In the first week of March, Argox demonstrated several of its latest products at the CeBIT show in Hannover, Germany, including new mobile devices, printers, and scanners. While there were fewer exhibitors this year, the number of show-goers was just as strong as last year.

Argox’s mobile devices included the new wireless portable terminals, PT-20 and PT-60, together with a new mobile printer that is in development. The PT-20 supports Bluetooth wireless capabilities and the PT-60 supports both Bluetooth and Wi-Fi interfaces. Argox connected the PT-60 and the mobile printer to demonstrate customer service solutions for applications such as ticketing, retail and parking solutions. Show-goers were impressed that the connected devices were especially compact, were easy to hold and use, and “looked smart.”

Argox also demoed several new printers with Ethernet interfaces, including the OS-2140E, the A-2240E, and the X-2500E. The printers were connected to a notebook via Ethernet interface. The demonstration showed that the notebook could be placed in a remote location while connecting wirelessly to several printers at one time. The A-2240E attracted much attention as it printed out tickets with a center hole.

Scanners demoed included the AS-9500, the AS-8520, and the AS-8020CL. The AS-9500 is Argox’s first product to scan 2D barcodes, which hold much more information than standard 1D barcodes. A demo of the AS-8520 and AS-8020CL scanned barcodes wirelessly into auto-forms on a standalone F1 printer. The AS-8520 and AS-8020CL operate wirelessly up to 100 meters according to Class 1 Bluetooth specifications.

The Argox booth enjoyed an excellent location this year with a lot of traffic that brought many visitors. We had a chance to see many old friends and new, and we look forward to next year’s CeBIT.

Argox products are ready to support the new GS1 DataBar standard, which is scheduled for worldwide implementation beginning January 1, 2010. The Taiwan branch of the GS1 global standards organization recently held a meeting at Argox offices with Argox and several other companies to discuss promoting and implementing the new DataBar standard.

The new barcode is physically smaller than the current EAN/UPC standard so it can be used on smaller products; yet, it is capable of representing a much larger amount of information. Compared with RFID a competing standard, DataBar is less costly, requires no special equipment, and has no environmental issues.

The first industries to begin using DataBar barcodes in Taiwan will be the medical and food industries. The new barcode is expected to strengthen the transparency and effectiveness of supply chain and inventory management, and will better ensure consumer safety. Within a few years GS1 expects that DataBar will become the standard in most industries. Argox supports the new DataBar standard. We’re ready!