qode® Makes Front Page Of The New York Times

Demonstrating The Cellphone Code Reader

In some Asian countries, bar code readers come installed on new cellphones. For now in the United States, consumers who want to try the technology have to download the reader software.

The capabilities are still rudimentary in America, but here is a basic demonstration.

Barcodes can be read using qode® software from NeoMedia Technologies. The software will work on many phones — like new models of Motorola’s Razr and Rokr, some Nokia phones, most new Sony Ericsson phones, and Samsung models. It will not work on any Palm devices or phones offered by Verizon yet.

To see if your phone is capable of operating the barcode reader, visit get.qode.com on your phone’s Web browser. Alternatively, you can send the word “qode” in a text message to 66268, and instructions will be sent to your phone.

Once the reader program is installed, start the program, aim your camera phone at the barcode above and then take a photo. The code will then initiate a response on your phone’s screen.

You can view that response even if the qode® website says that your phone cannot use the barcode reader. On the site, click on qode®Window and enter the keyword "NYTCODE" to see the response the bar code generates.

Source: The New York Times

Barcodes Can Talk With Your Cellphone

It sounds like something straight out of a futuristic film: House hunters, driving past a for-sale sign, stop and point their cellphone at the sign. With a click, their cellphone screen displays the asking price, the number of bedrooms and baths and lots of other details about the house. Media experts say that cellphones, the Swiss Army knives of technology, are quickly heading in this direction. New technology, already in use in parts of Asia but still in development in Europe and North America, allows the phones to connect everyday objects to the Internet.

In their new incarnation, cellphones become a sort of digital remote control, as one CBS executive put it. With a wave, the phone can read encoded information on everyday objects and translate that into videos, pictures or text files on its screen.

“The cellphone is the natural tool to combine the physical world with the digital world,” that executive, Cyriac Roeding, the head of mobile-phone applications for CBS, said the other day.

In Japan, McDonald’s customers can already point their cellphones at the wrapping on their hamburgers and get nutrition information on their screens. Users there can also point their phones at magazine ads to receive insurance quotes, and board airplanes using their phones rather than paper tickets. And film promoters can send their movie trailers from billboards.

Advertisers say they are interested in offering similar capabilities in the United States, but cellphones in the States do not come with the necessary software. For now, consumers have to download the technology themselves.

Still, big advertising and technology companies like Hewlett-Packard and Publicis Groupe, an advertising conglomerate, are pushing to popularize the technology here via the formation of the Mobile Codes Consortium.

Until now, in most parts of the world, Web surfing has been separate from everyday activities like riding the train, watching television and driving. But the new technology may erode that distinction.

“You’ve picked up this product, and you don’t want to go back to your PC,” said Tim Kindberg, a senior research at the Bristol, England, lab of Hewlett-Packard. “Or you’re outside this building, and you want more information. We call it the physical hyperlink.”

In much the same way that Web publishing took off because of the ability to link to other people’s sites, cellphone technologies linking everyday objects with the Web would reveal the digitally encoded attributes of tangible things on grocery shelves or newsstands.

“Everything in the physical world has information related to it somewhere electronically, including yourself and the desk you’re sitting in,” said Chas Fritz, chief executive of NeoMedia Technologies, a company developing these cellphone capacities.

The most promising way to link cellphones with physical objects is a new generation of bar codes: square-shaped mosaics of black and white boxes that can hold much more information than traditional bar codes. The cameras on cellphones scan the codes, and then the codes are translated into videos, music, or text on the phone screens.

Datamatrix barcodes are already appearing in the United States on some state drivers’ licenses and on some mailing labels, mostly for commercial use.

There are other technologies being developed for consumers to scan objects, including radio waves, computer chips, or satellite location systems, but the bar code technology is the most developed — and simple and cheap enough even for individuals to publish them on printed materials or on Web sites.

But Hewlett-Packard and the Publicis Groupe are meeting for the second time with cellphone carriers and handset manufacturers in May to advocate for the technology. Companies like Motorola and Microsoft have also been researching uses for the codes.

