that matter, can be.  But the clever part of these two is the way they concentrate on basic Apple smartphone features – email, web and apps – making them potentially relevant to future models too, therefore advertising the ethos of iPhone ownership rather than the product itself. Here’s the ad to enjoy: Read More

8 Apr 2010 alle 06:33 Apple ha rilasciato un nuovo Spot pubblicitario per l’iPhone 3GS. Questa volta viene mostrata una sola applicazione, dimostrando che grazie all’iPhone è davvero semplice fare shopping. Innanzitutto si visita il sito del produttore dell’oggetto che ci interessa. Possiamo poi chiedere il parere a qualche amico tramite SMS ed una volta scelto il colore potremo utilizzare l’applicazione RedLaser per leggere il codice a barre e scoprire se in giro c’è qualcuno che vende lo stesso oggetto ad un prezzo inferiore. Una volta soddisfatti potremo scegliere il negozio ed ottenere anche le informazioni sulla mappa per poterlo raggiungere. La cosa carina dello Spot è che traspare proprio un senso di immediatezza, velocità e comodità per gli acquisti. Read More

...4 #iPhone #iPod #iPad #16: RedLaser from Occipital - http://bit.ly/95VsbG... Read More

...4 #iPhone #iPod #iPad #15: RedLaser from Occipital - http://bit.ly/bm5Hs7... Read More

Finishing up our series about using your iPhone to achieve your New Year’s Resolutions, today we’ll be looking at iPhone apps that will help you save money. 2009 was no one’s idea of a great year from a business standpoint, except maybe for Apple. I imagine that many of us are looking at our bank accounts after holiday spending sprees and figuring out how we’re going to be a bit wiser with our money. Thankfully there are a ton of good choices to help you manage your money on your iPhone whether it’s saving on the things you buy or keeping an eye on your budgets. Note: All links point to iTunes store. Price: $4.99 (free lite version also available) Rating: 3.5 Stars If you want to manage all of your finances on your iPhone, PocketMoney is the app for you. It supports multiple accounts and acts as a simple check register, Read More

If, like every other year, your new year’s resolution is going to be to lose a little bit of that holiday weight, you need to start counting calories.  The iPhone makes that task quite a bit easier and a lot more entertaining with apps like FoodScanner, which is on sale for a limited time. FoodScanner is a barcode scanning app that uses your iPhone’s camera to scan UPC barcodes on the foods you consume.  It uses Occipital’s RedLaser technology, which means it is able to scan barcodes with relative ease and quickness on any iPhone.  Once a barcode has been scanned, the app pulls up all of the nutritional information for that product.  From there you can enter how many servings you have consumed and it will keep track of your total caloric intake for the entire day.  Foods can also be stored as favorites so you don’t have to scan Read More

It’s no secret that the App Store is a highly competitive market. It’s tougher than ever for developers to make a real profit, and most of the revenue is grabbed by big development companies that can afford major advertising costs. There are still, however, some success stories, and Redlaser is the latest one. Redlaser has been one of the top 5 paid apps for over 3 months now without any advertising or marketing whatsoever. The app has been able to reach over 750,000 downloads and bring in over $1m of revenue to Occipital and its 2 developers, but what’s their secret? In their opinion, their success is mainly due to word-of-mouth.  They simply made an app that works well and brings some real value to its users. This actually allowed them later on to be featured in Martha Stewart’s TV show and the Wall Street Journal, which brought them an extra 1,000 apps Read More

Black Friday AwesomenessFirst off, I hope that everyone (in the US) had a great Thanksgiving. It was a fairly standard Thanksgiving this year I think… the Cowboys won, the Lions lost, there was far too much turkey consumed, and everyone patiently awaited for the shopping madness the following day. Black Friday 2009 turned out to be a bit of a drag for normal stores, but was a fantastic day for App Store customers. On Black Friday we posted an article with all the sales that we could find, including sales from almost every major developer in the App Store. It was especially great for those of you that were looking for a new GPS app, as we found 6 different GPS apps significantly reduced in price. Some of the sales are still going I think… and with Cyber Monday being today, we may see a few more go on sale. Boy Read More

Happy Turkey Hangover Day -- or, as it's otherwise known, shopping chaos day 2009. As Mike S. noted earlier, Business Week is calling this season "mobile shopping's first Christmas," and indeed there are plenty of shopper-assist apps in the App Store to help you plot, plan and navigate your gift-grabbing course: Meanwhile, the App Store itself isn't immune to sales fever: plenty of games and other apps have reduced or free prices for the weekend. There are also plenty of discounts on Mac apps as well. What we'd like to know is this: Did any of this advanced technology improve your experience out in the field today? Did you use Twitter to share bargains or Loopt to track your buddies down? Did MMS give you the power to send pictures of presents to your spouse, or did RedLaser [iTunes link] help you find a better price at the next destination? Give Read More

