| Circular patterns ease cameraphone web access |
Jun. 29, 2005
 OP3 AB has come up with an ingenious way for cameraphone users to quickly and easily access product- or service-related information on the Web from their phones. Once equipped with a small (18KB) freely downloadable software program, users point their cameraphones at a circular "ShotCode" pattern, and snap a photo of it. After that, OP3's servers automatically "broker a connection" that lets the phone display the desired destination Web page, according to the company.
OP3's ShotCodes are vaguely like circular barcodes, which encode data within linear, rather than circular, patterns. ShotCodes can be printed on product packaging, in newspaper or magazine ads, on posters, or anywhere a quick link to information on the Web is desired. As an example of a typical noncommercial use, OP3 suggests, "Say you would like to sell your bike on ebay, you can now easily point a ShotCode to your auction's URL and hang this ShotCode on your local supermarket's [bulletin] board."
 
How about a tee-shirt or business card that points to your blog?
The ShotCode reader software is free, and there is no charge for making or modifying ShotCodes. Additionally, non-commercial use of OP3's ShotCode service is also free. (When used non-commercially, ads are included in the Web results that users see on their phones, according to OP3.)
Companies wanting to use print ShotCodes on their products or promotional materials are required to pay monthly fees in order to make use of OP3's wireless Web-access service. However, the "commercial" version of the service dispenses with the ads that are delivered along with the Web pages of non-commercial content providers version.
Currently, the required ShotCode client application program only runs on a dozen of so Nokia and Siemens cameraphones. However, OP3 says it plans to release a Java version of its ShotCode software "within a couple of weeks," that should result in many more cameraphones being able to use ShotCodes. The company is also in the process of adding "a range of power user features which our members are requesting," according to CEO and founder, Dennis Hettema.
This week, OP3 announced that it has added "automatic optimization" of standard Internet pages to its service, making them readable on the tiny displays of cameraphones.
The ShotCode camera software is available for free download on OP3's ShotCode website, as is downloadable software for generating ShotCodes for both commercial and noncommercial use.
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