The Intermec CN50 and CN4 were recently pronounced to be the first rugged mobile computers to meet the Mil Spec standards testing requirements, certified to operate on the new AT&T GSM/HSPA network, the nation’s fastest 3G network. Users of the CN50 and CN4 can now transmit and receive cell phone quality voice calls while simulaneously using data speeds that are faster than that of any other rugged mobile computers on the market today, enhancing the mobile ocmputer user experience with large data file transfers and interactive video applications.

The ruggedness of the CN50 and CN4 combined with the reliability of the AT&T network reduces downtime from damaged systems, enabling businesses to lower the total cost of owning a mobility solution. By joining forces Intermec and AT&T customers can leverage even the most intensive enterprise applications more quickly, efficiently, and reliably, ultimately maximizing overall service and delivery.

For more information on the Intermec CN50, you can learn more here.

For more information on the Intermec CN4, you can learn more here.

Premier Foods, one of the UK’s leader in food manufacturing, needed to review their data quality while updating product information for customers on the GS1 UK Data Pool. After just one customer, they realized that there were over 300 products with data inaccuracies.

Premier Foods decided to set up a centralized data pool team to ensure that all of the data in the pool can be updated by using a single account with a standard process in place. First, a data cleansing exercise was done in order to ensure that all of the product attributes were accurate, updated, an available. From there, Premier Foods was able to integrate their new process with a Product Information Management, or PIM, system.

By using the GS1 UK Data Pool, Premier Foods was able to:

• Enable complete product traceability that helps to meet increasing food safety legislation and consumer demand for product information
• Exchange accurate product information with trading partners at all times
• Cleans data easily before updating product information, ensuring that both the manufacturer and customer improve their data quality through the identification and clarification of legacy data
• Increase the speed to market for new product launches

Because of the increasing pressure to comply with new regulations in the food industry, the GS1 UK Data Pool will allow companies such as Premier Foods to easily update product data and upload it into the GS1 database for faster and more accurate information exchange.

Project LAMBERT, or Language Acquisition Manipulatives Blending Early-childhood Research and Technology, has been implemented in certain schools in Louisiana and Texas in order to help pre-school age deaf children learn American Sign Language. The system was designed by researchers at Southeastern University and basically involves placing RFID tags on toys.

The toys are equipped with passive 125 kHz RFID tags that can be easily read by the RFID interrogator. Once the toy is read, it triggers an action for a video on the computer screen to play, showing a person demonstrating the toy’s sign, in addition to other pictures of the object so that the child can become familiar with different versions of it.

By combining real objects with RFID technology, the children are more engaged. The LAMBERT system comes as a kit with a laptop or desktop PC, a small RFID reader that can easily be plugged into the computer’s USB port, ad objects with RFID tags attached to them. There are 25 tagged objects in the kit total, ranging from toy airplanes, to balls, and even household items.

Best of all, the system can also help hearing parents of deaf children to learn sign language as well, making the LAMBERT system an engaging and fun way to learn sign language for both parents and children alike.

We at barcode.com have been anxiously awaiting the arrival of QR codes in the US. While QR codes, or 2D barcodes do not have as much momentum here as they do in Japan yet, the future looks promising. Dick’s Sporting goods decided to launce its new mobile site by using QR codes on the world’s largest HDTV at the new Cowboys Stadium. Dick’s larger than life QR code was unveiled during the 3rd quarter of the University of Oklahoma vs. Bringham Young University on Saturday, September 5, 2009. The stadium jumbotron directed fans to use their smart phones in order to check out the company’s new mobile site, http://dsports.mobi, for an exclusive $10 discount.

While other American companies have implemented QR code campaigns, none have done it in such a large way, exposing such a massive amount of people to the technology at once. Even those without a QR capable phone were included in the launce. An announcer instructed fans to take pictures of the QR code that was displayed on the jumbtron, and fans with the readers were immediately taken to the site. Fans without the reader were able to simply enter the url in their phone’s browser, or by taking a photo of the jumbotron and e-mailing it to Dicks.

By actively engaging consumers in the launch, the campaign was a great way to reach a lot of customers and introduce them to QR code technology all at once. As phones begin to ship with pre-loaded QR code readers and more and more American companies such as Kidrobot and Dicks implement QR code campaigns, QR codes should be a fully implemented reality in the US in no time!

If you’re a consumer and have ever seen the tag on your mattress, you may have wondered if it was really illegal to remove the tag. While it is perfectly legally for the consumer to remove the tag once purchased, it is illegal for manufacturers to sell their products without one.

Because of this, manufacturers need to make sure that the tags they use are durable and can withstand various modes of transportation. Therefore, manufactures are in constant search of a durable, legible tag in order to avoid costly penalties from the law.

Intermec offers their Duratran II Synthetc tag, which is tested and approved by the International Association of Bedding and Furniture Law Officials (IABFLO), providing a safe and durable way to properly label mattresses, pillows, and other household items.

The Intermec Duratran II Synthetic tag offers a smooth finish and best in class thermal transfer print quality, eliminating barcode scan failures. In addition, the tags are very easy to sew, ensuring manufacturers that their existing equipment will be compatible with Intermec’s material, despite the extremely high tear strength of the tag. In addition, the tags offer:

• Excellent print quality that outperforms many competing products
• Competitive pricing
• Thermal transfer printability
• Support for high resolution barcodes with crisp graphics and fonts

For more information regarding the Intermec Duratran II Synthetic tag, you can learn more here.