In a bid to kick-start a new kind of advertising gimmick, Digital Convergence
is giving away 10 million personal barcode scanners. Users in the US will plug
their scanner, called a Cuecat, into a PC and swipe it over bar codes on
advertisements and packages. This will take them directly to the advertiser’s
website, without having to type in a Web address. The company plans to make
money by charging businesses to use its proprietary bar codes.
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