In Japan, the codes did not become mainstream until the largest cellphone companies started loading the code readers on all new phones a few years ago. Now, millions of people have the capability built into their phones, and businesses, in turn, are using them all over — on billboards, street signs, published materials and even food packaging.

In the late 1990s, several dozen start-up companies tried to create devices that would scan print content and ads and then reveal extra information to the reader. But consumers balked at using a special device only to interact with magazines and newspapers.

But now the time seems right for cellphones, ubiquitous and increasingly sold with cameras, to be pressed into service as the scanners.

“There are three things you tend to carry — your keys, your wallet and your phone,” said Rishad Tobaccowala, chief executive of Denuo, a unit of the Publicis Groupe that focuses on emerging and future technologies.“ I can see something in advertising in one place, scan it with my phone and recall it later when I am shopping. Or, imagine, I can buy it using my phone.”

About a third of the 84 million households with cellphones in the United States have phones that have cameras on them, according to Forrester Research, and that number is expected to grow as consumers replace their phones. But few people with those phones have downloaded the software to read the codes.

In Japan, some highway billboards have codes large enough for passing motorists to read them with their phones. Hospitals put them on prescriptions, allowing pharmacies to instantly scan the medical information rather than read it. Supermarkets stick them on meat and egg packaging to give expiration dates and even the names of the farmers who produced them.

One of the most popular uses in Japan has been paperless airline tickets. About 10 percent of the people who take domestic flights of All Nippon Airways now use the codes on their cellphones instead of printed tickets.

Yasuko Nishigai, 22, used her cellphone recently to buy a ticket from Tokyo to the Japanese tropical island of Okinawa. To board her flight, she waved the code on her cellphone screen over a scanner.

“I didn’t use a single piece of paper, just my phone,” she said.

The codes are “a natural extension of print,” said Nina Link, the president of the Magazine Publishers Association. “How many times have you engaged with a magazine and you’ve seen something and you’ve said, ‘Boy, I’d really like to remember to get that information.’ And you have to remember to write down the URL.”

The new technology would allow phones to read the codes from computer screens, too. Commuters rushing out the door could scan Web sites on their computer screens with their phones to take the content with them.

MySpace users could put a code on their personal pages, so that their friends can quickly transfer the profiles to their phones.

The technology would also allow advertisers to do something they could never effectively do before: monitor the impact of their ads in old media like magazines and billboards by measuring how often their codes are clicked.

In the Philippines, the Daily Philippines newspaper has run ads with the codes. In Britain, News Group Newspapers, the division of the News Corporation that includes newspapers like The Sun, is testing the codes along with some of its sports articles. Readers can scan the code in the newspaper and then see videos relating to the article. Similarly, Economie Matin, a magazine in France, is testing the codes.

In the United States last fall, the Canadian alternative rock band Barenaked Ladies placed the codes on concert posters. The publisher Prentice Hall is including the codes in a new marketing textbook for undergraduates so that they can get updates on case studies using the codes.

Executives at Verizon, AT&T and Sprint declined to say whether they were in discussions with the companies that make the code reading technology. Barcode companies said the carriers stood to benefit from the codes because they might encourage consumers to add Internet service plans to their accounts and spend more time on their phones.

The wireless companies have other options to help cellphones interact with the physical world. They could, for instance, adopt image recognition software, which would allow phones to recognize anything — a Coca-Cola can, for example — and deliver related information. Or, text messaging, currently the most common way that advertisers interact with consumers on their phones, has many advertiser applications.

Advertisers have also experimented with Bluetooth wireless devices and radio frequency identification to beam messages from billboards to consumers’ cellphones, but those technologies are more expensive than the codes.

Even if the wireless companies adopt the barcodes, they will have several formats to choose from. The most widely used ones have names like Semacode, QR Code and qode.

Getting consumers to use new technologies like these codes takes a lot of marketing by the carriers, said David Oberholzer, associate director of content programming at Verizon Wireless. He said Verizon is just starting to profit from the work it did to create interest in text messaging.

“The consumer needs a reason to do it,” said Jim Levinger, chief executive of Nextcode, a barcode company. “They don’t just wake up and say, hey let’s go scan some barcodes."

Source: The New York Times

NeoMedia's qode® Debuts At CTIA 2007

Experience qode® At CTIA Wireless 2007

NeoMedia Technologies, a global leader in mobile enterprise and marketing technology, announced today that its flagship qode® platform will be on exhibit in four different locations at CTIA Wireless 2007 at the Orange County Convention Center, Orlando, Fla from March 27 to March 29.

qode® is a revolutionary new mobile solution, providing One Click to Content™ Mobile Web Connectivity from handsets, as well as end-to-end mobile ticketing and mobile couponing solutions. qode® is the only comprehensive mobile solution available to marketers and enterprises today.

People attending CTIA Wireless 2007 can experience the power of the qode® solution at the following locations:

• qode® booth: Booth #5454 (Hall D)

• The qode® Experience: Outside Hall D, our booth #5454 will have a team to direct you.
  

• E-tech Awards exhibit: The E-Tech Awards Display will be located prominently in the Hall C Lobby.
  

• QUALCOMM Booth #1645 (Hall A3)

"This is our broadest exposure at a CTIA event to date," said Chas Fritz, acting CEO and chairman of NeoMedia Technologies.

"Our industry-leading BREW application will be demonstrated in the QUALCOMM booth, our involvement in the E-tech awards competition has positioned us in the special showcase for the E-tech Award participants, and we will be demoing the entire suite in our booth and in the exclusive "qode® experience" mobile demonstration vehicle," Fritz said. "As the only 2D code reading solution vendor actively exhibiting in this leading industry event, the broad coverage will allow more people at the show to experience the qode® solution."

NeoMedia's qode includes qode®reader and qode®window, providing One Click to Content™ connectivity for products, print, packaging and other physical objects to link directly to specific desired content via the mobile internet. qode reader works with camera-enabled phones, letting users "click" on 2-dimensional "smartcodes" for a direct connection to desired multimedia information, advertising, promotions and content, etc., and qode window lets users enter a key word, slogan, barcode number or other unique identifier, for similar connection. The qode® mobile ticketing and couponing solution consists of a back-end system for ticket/coupon generation and validation as well as readers that can be deployed in a stand-alone configuration, integrated into venue turnstiles/entryways, or combined in point-of-sale systems.

Ride The qode® Experience At CTIA 2007

NeoMedia's qode® Available For BREW

NeoMedia Technologies, a global leader in mobile enterprise and marketing technology, announced today that its flagship qode® barcode reader technology is available as a BREW® application for mobile devices. QUALCOMM's flexible BREW® offerings provide industry-leading publishers and developers with the tools necessary to create compelling mobile content services and applications.

Any wireless service provider offering BREW® services can now choose to provide qode® via its wireless data offerings. qode® on BREW® will enable content and media companies to market their services and extend their brand through camera phones.

By extending its qode® application and technology to the BREW® solution, NeoMedia has "broadly expanded its coverage of the market space," said Chas Fritz, acting CEO and chairman of NeoMedia Technologies.

"By offering qode® as a BREW® application, NeoMedia has been able to add over 45 mobile handsets to our portfolio of qode® handsets," Fritz said. "By leveraging QUALCOMM's BREW® solution, we have significantly increased handset coverage for qode® with a solution that has proven to be successful in the global wireless market."

"NeoMedia's qode® has demonstrated that mobile content extends beyond ringtones and wallpapers to include something as innovative as a barcode reader application," said Christophe Bernard, staff manager, developer relations for QUALCOMM Internet Services. "qode® on BREW® represents a positive step for NeoMedia in extending the reach of its qode® service, which will help assist wireless service providers in offering truly differentiated service offerings to wireless end users."

NeoMedia's qode® includes qode®reader and qode®window, providing One Click to Content™ connectivity for products, print, packaging and other physical objects to link directly to specific desired content via the mobile internet. qode®reader works with camera enabled phones, letting users "click" on 2-dimensional "smart codes" for a direct connection to desired multimedia information, advertising, promotions and content, etc., and qode®window lets users enter a key word, slogan, barcode number or other unique identifier, for similar connection.

BREW® solutions change the way people relate to wireless data services. By enabling discovery and delivery of high-value content, BREW® creates opportunities for the wireless industry to enhance consumers' mobile data experience. QUALCOMM's comprehensive and targeted BREW® Signature Solutions offer reduced time-to-market and lower capital investment for companies providing mobile products and services. Customers can also benefit from several modular BREW® offerings, including uiOne™, deliveryOne™ and QPoint™, which provide the foundation for customer-differentiated wireless data capabilities.

NeoMedia & Mobalis Power +Mas Nescafe

NeoMedia Technologies and Latin American Mobile Marketing agency Mobalis have teamed up to power +mas Nescafe's Amnesia World Tour 2007.

Mobalis, a multimedia Mobile Marketing agency and one of NeoMedia's partners in Latin America, offering a "one-stop shop" complete mobile solution for the Mexican market, is responsible for the interactive implementation at the +mas Nescafe Amnesia World Tour.

With an infusion of international Dj's, electronic music, and enthusiastic youth culture, +mas Nescafe will be using NeoMedia's mobile qode® technology to interact with consumers during the 2007 Amnesia World Tour, who will be able to click on 2-dimensional smartcodes and type keywords into a search-style window on their mobile phones to view an exclusive video and receive information about their favorite Dj's, as well as sample and download music clips. Everyone who interacts with qode® will receive free Nescafe Revelate cell phone wallpaper.

NeoMedia's patented qode® suite is an easy-to-use set of applications, including qode®reader and qode®window, which provide One Click to Content™ connectivity for products, print, packaging, and other physical objects to link directly to specific desired content on the Mobile Internet. qode®reader works with camera phones, letting users "click" on two-dimensional "smart codes" to access the Mobile Web site to which the code is linked. qode®window allows users to reach the same destination by entering a keyword, slogan, or product barcode number.

To install qode on your mobile device, connect to get.qode.com via the mobile web or simply text 'qode' to 66268. Once you have qode downloaded and installed, simply key in the qode®word "MAS" or click on the +mas Nescafe smartcode shown to the right.

Mobile Codes Consortium Update

The initiators of the MC² held a meeting with operators and handset manufacturers in London on February 27, 2007.

The objectives were to gauge the market appetite for making the mobile codes ecosystem happen, and to strategically define the key tasks over the next months.

There was general positive acceptance: that this is a technology that marketing organizations will welcome, which in turn will encourage consumer adoption; that the current fragmentation of standards in the market threatens the potential of the technology, so this group must act quickly if the technology is to become adopted; and that this is a technology that should be adopted, if only the practical implementation issues can be sorted out. It was agreed to develop proposals over the next few weeks for (a) our group's remit and (b) options for carrying out those standards activities as a subgroup of an existing open standards body, or as a standalone body.

The Mobile Codes Consortium recently updated their website to include slides presented by Publicis Groupe at the London meeting to provide a unique view from an advertising perspective. As a founding member of the Consortium, Publicis Groupe is one of the UK's top four advertising agencies.

According to Hewlett-Packard's Tim Kindberg, "We appreciate that many other companies are keen to be involved as soon as possible. We ask for your patience while we establish this organization. In the meantime, we welcome your suggestions, comments and expressions of interest."

NeoMedia's qode® Available In 6 Languages

NeoMedia Technologies, has developed a full six-language version -- in English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, and Chinese -- of its patented qode® mobile platform, as well as upgraded its download site to detect further information from handsets to speed over-the-air downloads in a consumer's preferred language.

Whether the consumer speaks English, Spanish, French, German, Italian or Chinese - NeoMedia now has qode® mobile software for them. And in order to deliver the software already optimized in their language, the over-the-air download site now 'sniffs' the preferred language of the handset -- in addition to its make and model -- to make downloading and installing qode® as easy as 1, 2, 3. This takes NeoMedia to market-readiness for the major markets in Europe and China, especially as the new six language software covers the Symbian, Java, and BREW mobile operating systems.

Over-the-air downloads of qode® multi-language software are available by entering http://get.qode.com in a mobile device's browser. NeoMedia's proprietary download software then takes over, and qode® is automatically delivered. The native language of the handset is detected, and pre-selected in the software, with the user given easy-to-follow installation instructions in the matching language.