...#iPhone app, Red Laser. Totally worth $2. Scan bar codes & shop. Fantastic! http://j.mp/1mIgQe... Read More

...iPhone app RedLaser (http://bit.ly/1mIgQe) paired with Amazon Prime is pretty amazing... Read More

...US Top Paid iPhone Apps: #3 RedLaser ($1.99) #Utilities - iTunes: http://sli.ms/3x - http://appsaurus.com... Read More

...RedLaser on iPhone. Get RedLaser http://bit.ly/GuwhU. Get Chorus http://bit.ly/15bVfQ... Read More

...RedLaser on iPhone. Get RedLaser http://bit.ly/3oXdXh. Get Chorus http://bit.ly/23FRML... Read More

...UK Top Paid iPhone Apps: #6 RedLaser (£1.19) #Utilities - iTunes: http://sli.ms/Mw - http://appsaurus.com... Read More

...US Top Paid iPhone Apps: #3 RedLaser ($1.99) #Utilities - iTunes: http://sli.ms/Px - http://appsaurus.com... Read More

...for iPhone: Impossibly Accurate Barcode Scanning - http://bit.ly/nDMaB... Read More

...is THE killer iPhone app!! works wonderfully http://bit.ly/R0mDT... Read More

...Might want to check this iPhone app out: http://bit.ly/uZaoa... Read More

...App for #iPhone I have downloaded recently! http://bit.ly/F4hBI Reads barcodes finds best prices online using Google Product Search... Read More

#barcodescanner http://bit.ly/3eoGCe Read More

...10 iPhone App: RedLaser - Occipital http://bit.ly/3oXl94... Read More

By Rene Ritchie, Sunday, Oct 4, 2009 | Every week a few of us from team TiPb, bloggers and forum crew alike, will bring you our current favorite, funnest, most useful App Store apps, WebApps, jailbreak apps, even the occasional accessory, web site, or desktop app if the mood strikes us. As long as they’re iPhone (or iPod touch) related, they’re fair game. So who’s on deck this week and what are our picks? Find out after the break! If there is one game genre the iPhone is lacking in it has to be fighting games. Well, the wait is over folks, Blades of Fury is one awesome game. The best way to think of it is an amazing port of Soul Calibur; this game is really that good. The touch controls work surprisingly well and you can even play you own iPod music. What is it missing? Online multiplayer, but Read More

RedLaser (an application that scans the barcode of a product and then searches online for that product and it’s prices) is not a new application it has been in both the App Store and the jailbreak community for a while now however, the App Store version of the application recently received an update. The update was in review for quite some time and finally made it through the approval process. Version 2.2.0 of the app drastically improves RedLaster’s performance making it as good as the jailbroke version! Actually, with a few of the new features, I would say it is now better than the jailbroke version of the app. The new features of version 2.2.0 include: ✓ Dramatically improved accuracy ✓ Faster scanning ✓ Realtime EAN support ✓ Realtime UPC-E support ✓ Improved Amazon search ✓ Improved Google search in Europe ✓ Titles for many more products ✓ “Clear” option ✓ Read More

...RedLaser Impossibly accurate barcode scanning. http://bit.ly/OBVz2 iTunes: http://bit.ly/p7gpC... Read More

We previously did a review on RedLaser and described that although it was a brilliant concept, the app itself just wasn't enough to be worth downloading. It's been a while since that review was posted and Occipital, the apps creators have since updated their application to include much better performance and many useful features. The original version had a hard time scanning and was a little confusing when it came to getting the shot to read. But even when it did read, the product would sometimes not even show any results. The new version has an autoscan feature where you activated and then line it up with the screen. Once lined up, the app then scans the web for relevant information on Amazon and Google Products. The result is an app that can give users quick web pricing and information just by scanning a barcode. This is a huge improvement over Read More

By Rene Ritchie, Wednesday, Sep 23, 2009 | RedLaser [$1.99 - iTunes link ] scans barcodes, identifies the item your scanning, and then presents Google Product Search and Amazon shopping results for that item. Sound familiar? It should, it was one of the few things we really lusted after when Google demoed the original Android G1 almost a year ago. Go into Barnes & Noble, see a book you like, snap the barcode, and instant price comparison. Boom. You can decide whether you need to buy it immediately or if you prefer to to order it and wait a little. Both the iPhone 2G and 3G lacked the autofocus and short range macro clarity for that task, and while the iPhone 3GS made up for that in large degree, RedLaser is going the extra mile and enabling barcode scanning without using the autofocus. So, yes, it works fine on all generations Read More

