SCHAMBURG, Ill.-Motorola Inc., Symbol Technologies Inc., Connect Things Inc. and AirClic Inc. announced a plan to form a new e-commerce company based on scanning bar codes.
They have collectively invested $500 million in the effort. The company intends to create a registry of Web codes, or bar codes containing instructions for executing specific tasks. Using Symbol’s bar code scanning technology, wireless phones, cable TV set-top boxes and other Internet devices would be able to access the Internet by scanning bar codes that will be embedded on products, publications like brochures and on television screens with an ad running in the background.
Users interested in the product can use their wireless phone, for instance, to scan the bar code on the screen of the television or brochure and be connected directly to specific Web sites to order the product. At the same time, information will be sent instantly to the new company’s Web code registry, which will interpret the nature of the inquiry and deliver the appropriate information back to users.