The qode® suite of easy-to-use applications includes qode®reader and qode®window, providing One Click to Content™ connectivity for products, print, packaging and other physical objects to link directly to specific desired content on the Mobile Web. qode®reader works with camera phones, letting users "click" on two-dimensional smartcodes for a direct connection to desired information, discount coupons, maps, contest entry forms, etc., and qode®window lets users manually enter a key word, phrase, UPC number, etc., for similar connection.

QUALCOMM to Showcase qode® at CTIA 2007

QUALCOMM is excited to feature 20 of the best and brightest BREW developers and publishers providing wireless applications in a wide variety of categories at this years CTIA wireless event.

From March 27 - 29, in booth #1645, QUALCOMM will be showcasing NeoMedia's qode® along with the following BREW Signature Solutions and offerings:

* The BREW Gaming Signature Solution is a comprehensive solution which enables wireless operators to deliver a compelling and complete consumer gaming experience while allowing publishers and developers to create the best games possible.

* BREW Locate Signature Solution is a comprehensive, assisted-GPS (A-GPS) solution designed to provide wireless operators with all the key components needed to deliver compelling location-based services to end users.

* uiOne™ is one of the many exciting BREW offerings. It provides an open and flexible combination of technologies and services for wireless service providers, handset manufacturers and publishers/developers to create and deploy customized mobile user interfaces (UI) and content.

NeoMedia's patented qode® suite is an easy-to-use set of applications, including qode®reader and qode®window, which provide One Click to Content™ connectivity for products, print, packaging, and other physical objects to link directly to specific desired content on the Mobile Internet. qode®reader works with camera phones, letting users "click" on two-dimensional "smart codes" to access the Mobile Web site to which the code is linked. qode®window allows users to reach the same destination by entering a keyword, slogan, or product barcode number.

Based on time, day of week, or user preferences (age, gender, location, language), qode® can connect to different mobile web sites from a single smartcode, keyword or barcode number. A page may simply be presented in a different preferred language, or a promotion in one time zone can differ from that in another.

For more information click here

2D Barcodes For Mobile Advertising

Readers of some French magazines were greeted late last year with an unusual invitation in an advertisement for the Audi Q7.

They were asked to point the cameras in their mobile phones at a special code in the advertisements. That would connect them automatically to a website that streamed video of the vehicle in action. It only worked, though, if they first downloaded an extra piece of software to their handsets.

That is a big "if". The potential for turning mobile phones into devices capable of "reading" information in the physical world and connecting it back to the internet has been a dream of the mobile communications industry for years. Like many of the other visions of how the "mobile internet" would take shape, however, it has yielded far less than the optimists had hoped.

To judge by the Audi experiments, and others, a more concerted effort is under way to get this technology into the hands of a bigger audience. If it succeeds, it could turn out to be the first successful manifestation of advertising in the mobile data world.

For now, such ads have limited appeal, as even the technology companies be-hind them concede. Christian Steinborn, European head of NeoMedia Technologies, the US technology group involved in the Audi experiment, says few mobile phone users will bother to download the software needed to read so-called "2D barcodes", which are versions of the more familiar Universal Product Codes capable of being "read" more easily by a camera phone.

That has not stopped other advertisers, consumer product companies and publishers rushing to experiment with the technology. Prompting this latest burst of interest have been the first signs from Japan and South Korea of widespread consumer interest in the technology, according to technology and marketing professionals.

For instance, News of the World will be printing NeoMedia's 2D barcodes with its sports reports so that readers can link to highlights of football games. The codes could also soon appear on consumer products after a decision last month by DuPont, which supplies bottles, cans and other types of packaging, to start offering to print the codes for its customers.

The potential of 2D barcodes extends well beyond their uses in marketing and the offline media industry.

That, in turn, could create a new layer of linkages between the physical and electronic worlds, says Chas Fritz, head of NeoMedia. Imagine if a unique barcode were printed on every physical object: you could point your camera phone and find out everything you wanted to know about it.

Such uses might eventually turn 2D barcodes into the hyperlinks of the physical world, as common and easy to navigate as the links that let users follow links easily around the internet.

