Mobile and wireless Internet technology is growing leaps and bounds with every passing day and the thin line between Internet and real world is somewhat blurred. One example of this development is mobile bar codes. Bar codes are being used in a variety of places for numerous products and are redefining the meaning of the term virtual world. The impact on the unlocked cell phone market, particularly the upgraded 3G GSM models, has been profound. It has added a dimension to the US cellular environment that will be everlasting.

The arrival of bar codes was marked by linear bar codes or 1D. They are comprised of a series of little black lines separated by white space at certain width that are read by bar code reader or bar coder. Bar coder receives information about the product by reading these lines or bar codes. Bar code reader or a bar coder consists of a light source, light sensor and a lens that converts optical signals into electronic waves. The decoder circuitry analyses the image data provided by sensor and sends it to the output port of a scanner.

A new breakthrough in mobile bar code technology is 2D code or matrix code. This bar code is a series of black and white squares encoding thousands of characters that suddenly opened up the gates for many more applications, as lots of data can now be stored in the bar codes. The different variations in 2D bar codes are Aztec, Data matrix, Trillcode, QR codes, EZcode and mCode. This 2D bar code invention paved the way for using cheap GSM unlocked camera phones as bar code readers or bar coders.

Various applications use bar codes. It can be a request for some content or service on web. You can activate downloads like ring tones, music and can receive a promotional scheme through text messaging. You can buy a baseball game ticket and can make your travel plans. You can even click to call a virtual assistant.

Bar codes are now being used for wireless advertising. This helps in producing and providing more targeted advertising content to prepaid unlocked cell phone users. The main advantage of bar code advertising is that it is permission based and is not intrusive. An example of this type of advertising campaign can be an electronic advertisement provided with a window cling for a vehicle after entering in agreement with the owner. This window cling is printed with a phone number and a unique code for that vehicle. A 3G GSM unlocked cell phone user can text the identifying code to the phone number mentioned and he will then receive the advertisements on his prepaid cheap unlocked cell phone. This kind of advertising is cheap and effective.

Google has vitalized bar codes through their print ads service. ScanLife is an application behind the sprint ads.  Users just need to scan EZcode (2D bar code) and they can have access to any information they want.

The camera equipped 3G GSM cheap prepaid unlocked cell phones can be used as bar code readers. They can read 2D bar codes that have handles on them to allow bar code software to take care of the image that is otherwise of poor quality with 1D bar codes. Doubling up a 3G GSM phone as a bar code reader helps to aggregate a lot of information like reviews, discount coupons and product details without any special device. Some of the prepaid GSM unlocked cell phones that can work as bar code readers or bar coders are Nokia N series, Nokia E series, Nokia 6220 Classic, iPhone. LG is now taking the initiative by preloading ScanLife 2D bar code application on its camera phones.

Bar code reading GSM unlocked cell phones with camera and 3G technologies are a global phenomenon fast catching up. The mobile bar coding comes with its share of advantages and can become a mainstream advertising platform.

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