NeoReader review:
I just switched from AT&T to Verizon and in the process had to get a new phone (work) and the BlackBerry Bold 9930 was the only option through Verizon. Nice phone...super thin and light for a smart phone.
Anyway, immediately downloaded and installed the latest NeoReader.
Let me tell ya...works like a champ!
They did some MAJOR rework/upgrade to the way it reads a barcode...2D AND 1D!
The reader also initialized the camera in about 1/2 the time it did before...very quick. And, now the user knows for sure the camera is ready because a single red line appears across the camera view indicating that's where the barcode to be read should be centered.
Here's the major improvement...
Before, I had to work to get the barcode in focus and small barcode were difficult to read, sometimes impossible. Granted, the quality of the camera on the phone plays a part and this is a better camera than the TORCH 9800 I previously had. Basically, the bigger the barcode, the bettter.
But NOW, that's 100% NOT the case. The reader actually recognizes the code when it's about, I'm guessing, roughly 5-10% the size of the "viewfinder". I say "viewfinder" because that's another difference. The previous version used the entirety of the camera screen. Now, there is a rectangular area outlined that's about 85% of the camera screen. That is where the barcode needs to be. That's something else I found out...
For a 2D barcode to be read, it just has to be 100% inside the "viewfinder", but again, small...only about 5-10% the area of the "viewfinder". This is because as you watch the reader "search" for a code to be read (it's pretty cool), for it to read a QR code properly, the three corners of the QR code w/ the large squares have to be able to be be "found" by the reader and again, it can only "find" something that's in its "viewfinder". But, it is neat because the QR code can be in the very corner of the "viewfinder" and still be read.
For a 1D barcode to be read, it must be near the center red line anywhere along the length of that line, but doesn't have to be directly under the red center line. Again though, same as the 2D barcode, it's read better/faster when it's small, although slightly larger than the 2D barcode...about 10-15% the area of the "viewfinder".
Now, the "searching" and "finding" of the barcode...like I said, pretty neat. As soon as the camera is initialized and the red center line appears you see small blue dots randomly appearing/disappearing around the screen. These are the "sensors". Once they "sense" a barcode (like sniffin' 'em out, haha) the blue blinking dots converge on the code. First, I'm guessing it determines which type of code it is dealing with then based on that, the "sensors" start to read the code.
With a 1D barcode it appears as though it finds the left/right edges of the codes than "blasts" area between the two edges it located (the 1D code itself) w/ it's blue "sensors" until it can assemble the entire code and determine it's equivalent UPC #. It then quickly fires up the browser and takes you to the comparative shopping links of:
1) Google Product Search
2) Amazon Product Search
3) eBay product search
Here's the cool part. Like I said, it reads the codes perfectly. Case in point...I scanned a 1D barcode that was not 100% black/white but the black bars were over a light shaded picture of some sort and it was in the shape of a dog bone and being on the bottle, was of course not 100% flat.
With a 2D barcode, it appears that as soon as it finds some black/white squares it immediately starts to zero in on the corners to center in on the three large squares in the corners. Once it locks in on those, it "blasts" the interior of the code until it assembles it all and determines the URL associated w/ it.
I just scanned this small, almost blurry to the naked eye (all squares not crisp, IMO)QR code from a festival event guide constructed of newspaper quality pages from over two months ago and again, it read it like a champ all the way in the corner of the "viewfinder" at about the size of 5-10% the area of the "viewfinder".
Talk about slick!! This is, hands down, the best cellphone barcode reader out there. I challenge anyone to find a better one.
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