SA price comparison site PriceCheck has launched a barcode scanning application that allows consumers to compare product prices between PriceCheck’s vendors using mobile devices. The application is available in the Android and Samsung app stores.

The front-end of the application was developed by software solutions company DVT and makes use of mobile phone and tablet cameras to read a barcode and check it against PriceCheck’s product listings.

The application was developed using “industry standard components”, according to Charl Mocke, product owner for mobile at PriceCheck. He says this decision made it “inexpensive to build and quick to deploy”. An iOS version has been built in parallel.

“All the user has to do is point their mobile device’s camera at the barcode of the item they want to purchase, such as a book, DVD, digital product, or any other item supported by PriceCheck,” says Johan Pieters, DVT’s manager for enterprise mobile solutions. “The PriceCheck barcode app then automatically searches for the details of the item via the PriceCheck mobile website.”

The app was built using ZXing (Zebra Crossing), an open-source image-processing library implemented in Java. “The code is free, making it a great testament to open-source software that is collaboratively created and used in free and paid apps.”

PriceCheck is part of the MIH Internet Africa Group, a unit of which has also developed an iOS application for PriceCheck. There are also plans to bring the application to BlackBerry, Windows Phone and possibly Symbian devices in coming months. — Staff reporter, TechCentral