That hope was the impetus behind the Mobile Codes Consortium, an initiative just launched by Hewlett-Packard, Publicis, and NeoMedia to push for greater technology standardization in this area.

While publishers and marketers are starting their own experiments with the use of 2D barcodes, widespread adoption is likely to depend on organizations that have the power to put the technology into millions of consumers' hands: mobile network operators and handset makers. DoCoMo's support of the idea was central to its adoption in Japan, according to technology executives. And Nokia has started to pre-load software capable of reading 2D barcodes in some handsets.

Eventually, mobile operators could come to see barcode-driven advertising as a significant source of revenue, Mr Bulkeley says. A former head of AOL in the UK, he compares the mobile companies to the early internet service providers, with their total reliance on monthly subscription income. Eventually, with the emergence of advertising, the subscription business died away.

If that comparison holds, the mobile industry will have incentives to promote mobile barcodes, potentially putting the technology into the hands of anyone with a camera phone.

Source: The Financial Times

The March Towards A Universal Reader

A new use of an existing technology emerged 2 years ago in Japan that currently holds the potential to revolutionize and accelerate Mobile Internet adoption in Europe and North America via the use of 2-dimensional smartcodes.

These smartcodes, when scanned with a camera-enabled mobile device, put the power in the hands of the consumer and ultimately unlocked the true potential of the Mobile Internet by providing easy navigation and one-click-to-content. Over the last couple years, 2-dimensional smartcodes have become common-place in Japan as well as in other Asian countries such as South Korea, the Philippians, and they are now slowly starting to emerge in China.

With this rapidly evolving mobile landscape progressing at break-neck speed, new companies have emerged with innovative mobile smartcode reading platforms aimed at creating a interconnected world where every physical object can be linked to the Mobile Internet.

While companies such as Kaywa, Gavitec, NeoMedia Technologies, and Semacode have opted to utilize the three open-code standards: Datamatrix, QR, and Aztec, other companies such as Nextcode, Shotcode, and Beetagg have chosen to utilize their own proprietary 2-dimensional smartcodes.

As a result, adoption has been slow since no standards body currently exists. According to Tim Kindberg, a researcher at Hewlett-Packard, "The more competitive mobile communications markets that exist in other countries make it harder for agreement on technology to emerge in these places. It’s been on the verge of happening for some time now – the technology is there, but the problem is the fragmentation in the market.”

With so many 2-dimensional smartcodes and mobile code reading platforms congesting the market, Mr. Kindberg teamed up with Publicis Groupe and Zenith Optimedia, along with mobile code reading innovators and industry leaders Gavitec and NeoMedia Technologies to form the Mobile Codes Consortium.

According to the Consortium, "Our goal is to create a consortium for a new Mobile Marketing ecosystem based around camera phones and 2D barcodes. A market-driven, open-standards approach will allow 2D barcodes to act as a catalyst in Mobile Internet adoption, mirroring the growth of web adoption over the last ten years."

Their mission statement and standards discussion document can be viewed here.

Progress has been held back by the lack of common technology that would let any phone read any 2-dimensional smartcode, and then complete the necessary routing needed to link back to the relevant content on the web, according to backers of the London initiative.

Mobile carriers and handset manufacturers are calling for a universal reader with the capability to read and decipher Datamatrix, QR, and Aztec codes. And as a result, at last Tuesdays MC2 meeting in London, there were 20+ highly interested parties who attended -- consisting of carriers, handset manufacturers, and technology innovators. With such predominate backing from these deeply involved parties, MC2 will certainly set the global standards for mobile smartcode dissemination.

With the stage now set, the march towards a universal reader has begun. Gavitec and NeoMedia Technologies were specially invited to join the Consortium since Gavitec's mobile platform Lavasphere is highly regarding as the best code reading platform ever developed. And with NeoMedia's mobile qode® technology, along with an extensive portfolio of international patents covering the process of dynamically linking smartcodes to content on the Mobile Internet, the development of a universal 2-dimensional smartcode reader is not far behind.

Prentice Hall Makes Textbooks Interactive

NeoMedia's qode®, which links consumers and cell phones directly to information and offers on the Mobile Internet, is now featured in the new edition of Prentice Hall's college text book, “Marketing: real people, real choices.”

