William Hoffman & Tim Kindberg To Attend I3A

NeoMedia Technologies' CEO William "Chip" Hoffman, and co-chairman of the Mobile Codes Consortium (MC2) Tim Kindberg will both be in attendance at this years Imaging Innovation, the 62nd Annual Conference of the International Imaging Industry Association (I3A). The 2008 edition of the conference will be held at the Vancouver Marriott in Vancouver BC Canada from June 4th through the 6th.

Imaging Innovation ‘08 is an extraordinary two-day conference featuring thought-provoking discussions on hot industry topics and valuable networking opportunities. The event will provide:

* An in-depth look at emerging technologies such as holographics and color matching by phone.

* Exploration of new and existing challenges within the imaging industry on metadata, security, mobile commerce, and global markets.

* Interactive discussions leading to action plans that will turn industry challenges into success.

* The opportunity to make valuable networking contacts that can translate to deals.

Chip Hoffman and Tim Kindberg will both be participating in an I3A panel discussion on June 5th from 4:00pm to 6:30pm. The panel discussion, Beyond Snapshots - Advanced Mobile Imaging Technology, takes a look at making money using the imaging capabilities of camera phones for everything from visual search to purchasing goods and services.

In the past few years mobile phone imaging capabilities have gone beyond picture taking. Mobile phones are now capable of connecting a barcode, watermark or even an ordinary image to timely and pertinent information relevant to the camera phone user. In many places, the handset can now be used as an electronic wallet, capable of purchasing goods and services such as transportation and point of sale payment for consumer goods. The panel will discuss current worldwide applications and future technologies that will allow users to get information or make purchases by simply pointing a camera phone.

In order to create a global ecosystem for mobile codes, NeoMedia is collaborating with recognized leaders in telecommunication infrastructure management to create a worldwide infrastructure for the processing of optically initiated transactions - called the Optical Messaging Interchange. This interchange would provide the mass reach required by brands and advertisers to invest in the technology, while enabling operators to leverage their investments in networks and subscribers. By embracing open standards, full interoperability, and by being barcode symbology agnostic, NeoMedia Technologies wants to provide a global infrastructure to insure that all transactions requested by end users “work” as intended, all parties are compensated correctly, and that the technology achieves mass adoption globally. In doing so, NeoMedia enables a seamless, secure, and reliable platform for mobile commerce using 1D and 2D barcodes and mobile devices. NeoMedia’s mission is to offer new ways to make mobile internet transactions effortless and more accessible while enhancing customer value and convenience.

QUALCOMM Joins The Mobile Codes Consortium

Pressure continues to mount for industry standards as wireless industry giant QUALCOMM joins the Mobile Codes Consortium (MC2) – a cross-company group setup to promote unified standards in camera cell-phone barcode reading technology.

QUALCOMM plays a vital role in creating technologies that move the wireless industry forward, and they license these technologies to over 100 manufacturers, including virtually every leading telecom equipment and consumer electronics brand name in the world. Leveraging CDMA expertise, the company has become the leading designer and supplier of CDMA chipsets and system software. QUALCOMM's Binary Runtime Environment for Wireless™ (BREW™) provides a common platform for different types of wireless devices and applications, enabling hardware and software developers to create new products much more quickly and cost-effectively.

MC2’s aim is to accelerate the adoption of code-reading technologies that will enable users of mobile camera-phones pointed at a printed or displayed 2D barcode, to activate the phone to connect to a particular web-page, download coupons or other digital mediums, make a phone call or send a text message at the click of a button. Based on the widespread adoption of this technology in Japan and the growing popularity of camera-phones in Asia, Europe, and North America, the Mobile Codes Consortium believes that this will have many important applications for both the marketing and public communications industries.

QUALCOMM joins the original founding members Gavitec, Hewlett-Packard, NeoMedia Technologies, Publicis Groupe, Nokia, Deutsche Telekom, Telefonica O2, and KPN to form MC2’s steering group, which is responsible for guiding the organization.