4 ms·

Interesting that it uses the zxing library [1] which doesn't support EAN/UPC yet (on iPhone) and they have written EAN/UPC scanning and haven't been kind enough

Interesting that it uses the zxing library [1] which doesn't support EAN/UPC yet (on iPhone) and they have written EAN/UPC scanning and haven't been kind enough to donate the code back to zxing. I guess that would remove their developer license revenue stream [2]. I assume they use Amazon to get EAN->item mapping which is against the amazon TOS. If they don't I love to know what they do use. [1] - http://code.google.com/p/zxing/ http://code.google.com/p/zxing/ [2] - http://redlaser.com/SDK.aspx http://redlaser.com/SDK.aspx

ZeroGravitas 17y ago
I thought the iPhone didn't support those kind of barcodes due to physics based limitations of the camera/lens. If they're doing something really clever to read these barcodes it makes some sense to not just give it away. The Apache licence does give them that option.
- davepeck 17y ago
  All iPhones have good enough optics to detect 2D barcodes like QR Code. Linear barcodes like UPC were trickier until the iPhone 3GS, which has variable focus camera hardware that also admits direct access to camera frames. On the 3GS, barcode scanning is a cake walk. There are many surprising things about RedLaser's success, but technology isn't one of them. I agree with OP that apparent violations of licensing (access to Amazon.com via mobile is not allowed) are surprising. Most surprising to me is how well RedLaser has sold given that barcode scanning was antiquated over a year ago by products like SnapTell. Why scan a UPC code when you can just take a picture of the cover of a book and have the product found just as fast, with as good or better accuracy? No matter if your photo is blurry, or badly lit, or out of focus, or only grabs a part of the book's cover...
  - dminor 17y ago
    I'm surprised it's selling at all. Aren't there any decent free barcode apps for the iPhone?
  - jodrellblank 17y ago
    The picture on the redlaser homepage shows someone scanning a packet of Quaker Oats. Does SnapTell handle food/drink/other supermarket goods?
  - ErrantX 17y ago
    Why scan a UPC code when you can just take a picture of the cover of a book and have the product found just as fast Surely the error rate of that compared to bar codes is much higher. For common products Im sure it works just as well but bar code scanning doesn't degrade for edge cases in the same way.
    - davepeck 17y ago
      You should try it. It is remarkably great, and while I can't speak to error rates I believe that it is on par or better than a good camera-based scanner. Also: using SnapTell with my decades-old textbooks in Greek religion confirms it's not just for "common" products. (Disclosure: I have nothing whatsoever to do with SnapTell, but I have been consistently impressed with the technology.)
  - conquest 17y ago
    Where did you confirm that these guys use amazon for their product look up? I've been wondering what they use to look up the products and get images, etc.
- sil3ntmac 17y ago
  As they state on http://www.redlaser.com/SDK.aspx http://www.redlaser.com/SDK.aspx : "WARNING: 10/14/2009 The RedLaser SDK currently uses an unpublished function to access video frames. Very recently, others have indicated that this will likely lead to rejection of any application using this function, including any application with the RedLaser SDK. We are working hard to find a solution, as we believe there is great potential for this technology on the iPhone. Please take this into account when considering use of the RedLaser SDK." So they probably analyze a lot of different video frames before finding an accurate one.
  - grinich 17y ago
    So they probably analyze a lot of different video frames before finding an accurate one. The main camera app does this too.
- capablanca 17y ago
  And then there's that hack where you get two similar frames and interpolate and generate a higher resolution image.
jeffpowers 17y ago
Actually ZXing is a very very small part of RedLaser. We are thinking about kicking back our C++ port to the community!

ZeroGravitas 17y ago

I thought the iPhone didn't support those kind of barcodes due to physics based limitations of the camera/lens. If they're doing something really clever to read these barcodes it makes some sense to not just give it away. The Apache licence does give them that option.

davepeck 17y ago
All iPhones have good enough optics to detect 2D barcodes like QR Code. Linear barcodes like UPC were trickier until the iPhone 3GS, which has variable focus camera hardware that also admits direct access to camera frames. On the 3GS, barcode scanning is a cake walk. There are many surprising things about RedLaser's success, but technology isn't one of them. I agree with OP that apparent violations of licensing (access to Amazon.com via mobile is not allowed) are surprising. Most surprising to me is how well RedLaser has sold given that barcode scanning was antiquated over a year ago by products like SnapTell. Why scan a UPC code when you can just take a picture of the cover of a book and have the product found just as fast, with as good or better accuracy? No matter if your photo is blurry, or badly lit, or out of focus, or only grabs a part of the book's cover...
- dminor 17y ago
  I'm surprised it's selling at all. Aren't there any decent free barcode apps for the iPhone?
- jodrellblank 17y ago
  The picture on the redlaser homepage shows someone scanning a packet of Quaker Oats. Does SnapTell handle food/drink/other supermarket goods?
- ErrantX 17y ago
  Why scan a UPC code when you can just take a picture of the cover of a book and have the product found just as fast Surely the error rate of that compared to bar codes is much higher. For common products Im sure it works just as well but bar code scanning doesn't degrade for edge cases in the same way.
  - davepeck 17y ago
    You should try it. It is remarkably great, and while I can't speak to error rates I believe that it is on par or better than a good camera-based scanner. Also: using SnapTell with my decades-old textbooks in Greek religion confirms it's not just for "common" products. (Disclosure: I have nothing whatsoever to do with SnapTell, but I have been consistently impressed with the technology.)
- conquest 17y ago
  Where did you confirm that these guys use amazon for their product look up? I've been wondering what they use to look up the products and get images, etc.
sil3ntmac 17y ago
As they state on http://www.redlaser.com/SDK.aspx http://www.redlaser.com/SDK.aspx : "WARNING: 10/14/2009 The RedLaser SDK currently uses an unpublished function to access video frames. Very recently, others have indicated that this will likely lead to rejection of any application using this function, including any application with the RedLaser SDK. We are working hard to find a solution, as we believe there is great potential for this technology on the iPhone. Please take this into account when considering use of the RedLaser SDK." So they probably analyze a lot of different video frames before finding an accurate one.
- grinich 17y ago
  So they probably analyze a lot of different video frames before finding an accurate one. The main camera app does this too.
capablanca 17y ago
And then there's that hack where you get two similar frames and interpolate and generate a higher resolution image.

jeffpowers 17y ago

Actually ZXing is a very very small part of RedLaser. We are thinking about kicking back our C++ port to the community!