Barcoded wristbands are used throughout the healthcare industry, but what about newborns?

Although barcodes now play a significant role in the healthcare industry, you may not realize just how prevalent they are. In addition to barcode wristbands for adults, babies need them too.

As scary as it sounds, there have been incidents of errors involving newborns including breast feeding and worse—patient discharge. By using barcoded wristbands, hospitals can safely connect the right mother to the right child, connecting the child with their new electronic health record.

However, due to the size of the patient, infant patients can’t just have any barcoded wristband—they need something soft, safe and scalable. An infant’s skin is delicate, so it’s important to use wristband materials that are soft, hypoallergenic, flexible and non-abrasive. In addition to the feel of the wristband, the size needs to be small enough for an infant’s wrist, yet large enough to properly display a barcode.

Finding the right wristbands for infants in the hospital can be tough, but thankfully our friends at Zebra Technologies have put together a white paper entitled, “Key Considerations for Bar Coded Infant Wristband” to help hospitals make more informed decisions and keep newborns safe.

Augmented reality glasses could be coming soon, thanks to Google’s Project Glass

What’s cooler than QR codes or NFC? Augmented reality! Today, Google announced it’s latest project—Project Glass—which, is essentially a pair of augmented reality glasses.

From the video below, it seems as if Google is using augmented reality to allow users to perform such tasks as reply to a message, look up the weather, control their music, take pictures, get directions and have video chats.

Since the augmented reality glasses don’t cover the entire eye, the wearer can still see his or her surroundings and fully function.

Google’s augmented reality glasses are still being tested, and it’s doubtful that they’ll hit the market this year, but—do we really want them?

Share your thoughts on Google’s project glass by commenting below, or on our Facebook or twitter pages.

Is the food you’re eating your safe? Check the barcode to see where it’s from, as food regulations vary by country.

Perhaps the 90’s band, Barenaked Ladies, was onto something with their famed lyrics, “Chickity China the Chinese chicken. You have a drumstick and your brain stops tickin’.” While your brain may not literally stop ticking, since there are no food inspections for foods grown or processed in China, Hong Kong, Vietnam or Thailand, who knows what that chicken could do to you.

Photos were released depicting how chickens in China are slaughtered for consumption. Most of the time, food products will not say, “Made in China,” so how can you tell where your chicken, and other food is coming from?

The barcode! Even if the product doesn’t verbally specify where it originated, each country is assigned a country of origin code, which is always the first three digits of a barcode. For example, products made in the USA have barcodes beginning with 000-019, but beware of barcodes that start with 690-695, meaning they products are made in China.

For a full list of product codes, visit the GS1. And next time you’re in the grocery store, beware of “Chickity China, the Chinese chicken.”

We recently discussed how Google Wallet could be a game changer in mobile payment. Now, Google recently announced that Google Checkout will be replaced by Google Wallet, which allows for in-store payments from an NFC-enabled smartphone in addition to online shopping.

Who Can Use Google Wallet for In-store Purchases?
If you’re a current user of Google Checkout, you’ll be notified about the switch upon login, and any stored payment information will be transferred over. However, Google Wallet has not experienced a wide adoption for in-store purchases, mostly because many smartphones are not yet NFC-enabled.

Only Sprint Nexus S users who also have a Citibank MasterCard or Google prepaid card that are making purchases at MasterCard PayPass-enabled merchants can use Google Wallet. As you can imagine, the percentage of the population who have the phone, card and are shopping at the right retailer is very limited, so don’t expect to see many people shopping this holiday season.

When Will Mobile Purchasing Become the Norm?
During 2012, we will start to see more NFC-enabled mobile phones, but it will probably be a few years before mobile payment experiences widespread usage.

Why Aren’t Retailers Adopting NFC Payment Systems?
NFC-enabled POS equipment can be expensive to install and would have to be integrated with existing systems. Because of this, retailers won’t typically invest until there is a huge consumer demand for it and it will increase sales.

What’s Next?
As more smartphones become NFC-enabled, more consumers will be interested in what their phones new features can do for them. Once retail giants see the demand, larger ones will follow suit, and mobile payment will trickle down the retail hierarchy until, one day, it becomes the norm. The question is when is that day? Share your thoughts on mobile payment adoption in the US by commenting below, or on our Facebook or twitter pages.

Happy Independence Day from Barcoding Inc.! On July 4, 1776, the United States of America declared its independence from Britain. Today, 235 years later, we celebrate with family, friends and those in our communities. Barcoding Inc. wishes everyone a happy and safe 4th of July!