BY JAMES COOKE, EDITOR AT LARGE
techwatch
comparing Apples to … handhelds?
WHEN IT COMES TO PRODUCT INNOVATION, APPLE’S TRACK
record is hard to beat. The Cupertino, Calif.-based electronics maker
developed the first personal computer, the iPod, the iPhone, and the
iPad. It has proved equally adept at devising creative uses for its
devices. For instance, within the past few years, Apple has adapted
some of its products for use in data collection. And that could have
implications for distribution operations.
Last year, Apple rolled out an add-on feature for its iPod Touch
that allows the device to double as a high-tech data collection termi-
nal. That system, known as EasyPay Touch, consists of a hard plastic
case that fits over the iPod Touch and contains both a mag stripe
reader (for swiping credit cards) and a bar-code scanner. The device,
Right now, the EasyPay Touch is a proprietary sys-
tem that’s used exclusively in Apple stores. The com-
pany has yet to say whether it will make the add-on
technology available to other retailers. And it has
given no indication that it’s developing versions for
industrial applications. (Apple’s media department
did not return a call requesting comment.)
Apple may not be going after the industrial data
collection market just yet, but at least two third-party developers of
data capture technology have jumped in the game. One is
Serialio.com of Santa Barbara, Calif. Serialio.com has developed a
bar-code scanner called Scanfob 2002 that works with the iPhone,
iPad, and third generation or higher versions of the iPod Touch. (It
can also connect with the Android or BlackBerry.)
The Scanfob comes with a scan engine to read bar codes and a
built-in wireless Bluetooth radio to transmit scanned data to a device
like the iPod Touch. When equipped with the device, an iPhone or
iPod Touch doubles as a mobile computer that collects information
and transmits it via Wi-Fi to another computer. (I should note here
that in order to do this, you first have to install Serialio.com’s Grid-
In-Hand Mobile Grid software application, which is available free at
Apple’s i Tunes Store.) Although the system was not designed specifi-
cally for logistics-related tasks, Serialio.com’s president, David
Boydston, says some of the company’s customers
are using the Scanfob scanner and Apple equip-
ment in their distribution operations.