Prentice Hall chose to implement qode® to create interactive textbooks that allow additional content to be delivered on both student and teacher mobile devices. This innovation demonstrates how textbooks do not have to be lackluster, and instead allow users to become fully immersed and involved in the material.

In order to create the first completely interactive edition, Prentice Hall developed the text book “Marketing: real people, real choices,” which implemented NeoMedia's qode® technology. This allows users to download the qode® application on their personal mobile phones to discover additional information, videos from the book’s authors, games, and news.

There are a total of 12 interactive 2-dimensional smartcodes integrated into the textbook that link to case studies from companies including Tupperware®, Ron Jon Surf ShopK, Darden Restaurants Inc. (the world's largest casual dining restaurant company with brands including Red Lobster™, Olive Garden™, Bahama Breeze™ and Smokey Bones Barbeque & Grill™), and Grendha Shoes Corporation, the U.S. distributor of U.S. brands Rider, Melissa and Grendha. The book developed additional articles and sections presenting qode’s® new mobile marketing technique as an official marketing medium.

According to NeoMedia's Rick Szatkowski, "NeoMedia is delighted to have our exciting multi-media launch of qode® included with these prestigious international companies and brands. Together with the authors and Prentice Hall, we have made this one of the first interactive textbooks using the Mobile Internet, delivering updated information as well as 'fun' content to the students and professors through their mobile phones."

NeoMedia and qode® were chosen for the new edition of their book, "Because mobile marketing represents and achieves the next level in performance-based marketing," author Dr. Solomon emphasized. "qode® provides an opportunity for marketers to create a one-to-one marketing experience with the consumer wherever and whenever they are interacting with a product or brand through conventional media. Responses to 'calls-to-action' become measurable by media channel, providing marketers with the ability to fine-tune their message and channels in real-time."

Additionally, Prentice Hall has launched a mobile sales force automation/support tool powered by qode®, “FonCram”, for this book and 39 other additional titles.

Click here to view the Prentice Hall produced video on NeoMedia and their mobile platform qode®.

NeoMedia Named Top Technology Innovator

Marie Germain, founder and CEO of BrainFood Partners Inc. and current Chairman of Plexus 2007, lists NeoMedia's qode® amongst her top technology innovators of 2007.

Comprised of a list of 26, NeoMedia's qode® shares the distinguished honor with industry heavyweights Apple, Yahoo, IBM, and Nokia.

According to Marie, "The following innovators, from the stalwart behemoths to the bootstrapped entrepreneurs, are worthy of praise – they are changing our future."

1. iphone by Apple (the most robust phone device yet)
2. Qode by NeoMedia (Mobile Phone Bar Code Scanner)
3. Zink by same (portable inkless printer for digital devices)
4. Eyejot by same (video sharing though email)
5. PayPerPost by same (Paid consumer blog network for advertisers)
6. Joost formerly Venice Project (richer alternative to YouTube)
7. Lotus Connections by IBM (Collaboration software)
8. LinkedIn by same (Answers/Experts Low cost procurement of soft expertise)
9. Yah00! 100 brands by Yahoo! (Media Channels for advertisers)
10. ejamming by same (voip for musicians)
11. Apollo by Adobe (web apps to the desktop)
12. Mobio Networks by same (mobile mashup platform)
13. Scram by Ceelox (embeds encrypted messages behind images)
14. Sentinel by Iwerx (catches blog content pirates)
15. D’Fusion by Total Immersion (inserts 3D into live video images)
16. Advanced Photonics by Alps Electric / CAPE (holographic image from mobile devices)
17. BitTorrent by same (bandwidth enabling video distribution like no other)
18. Orb Networks by same (allows users to view and create videos on their mobile devices)19.
19. Sundance Global Short Film Project /Robert Redford (creating short content for mobile devices)
20. Sitemaps by Google, Yahoo and Microsoft (new search protocol by stie maps)
21. Wibree by Nokia (radio technology dual core chip uses so little energy for smallest devices like a watch)
22. Tagworld by same (social network with all-in-one capabilities)
23. RDF and OWL - Semantic Web by Tim Berners-Lee (application-free framework and language that allows data interchange)
24. Videoegg by same (simplifies video capture)
25. Upload by same (blogging platform that requires no programmer)
26. Xensource by same (moves multiple virtual servers without friction)

For more on Marie Germain, please visit her Plexusity blog.

