barcode

Making bogus bar codes: Just how hard is it?

Several San Francisco Bay Area Target stores were the recent, uhhh, target of not one, but two unrelated barcode scammers who apparently found the manufactuer's suggested price of Lego sets too much to bear.

The two men allegedly replaced the bar codes on Lego boxes with phony bar codes, allowing them to waltz out of the store with hundreds of dollars worth of the building blocks for a fraction of the actual price.

And to add a touch of "you-can't-make-this-up" flair, one of the accused is a VP at software giant SAP. According to authorities, the … Read more

Comparing prices with Amazon is a snap

With a tap of your finger, Amazon's Price Check app for iPhone lets you cross-check prices against those on Amazon.com. Big time shoppers should definitely consider adding it to their download queues.

Using Price Check is as simple as it gets. Just fire it up, and point your phone's camera at the bar code of a product while you're out shopping. The app will then pull up the matching product (if available) for you to see its price on Amazon.com. If you can't access the bar code, you can also search by typing or … Read more

Comparing prices with Amazon is a snap

With a tap of your finger, Amazon's Price Check app for Android lets you cross-check prices against those on Amazon.com. Big-time shoppers should definitely consider adding it to their app drawers.

Using Price Check is as simple as it gets. Just fire it up, and point your phone's camera at the bar code of a product while you're out shopping. The app will then pull up the matching product (if available) for you to see its price on Amazon.com. If you can't access the bar code, you can also search by typing or saying … Read more

Pull up coupons on your Android

The Coupons App for Android is a bit like an inelegantly designed Swiss Army knife for bargain-shopping. It serves up location-relevant coupons, sniffs out the lowest gas prices in your area, and even helps you compare products with its built-in bar-code scanner.

Usability is certainly not this app's strong point, but once you have it figured out, it works well enough. Swipe left and right through different filters including Food, Stores, and Gas, then once a filter is loaded, swipe up and down to see the deals. If you find a deal you like, tap it to open up … Read more

Amazon Prime adds book borrowing

eBay speaks out against the latest Internet sales tax proposal, BlackBerry Messenger adds a music service, and Amazon sweetens the Kindle with free book-borrowing for Prime subscribers.

Links from Thursday's episode of Loaded:

Amazon Prime adds book borrowing eBay fighting Internet sales tax proposal Apple: Battery fix is coming Flow is a smooth scanning app BlackBerry Messenger Music Subscribe:  iTunes (MP3) |  iTunes (320x180) |  iTunes (HD) |  RSS (MP3) |  RSS (320x180) |  RSS HD

Facebook co-founder leads $7 million round in ShopSavvy

Up until today's $7 million round of funding, mobile shopping app maker ShopSavvy had bootstrapped and survived on its own revenue (more on that later) since its inception in 2008. This was the first app to scan barcodes to search online and local retailers for the best prices.

The round was led by Eduardo Saverin, Facebook co-founder and private investor. Saverin, who wasn't made available for comment, also joins the company's board.

"People have wanted to buy the company or invest, but it took us awhile to find the guy who really understood what we wanted … Read more

Simplify your grocery shopping on Android

Grocery shopping--it can be fun, annoying, relaxing, or done in a rush, but it is always necessary. So why not use a grocery app for your phone that can help make the process go smoother every time? While the number of grocery apps in the Android Market is mind-boggling, the amount of features per app varies greatly. Out of Milk is relatively balanced on features, ease of use, and quality in comparison to many others. Here's how to use it to simplify the necessary task of grocery shopping:

Step 1: Grab Out of Milk from the … Read more

Humble bar code gets its art on

The bar code, that strip of black-and-white stripes that adorns nearly everything you buy, has been an unchanging symbol of consumerism for decades.

Lately, however, companies are starting to loosen up about the look of those parallel lines, and more playful product codes are starting to appear on the shelves. Several design firms are catering to this emerging market, including Design Barcodes and Vanity Barcodes.

And why not? If we consumers, not to mention cashiers, the world over have to look at these graphics all the time, they can at least be interesting. Anything beats having prison bars called to mind every time you pick up a loaf of bread.

Most creative bar codes use the vertical lines themselves as elements of an interesting design, rather than simply putting a pretty frame around the code. The familiar black-and-white stripes become falling water, hair, buildings, train tracks, a stack of magazines, or even trod-on chewing gum. … Read more

Add titles to your Google Books bookshelf in a snap with your Android phone

Google Books has great tools for keeping track of things you've read, are reading, or want to read. However, it can be a cumbersome task to add each book to the virtual bookshelf individually. So instead of spending countless minutes keying in numbers, follow these steps so you can easily scan and add all your books at once:

1. Install Barcode2File from the Android Market.

2. Open the app and press the Scan barcode button to start collecting a list of ISBNs from the books (one list at a time).

3. Once you're finished scanning, press … Read more