Jason Dunn
02-27-2003, 12:30 AM
<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.computerworld.com/mobiletopics/mobile/handhelds/story/0,10801,78834,00.html?nas=PM-78834' target='_blank'>http://www.computerworld.com/mobile...ml?nas=PM-78834</a><br /><br /></div>"Ian Fisk, managing director of Zync, said his company developed a system for Fox built around a Hewlett-Packard Co. iPaq handheld beefed up with an add-on digital camera module that uses the computer's screen as a viewfinder. The system also includes a bar code scanner and a wireless modem that sends data back to Fox over a mobile network in the U.K. The network is operated by the T-Mobile division of Deutsche Telekom AG in Bonn; Extended Systems Inc. in Boise, Idaho, provided the synchronization software. <br /><br />The camera is key to ensuring that retail outlets install the promotional displays Fox expects, Stevens said, with the wireless link providing near-real-time snapshots of displays as the field sales force uploads pictures from various stores in their territories. The bar code scanning system allowed Fox to automate an earlier paper-based process, cutting the time that field workers spent on inventory by 30% and slashing the time needed for manual data input."