One of the problems with some previous bar code scanners for the iPhone has been a lack of good close focus (helped somewhat for owners of the iClarifi case), but the new and better camera in the iPhone has greatly improved the situation. It is, therefore, no surprise that new software is rolling out to aid in your shopping by scanning bar codes and connecting you to Amazon to allow you to comparison shop.

Cyclops [App Store link] requires the new 3GS camera, and in my tests it worked pretty well. It correctly identified 9 of 10 products on the first try, although I was doing the test at home under pretty good lighting. I tried some poorer lighting and mixed tungsten and sunlight, and it did 6 of 10 scans correct. The challenge is still to hold the camera steady and try to make sure you get a sharp image, but the software did pretty well even with imperfect focus.

The software is free, so it is not a very risky proposition. I can't guarantee you'll be popular at a retailer while you price check, but I think it most cases the software will work for you. Be careful to get the distance right so the bar code pretty much fills your screen. It gives the software the best chance of interpreting the scan.

One weakness is you can't get the info out of the program easily. It would be good to be able to email the Amazon data to yourself or others.

If you need this sort of information, and don't mind nasty looks from store clerks, I'd suggest you give it a try.

Here are some screen shots as I put the program to work today:

I wouldn't have thought it was possible to get an iPhone to capture barcodes clearly, but Occipital has done it with a new $1.99US iPhone app called RedLaser [App Store]. Why capture barcodes? One good use is to find better prices for a product. Scan a product in the store, then RedLaser captures the barcode and does a quick Google or Amazon search to give you quick price comparisons.

I tried the app at a bookstore and my local Best Buy and was surprised how well it worked. You need pretty good light to capture a barcode, which is an issue with the iPhone camera, not the RedLaser software. You need to hold the camera steady. The best way is by holding down the button to take the picture, then release when you are steady.

RedLaser gives you the option to try again, and guides you on how far the camera needs to be away from the barcode. Then RedLaser instantly goes out to the internet and gets you the price comparisons.

In practice I had some misses. The camera wasn't at quite the right distance, or I was a bit shaky holding it. In most instances, however, I was able to get the barcode and see the price comparisons I was looking for. It's also important that the camera not be tilted in relation to the barcode. Try to keep everything lined up. And the app will not work at all unless you have an internet connection. It would be nice if it could store the barcodes, then go out and identify them when you have a good signal.

You also get the ability to mail your product list to yourself or a friend to read it on a bigger screen when you get home.

The clever technology in the app is able to sharpen the image a great deal, making the iPhone camera a feasible platform for this app. When you take the picture the barcode will look pretty fuzzy, but after a couple of seconds of processing it looks quite good, which is the magic that RedLaser accomplishes.

I'd expect this will work fine for most people, but there are some negative comments at the iTunes store as well, largely, I suspect, from people who couldn't hold it steady, had bad light, or glare falling across the barcode. When I eliminated those issues, it seemed to work fine.

Note: This app only recognizes US and UK UPC and EAN barcodes. It works works best on standard-sized barcodes, but I had success with some smaller ones as well.

Here's are some screen shots of RedLaser in action: