Ecrio Inc., a highly visible part of the Nexit investment portfolio, has announced plans to capitalize on the expanding market for mobile couponing, ticketing, commerce and more via its new MoBeam™ subsidiary. MoBeam features patented technology that permits the easy transfer of barcodes from mobile devices, including phones, to industry-standard scanners.
Barcode Technology Dominates Global Commerce
Ecrio’s interest in capturing barcodes on mobile phones and other devices, then transferring those barcodes in real time to Point of Sale (POS) scanners, started nearly five years ago. Two Ecrio founders, CEO Nagesh Challa and VP Engineering Rao Gobburu, wondered whether a barcode sent to a mobile device could be “read” directly by a standard retail scanner. The short answer was no – differences in screen resolution; color; reflection; even variations in ambient lighting; all made it impossible to predict scanning success. And while others attempted to solve the problem by creating expensive, customized POS scanners, Challa and Gobburu were determined to leverage the existing global infrastructure – a multi-billion dollar network with over 30 million scanners already in place.
Patent # 6,685,093 – and a Few More
Challa and Gobburu solved the problem by having the phone’s light source – backlight, infrared, even a service light – mimic the black-and-white, long-and-short sequencing of a standard barcode. They called the technology Mobile Beaming, or ‘MoBeam’ for short, and protected the company’s intellectual property with several patent applications.
Fast forward to 2006, with the ubiquitous promise of mobile commerce. Companies such as Google and Yahoo have expanded their now- proven advertising model to mobile search. 15-month old start-up YouTube is sold for $1.5 billion dollars -- a premium in part based on the promise of YouTube (and others) providing entertainment and advertising to on- the-go consumers. MoBeam’s promise: Why not offer an incentive for mobile buyers to take action (a coupon)? Or confirm a transaction within a phone-portable, bar-coded ticket? MoBeam already has attracted attention from a variety of prospects, including portals, carriers, handset manufacturers, and financial institutions.
Ecrio also holds patents for form factors beyond phones. One concept is a ‘digital keychain’ that can download, store and beam any barcode into any scanner. The device can exist independent of cellular technology, simply “loading” coupons and/or tickets via a USB interface and transmitting to standard scanners with an LED output.
“Imagine heading to the mall, with all of the info you need as close as your pocket,” Challa muses. “Or replacing gift cards and supermarket loyalty cards with keychain- convenient, modified Flash drives. The possibilities are endless.”
Have a potential idea to share with Ecrio?
Contact Nagesh Challa at nchalla@ecrio.com