By – Red Laser is a great little iPhone app that allows you to scan bar codes and then do several different things. You can instantly access a bunch of online prices and information, beam movies to your TiVo, read book reviews, add a food item to a grocery list, and more. The best part is, it actually works. Go here to read our full review of Red Laser. Get it here from the App Store, for $1.99. The developers, Occipital, have decided to release an updated beta version with extra features for free for jailbreakers via Cydia.    Here's a list of the new features available in the updated version, dubbed Red Laser 2.2b. These features will soon all be available in an updated version of Red Laser in the iTunes App Store. Here's a sample URL (just tap this in your iPhone's Mobile Safari w/ RedLaser installed!):  Scan and Search Amazon with RedLaser. To get the cool new version Read More

Erick Schonfeld is the Editor of TechCrunch. He oversees the editorial content of the site, helps to program the Disrupt conferences and CrunchUps, produces TCTV shows, and writes daily for the blog. He is also the father of three adorable children. He joined TechCrunch as Co-Editor in 2007, and helped take it from a popular blog to... → Learn More Now that the new iPhone 3G S has a video camera, TechStars startup Occipital has released an update to its RedLaser app (iTunes link, $1.99) which speeds up barcode scanning by not requiring you to first take a picture. Occipital claims that its “realtime barcode scanner” is the only one which works on phones with both autofocus (the new 3G S) and without (the older iPhone and iPod Touch). Other barcode scanning apps, such as ShopSavvy’s, can also take advantage of the autofocus camera on the 3G S, but can’t do Read More

Erick Schonfeld is the Editor of TechCrunch. He oversees the editorial content of the site, helps to program the Disrupt conferences and CrunchUps, produces TCTV shows, and writes daily for the blog. He is also the father of three adorable children. He joined TechCrunch as Co-Editor in 2007, and helped take it from a popular blog to... → Learn More Now that the new iPhone 3G S has a video camera, TechStars startup Occipital has released an update to its RedLaser app (iTunes link, $1.99) which speeds up barcode scanning by not requiring you to first take a picture. Occipital claims that its “realtime barcode scanner” is the only one which works on phones with both autofocus (the new 3G S) and without (the older iPhone and iPod Touch). Other barcode scanning apps, such as ShopSavvy’s, can also take advantage of the autofocus camera on the 3G S, but can’t do Read More

Red Laser is a barcode scanning application for the iPhone produced by Occipital. The app is aiming to change the way we create lists, queue movie downloads and many other things. While still early on in its feature implementation, Red Laser can already do many things to help a user with his shopping or product research. In this review, I will be demoing the 2.1 release that hasn't yet made it into the app store. In earlier versions of this app, barcodes would have to be scanned by taking a photo in the app and then sending the photo to their servers. With the new version, the app can automatically scan the barcode to the device and see results almost immediately. The app scans barcodes and then shows results from Google's product search. This allows users to scan in a movie or really any type of media to compare online prices Read More

06.03.09        App Score: 6/10    , a barcode scanner for your iPhone, seems like a great idea in principle, but it practice, its uses are far and few. What Occipital, the developer of RedLaser, intends is for you to be able to take a snapshot of a barcode, upload the image to a database where the captured barcode is deciphered and returned to you as a list of item descriptions and prices. If this sounds familiar to you, you may be thinking of SnapTell Explorer, which I reviewed a while back. Use SnapTell and your iPhone to photograph a book cover, and within minutes you’ll receive a description of the book’s contents and a list of places online where you can buy the title and search for more information about it. RedLaser, as does SnapTell Explorer, uses image-recognition technology to identify the object you’ve just taken a picture Read More

This app does what you would expect from its name. It checks prices. You type in a UPC code, an ISBN number (books and video) or even a name of a product. Pricecheckah [App Store] is US$4.99 At the set up screen you can choose online retailers like Amazon or Buy.com, and brick and mortar retailers like Target or Walmart. You can also add your own. I added Best Buy by just typing bestbuy.com. I typed in a UPC code and the app made several suggestions and did find some better prices. Of course you could do this from any browser using a site like Froogle. This app, of course, is meant to be portable, but you might not be very popular at some retailers doing price comparisons. On the other hand, unless you are in a hurry to buy something, you will likely find a better price online. Some things Read More

I wouldn't have thought it was possible to get an iPhone to capture barcodes clearly, but Occipital has done it with a new $1.99US iPhone app called RedLaser [App Store]. Why capture barcodes? One good use is to find better prices for a product. Scan a product in the store, then RedLaser captures the barcode and does a quick Google or Amazon search to give you quick price comparisons. I tried the app at a bookstore and my local Best Buy and was surprised how well it worked. You need pretty good light to capture a barcode, which is an issue with the iPhone camera, not the RedLaser software. You need to hold the camera steady. The best way is by holding down the button to take the picture, then release when you are steady. RedLaser gives you the option to try again, and guides you on how far the camera Read More