Telcel to Use NeoMedia's qode®

NeoMedia Technologies announced that its patented qode® technology, which links users via cell phones to the Mobile Internet, will be used by Ideas Telcel, the company's value added services brand, for The Abierto Mexicano Telcel -- Mexican Tennis Open tournament.

The Abierto Mexicano Telcel is the premier tennis tournament in Latin America and one of the most awaited sports events of the year. The tournament attracts top-ranked male and female tennis players from around the world.

Telcel is the first Mexican company to use NeoMedia's mobile qode® technology to interact with consumers, who will be able to click on two-dimensional codes and type keywords on a search-style window on their mobile phones to receive more information about each game, player profiles, and statistics and pictures. Everyone who interacts with qode® will receive a free cell phone wallpaper with the new "Abierto Mexicano Telcel" character.

Ideas Telcel is the leading VAS brand in Mexico and always at the forefront of new technologies for Telcel's customers. Ideas will pioneer the use of qode®, expecting to revolutionize one more time the handset personalization and the mobile data transmission experience in the Mexican market.

Mobalis, a multimedia mobile marketing agency and one of NeoMedia's partners in Latin America, offering a "one-stop shop" complete mobile solution for the Mexican market, is responsible for the interactive implementation at the Mexican Open.

"The use of qode® at the Mexican Tennis Open represents two significant milestones for our product," said Roger Pavane, NeoMedia's Senior Vice President of Marketing and Sales. "The first is the emergence of qode® in Mexico; the second is qode®'s debut at a world-class sporting event."

Telcel is Mexico's largest cell phone carrier with more than 46 million clients and 80% of Mexico's wireless market.

Announce Mobile Powers Hip2D With qode®

Announce Mobile, a leader in Mobile Marketing solutions, will use NeoMedia's mobile qode® platform for their new innovative and creative marketing solution Hip2D.

Announce Mobile's end-to-end product offering is a revolutionary new mobile solution that connects mobile subscribers to mobile websites by transforming products and ads into interactive marketing tools.

Hip2D utilizes NeoMedia Technologies patented qode® suite, which is an easy-to-use set of applications, including qode®reader and qode®window, which provide One Click to Content™ connectivity for products, print, packaging, and other physical objects to link directly to specific desired content on the Mobile Internet. qode®reader works with camera phones, letting users "click" on two-dimensional "smart codes" to access the Mobile Website to which the code is dynamically linked. qode®window allows users to reach the same destination by entering a keyword, slogan, or product barcode number.

Founded in 2006, Announce Mobile is a leader in Mobile Marketing and provides the tools necessary for any business to easily conduct Mobile campaigns that are able to reach millions of subscribers.

NeoMedia Joins Global BREW Developer Directory

NeoMedia Technologies, a global leader in mobile enterprise and marketing technology has joined QUALCOMM's global BREW® Developer Directory.

All Authenticated Developers are afforded BREW Developer status in the BREW Alliance Program and BREW Developer membership gives developers access to everything needed to create and sell wireless applications.

To become a commercial BREW Developer you must be authenticated. The process contains four parts, and once authenticated, developers receive all the benefits of the BREW Alliance Program.

To be listed as a BREW Developer by QUALCOMM, NeoMedia had to have their mobile qode® platform complete the rigorous testing process in order for it to become TRUE BREW® compatibility certified.

It is important to note that an application must pass TRUE BREW® compatibility testing before a developer can create a price plan for an Operator that participates in the Standard BREW program. The creation of the price plan allows the Operator to evaluate the application for inclusion on a commercial application catalog. If the Operator chooses to accept the price and include the application on a commercial catalog, the application will be available for download and use on the specified BREW handset.

Now that NeoMedia's mobile qode® platform is TRUE BREW certified, the company can now begin talking with carriers around the world that require BREW applications.

The following helps to quantify how truly huge the BREW opportunity universe is for NeoMedia's qode®.