CampusBooks.com and Vision Smarts have announced their collaboration and the resulting iBookStore 2.0 iPhone app. iBookStore 2.0 is an enhanced version of CampusBooks.com's popular iBookStore app and is now powered by pic2shop, Vision Smarts' leading-edge barcode-scanning technology. The final product is a free app that delivers real-time price comparisons - using integrated barcode-scanning - for users looking to buy and sell books.
iBookStore is a mobile app that brings all of the power and functionality of parent site CampusBooks.com to the iPhone. Students and bibliophiles alike can shop for books and find the best deals where it matters most: in the bookstore before they spend what may be too much. The app scours multiple sellers across the Internet to bring users the bestdeals on textbooks and trade books in the conditions of new, used, rentals, or eBooks.
And now with integrated scanning courtesy of Vision Smarts, users need not even key in any data but can do all of the above simply by pointing their iPhone's camera at a book's barcode for a fast, easy, and accurate scan and results retrieval. Buying or selling, budget-conscious college students feeling the pain of high textbook prices are already finding the app to be of great value in terms of finding the best deals. iBookStore also delivers a wishlist, send-to-a-friend, and lists of award-winners and bestsellers trade books. The app is a free download, details and a download link can be found on CampusBooks.com
"It's a perfect fit and I love the concept of getting a better deal when buying books, and then again when selling them", says Benoit Maison, Vision Smarts' director. "Now cash-strapped students can have their textbooks and drink their beer too!"
Should an iBookStore user scan the barcode of an item other than a book, the app automatically detects that the item is of another type, checks whether pic2shop is installed on the iPhone, and offers to seamlessly pass the barcode to pic2shop to get relevant shopping options. This flexible functionality takes advantage of a built-in feature of the iPhone operating system that allows apps to connect and pass information along. The same mechanism allows any website or app to use pic2shop as a barcode reader, at no cost. Detailed technical information, code samples, and an online demo showing how to add a "scan barcode" button to a web site, can be found at the pic2shop developers page.
"the barcode scanner from pic2shop provided us the ability to expand our tool providing a simple way for students and avid book readers to search for books and find cheap prices", says Jeff Cohen, CEO of Campusbooks. "Students can now scan books to find the cheapest alternative."
Shoppers just like the college students seen at YouTube CampusBooks.com's channel using iBookStore to save, as well as developers worldwide, are discovering that mobile barcode-scanning is a fun and convenient way to get accurate product information where it matters most. Launched in April 2009, pic2shop has pioneered barcode-scanning and comparison-shopping technology for the iPhone. It was the first app capable of reading UPCs, despite the limitations of the iPhone's built-in camera, and the technology now reliably delivers prices and information on millions of products from thousands of retailers. Details and a download link can be found on the pic2shop web site
Read More
iBookStore is a mobile app that brings all of the power and functionality of parent site CampusBooks.com to the iPhone. Students and bibliophiles alike can shop for books and find the best deals where it matters most: in the bookstore before they spend what may be too much. The app scours multiple sellers across the Internet to bring users the bestdeals on textbooks and trade books in the conditions of new, used, rentals, or eBooks.
And now with integrated scanning courtesy of Vision Smarts, users need not even key in any data but can do all of the above simply by pointing their iPhone's camera at a book's barcode for a fast, easy, and accurate scan and results retrieval. Buying or selling, budget-conscious college students feeling the pain of high textbook prices are already finding the app to be of great value in terms of finding the best deals. iBookStore also delivers a wishlist, send-to-a-friend, and lists of award-winners and bestsellers trade books. The app is a free download, details and a download link can be found on CampusBooks.com
"It's a perfect fit and I love the concept of getting a better deal when buying books, and then again when selling them", says Benoit Maison, Vision Smarts' director. "Now cash-strapped students can have their textbooks and drink their beer too!"
Should an iBookStore user scan the barcode of an item other than a book, the app automatically detects that the item is of another type, checks whether pic2shop is installed on the iPhone, and offers to seamlessly pass the barcode to pic2shop to get relevant shopping options. This flexible functionality takes advantage of a built-in feature of the iPhone operating system that allows apps to connect and pass information along. The same mechanism allows any website or app to use pic2shop as a barcode reader, at no cost. Detailed technical information, code samples, and an online demo showing how to add a "scan barcode" button to a web site, can be found at the pic2shop developers page.
"the barcode scanner from pic2shop provided us the ability to expand our tool providing a simple way for students and avid book readers to search for books and find cheap prices", says Jeff Cohen, CEO of Campusbooks. "Students can now scan books to find the cheapest alternative."
Shoppers just like the college students seen at YouTube CampusBooks.com's channel using iBookStore to save, as well as developers worldwide, are discovering that mobile barcode-scanning is a fun and convenient way to get accurate product information where it matters most. Launched in April 2009, pic2shop has pioneered barcode-scanning and comparison-shopping technology for the iPhone. It was the first app capable of reading UPCs, despite the limitations of the iPhone's built-in camera, and the technology now reliably delivers prices and information on millions of products from thousands of retailers. Details and a download link can be found on the pic2shop web site
Read More