Whereas QR codes are effectively 2D barcodes that have to take up space on a page, NewsFlash is effectively invisible to the human eye. That’s because it uses flashes of pink and green light that the human eye effectively averages out and does not see; however, the camera on your smartphone can see these pulses, which are then effectively translated as binary code that your phone can then understand. Using the NewsFlash app, you are then redirected accordingly.

In the video below, as an example, a scan of a newspaper page on a tablet sends the smartphone to the same article within the app. In much the same way, a NewsFlash scan of a newspaper in a foreign language can send you an English translation of that article automatically. Of course, this will only work with lit displays and not printed materials, since regular paper can’t flash pink and green, but this could prove interesting in certain signage and other scenarios.

[Source]

The post MIT NewsFlash Uses Light as Alternative to QR Codes appeared first on Mobile Magazine.

Technology is certainly making our lives a whole lot easier, and one of the best things to have happened should be online shopping. Although it has been around for a while, it has started to become a lot more convenient all thanks to a new way to shop for products. All you have to do is scan an item from an ad with your smartphone on your way somewhere, and the product gets shipped to your home later on.

The scan-now-buy-later way of shopping of course is not new. One of the earliest advertisements of this service was on the subway platforms in South Korea, and then it spread across Europe. And recently, US retailer Giant started advertising their Peapod online shopping service on the train platforms.

So instead of playing games on your smartphone while you wait for your train, you can use the handset to do some shopping. You just have to open the Peapod app on your device and scan codes from an image of products on photo shelves. The products will be delivered to your doorstep later, and that will definitely save you a lot of time.

But, all this is also a way to sell more products. If a customer won’t manage to find time to come to the products, retailers will make sure that the products go to the customers.

The post Scan Now Ship Later: A New Way To Do Grocery Shopping appeared first on Mobile Magazine.