Smartphones help magazines become interactive

Around a decade ago a product called: CueCat was launched which could read bar codes in magazine pages. In the magazines pages could be printed with bar codes, which readers could scan, and then be connected to specific Internet sites with the help of this product. But the subscribers had to install the software, then attach the device to their computer and wave it over the printed bar codes. It wasn’t portable or easy, and, in most cases, it was more trouble than doing a search or typing in a lengthy Web address. That’s a major reason the: CueCat disappeared. Now, the Samrtphones have made the thing much easier and simpler to use and everyone who has a cell phone with internet connection will have a scanner in his/her pocket. An application called ScanLife, widely available online as a free download, turns a phone into a bar-code reader. One of the magazine in its March issue will be using bar codes in the editorial pages which will eventually lead to the advertisers of magazine to come up and say that they can also use this for their ads and hence an added advantage for all as this is a unique learning.