1d barcode scanner coding

[joey_p777]

TP Users... I'm about 1/20 on recognition and have tried adjusting lighting, meter mode, pic quality, shooting port/landsc, etc. Changing the URL and browser to Opera in options worked great when it did scan, which was once with psiphi's sample. Can you please post your camera settings or anything you find to be working for you. I just can't see how some are posting great results with same hardware. I've got to have something wrong?

[wlsmoku]

I turn camera sideways (landscape) when I take the pic and I use IE to go to the website. are you using the correct link to go to:
http://www.fastpricecheck.com/GetData/HTML/!###!

that should be loaded in settings...arrow to right twice and put it in the lower URL. the top URL routes to \windows\iexplorer.exe

I have found that the 1st return is amazon, so it seems to work best on electronics, etc. it was failing when I scanned some protien powder...it found the barcode for oatmeal, fruity pebbles, but no prices listed.

[wlsmoku]

also are your pics pretty clear btw? you let it focus ok?

[joey_p777]

When it works it links to the web through opera great... When it recognizes, which is about 1/20. Shooting dead straight, no blur or glare, filling anywhere from 75-95 percent of the screen, quality at superfine, and metering to center or avg, can't get this thing to work. My 1/20 stats continue, only joy I've got it to recognize is with the sample jpg on page 1. (1 out of 20 shoots)

[JL-F1]

I used barcorama.zip

I finds the squareness of the touch pro to the barcode matters most, and steady hands

I use the fastpricecheck link posted and it brings up ie with the description and price, found some crackers for my wife, lol

[joey_p777]

same difference if I use reg or speedy.... must be my "technique"! I'm sure the 2 pots of coffe and half pack of cigarettes don't help the steadiness either.

[sfld]

hey joey how do you do the superfine settings?

[joey_p777]

open camera - touch the screen - touch options (wheel/gear icon) - choose advanced - quality (page 1 i think) - superfine - OK

I'm not sure if it makes a difference in barcorama, but pics in general seem more sharp...

[sfld]

what website does the g1 use? I mean fastpricecheck works good, but seems like amazon is the only one it pulls up

[nuclianba]

Originally Posted by sfld

what website does the g1 use? I mean fastpricecheck works good, but seems like amazon is the only one it pulls up

The g1 uses google product search. Fastpricecheck uses the following:
amazon product search
google product search
yahoo product search
shopping.com product search
ebay search

and then brings all the data together, eliminates duplicates, displays reviews and a product description, etc. Since we are searching by barcode, fastpricecheck SHOULD find the same results as the G1, plus more.

Please note that on the 'results' screen, there are a few result options. Amazon is displayed prominently at the top (because we get money if you buy through them), but below that are product details and reviews, and then 'preferred results' (will only be amazon if you do not have a registered account at fastpricecheck.com), then 'other stores' (where you will find all other results). Then there are 'ebay results' for similar products currently on ebay. You may have to scroll down a bit to see these options.

You can create a fastpricecheck account, then login through your mobile device and click the 'remember me' checkbox when you do. This will allow fastpricecheck to save you search history, allow you to save search results, find shipping and tax rates for some sites based on your zip-code, and you can then specify which online stores you want in your 'preferred store' list (you can remove amazon, add best buy, overstock, bobs garden shop, whatever).

As a side note, our results are only as good as data entered by stores online. This means things like electronics, which have strong online sales, are easier to find on fastpricecheck, whereas things like oatmeal from your grocery store arent sold online quite as much, so its harder to find (and if the retailer doesnt 'link' the item to its barcode number, it makes it even harder). We keep a page where we examine search stats, and I can tell you that roughly 70% of searches on our site return actual results, about 29% are where we cant find results, and the remaining are invalid barcodes.

Hope this sheds light on how fastpricecheck performs it search. We are always looking for user feedback on the user experience, so please PM me or email me through this site with any suggestions you may have on ways to improve the site.

Brentan
Fastpricecheck.com developer

(PS-if you are searching for products by barcode and only getting amazon results and nothing else, please feel free to PM me the barcode number so I can troubleshoot our site and make sure weird things arent happening).