What's New?
Welcome to the November edition of the FlicWatch Developer Newsletter.
It is our pleasure to announce that the ROV Scanner has been released! Read this month’s Flic Fact to learn more about the ROV Scanner’s new electronic button and scan engine.
Along with the ROV Scanner, we’ve developed new SDKs for Windows®, Windows Mobile® and BlackBerry®. Read the Flic Tip and You Ask, We Answer to learn more about integrating bar code scanning using the simple ActiveX control for Windows.
New to this month’s newsletter is Trend Spotting, a feature article detailing trends in the industry of bar code scanning hardware, software and applications. Also, check out our Newsletter naming contest – you could win Fame and Fortune!
Regards,
The Bar Code Scanner Team at Microvision
Product Spotlight - ROV Scanner is Released!
The ROV Scanner is ready to serve!
After an extensive beta program with many participants, the Simple, Affordable, and Connected ROV Scanner has been released. ROV Scanner and ROV Scanner with Bluetooth® are available for purchase online or from an authorized master dealer.
ROV™ Scanner is a fashionably sleek, handheld laser bar code scanner that uses Microvision’s proprietary MEMS bar code scanning technology.
Other ROV Scanner features:
- Support for the most common bar code symbologies (UPC/EAN/JAN, Code 39, Code 128, Interleaved 2 of 5, RSS )
- On board memory to store up to 4000 UPC-A bar codes
- Batch and store capability for use in unconnected applications
- Low cost Alkaline or rechargeable NiMH AAA battery support
- Rubberized grip points for added protection and comfort
- Included Bar Code Scanning Software for Windows, Windows Mobile and BlackBerry
- Enhanced Wedge software for Windows, Windows Mobile BlackBerry, Symbian® and Palm®
With interfaces for serial, USB, and Bluetooth along with bar code Scanning Software and SDKs for most computing platforms, ROV Scanner is Connected!
Whether your data collection needs are in a business environment or a more demanding mobility environment such as construction or field services, ROV Scanners are well suited for your application.
Read the press release
Learn more about ROV Scanner
Resources by Platform
Order OnlineNow
Do you have a success story you'd like to share?
Submit Scanner Success Story >>
Flic Fact: ROV Feature - Electronic Button and Scan Engine Improvement
What’s so different about the new ROV Scanner from Microvision? It’s the engine. Lift the hood of the ROV Scanner and you’ll find an all new MEMS-based laser scan engine.
By leveraging Microvision core MEMS technology, the ROV Scanner offers a fully electronic activation. The electronic button provides a nice, contemporary feel that allows for easy and fast bar code scanning. Electronic activation also allows for software controlled scanning where the button is never pushed; a very nice feature when using the scanner with a mobile device.
The MEMS-based engine also provides a brighter, wider beam, making aiming and scanning easier. Because the MEMS engine has a single, tiny, silicon mirror, the beam is always positioned in the same place. This is particularly important when scanning small bar codes with less than ¼ inch of height.
So take a look at the new Microvision ROV Scanner and ROV Scanner with Bluetooth. Our new engine makes scanning bar codes more Simple and Affordable than ever!
Product Spotlight - New Microvision SDKs
The newly released ROV Scanner uses a brand new protocol called XSP, or eXtensible Scanner Protocol. To take advantage of this new, simple protocol, Microvision has developed new Microvision Software Development Kits for Windows, Windows Mobile and BlackBerry.
SDK for Windows
The Microvision SDK for Windows includes a C Application Programming Interface (API), ActiveX control, documentation, and sample projects that demonstrate how to create a scanner interface. The ActiveX control is a new feature to the SDK for Windows and provides a very simple method for scanner integration. Use the C API when a very fine level of scanner control is needed.
Learn more about the Microvision SDK for Windows
SDK for Windows Mobile
The Microvision SDK for Windows Mobile includes a C Application Programming Interface (API), documentation, and sample projects that demonstrate how to create a scanner interface. The SDK package also includes demo projects in C++, C#.NET Compact, and VB.NET Compact (with .NET language wrapper files that allows a .NET application to access C functions in the API).
Learn more about the Microvision SDK for Windows Mobile
SDK for BlackBerry
The Microvision SDK for BlackBerry includes a Java API, JavaDoc documentation, and a sample project that demonstrates how to create a scanner interface.
Learn more about the Microvision SDK for BlackBerry
Do you have a success story you'd like to share?
Submit Scanner Success Story >>
Partner Spotlight: Serialio.com BlueSnap Modules
Bluetooth for Windows Made Easy
Microvision distributor Serialio.com offers a unique USB Dongle to support the ROV Scanner with Bluetooth. The BlueSnap modules from Serialio.com provide seamless Bluetooth connectivity on Windows XP and Vista machines, even when other Bluetooth modules are installed on the computer. The BlueSnap module also work on Windows 2000 machines that do not directly support Bluetooth.
The BlueSnap modules allow users to pair a Scanner and the BluetSnap module together. Other Bluetooth options require the scanner to be re-paired each time it is moved to a new computer. The BlueSnap module and scanner are paired, even when moved. Unlike Bluetooth stacks running on the computer, the BlueSnap module is dedicated to Bluetooth connectivity with the scanner, providing maximum performance independent of the computer’s processing, and allowing for more consistent and dependable operation.
With the BlueSnap module, offering wireless, real-time bar code scanning via seamless Bluetooth connectivity to Windows machines has never been easier. To learn more, visit Serialio.com's BlueSnap page.
Flic Tip: Easy Integration with ActiveX Control
There are a number of ways that you can create a ROV Scanner interface. The USB cable acts as a HID or VCOMM device, Scanner Wedge and SerialMagic Pro software act as a wedge, and the Microvision SDK as a direct interface.
One new and exciting feature to be included in the Microvision SDK for Windows is the ActiveX® control. The ActiveX control provides more control than using the USB Cable or wedge software yet with less work than using the standard SDK API. The SDK API provides a finer level of control, but most applications do not need this level of control. The ActiveX control can be used in custom applications, applications that support VB Script, web pages, etc.
The ActiveX control appears on the Visual Studio toolbar with the list box, combo box, button, edit field, and the other controls. You select the control and use the methods in the control in same way you use methods in the controls that you are familiar with. You can open and close the scanner connection, configure the scanner, read data, etc. Microvision also has beta demo projects available in VB6, VB.NET, and C#.NET.
Question: How can I use the new ROV Scanner ActiveX control in my application?
As explained earlier, the Microvision ActiveX control allows you create a very simple and effective scanner interface. The ActiveX control can be used in custom applications, applications that support VB Script, web pages, etc. The ActiveX control provides a simple scanner interface without requiring the full SDK. To use the ActiveX control you must register the ActiveX DLL and enable BCDataACK on the scanner using either a control bar code or by sending a configuration command to the scanner (using the ActiveX control).
Click here to read the full article
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The mobile workforce is evolving. Mobile workers, used to filling out paperwork to account for job completion, inventory tracking or hours worked are now being armed with mobile devices and mobilized line of business applications with bar code scanning capability.
Mobile workers are now able to account for inventory, hours worked and job tickets on the spot and immediately send the information electronically to the home office. The biggest driver of this has been smart phones: computers and cell phones in one, with back office software to match.
The trends are unmistakable:
- 40 million smartphones sold worldwide in 2005
- 64 million smartphones sold worldwide in 2006
- 100 million smartphones sold in 2007, based on 48 million smartphones sold in the first half of 2007, with the pace up 40% from 12 months before…
Meanwhile, along with devices, there’s been an explosion in applications software. For example, Symbian reports 7,888 different third-party applications for its smartphones, up 48% from this time last year. So what used to happen on paper now happens with a mobile smartphone.
A case in point: Aeroprise has mobilized popular IT software applications such as BMC Remedy®. It’s so seamless and effective, even BMC deployed it for its own IT division. It’s flexible, too: it works on Microsoft Windows Mobile, on BlackBerry, on Palm OS, and even on a smartphone’s web browser. The paper forms? Eliminated.
Even with the back office in the palm of your workforce, the problem of slow and innaccurate data capture still exists. In comes the last piece of the puzzle – mobile bar code scanning. With a wireless bar code scanner linked to a smart phone application, mobile workers are able to scan all the equipment used, time cards and job tickets. Mobilizing and bar code enabling line of business applications is the next step of a more efficient and effective mobile workforce.
To learn more about Mobile Scanning, click here.
If you have mobilized and bar code enabled a line of business application, please let us know.
Observant readers of the FlicWatch Developer Newsletter have by now realized that Microvision has introduced the ROV Scanner. This event has us, and now you, rethinking the newsletter name.
As with the naming of the original newsletter we’d love your brain share. To spur your thinking we are offering you Fortune and Fame. Fortune is all relative but we’re willing to part with an AMEX gift card valued at $100 USD in exchange for the winning newsletter name. If that weren’t sufficient by itself we’re also willing to provide Fame – yes the person who submits the winning name will be highlighted in a future newsletter. We will also note honorable mentions in an upcoming newsletter.
What are you waiting for? This is your chance to see yourself in lights.
Multiple submissions are A-OK.
Submit your name for the Developer Newsletter.
Flic Beat
Product Manager Ed Millet evangelizing the benefits of Mobile Bar Code Scanning at Mobile Business Expo in New York City.
Developer FAQ
Case Studies
Three ways to put the ROV Scanner to work for you right now.
Check out the Compatibility Matrix and Platform Resources
Report device compatibility issues or successes.
Developer Support - Need Help?
Flic® is a registered trademark and ROV ™ is a trademark of Microvision, Inc. BlackBerry® is a registered trademark of Research in Motion, Ltd. Windows®, Windows Mobile® and ActiveX® are registered trademarks of Microsoft, Inc. Symbian® is a registered trademark of Symbian Software Limited. Palm® is a registered trademark of Palm, Inc. BMC Remedy is a registered trademark of BMC Software, Inc. Bluetooth® is a registered trademark of Bluetooth SIG, Inc.
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