We had a great year with you. Check out the German post.

We are often asked to what proportion the various mobile operating systems are represented by our users. The last statistic is nearly one year old, so it’s now time for an update. Below is the evolution of the various mobile platforms at barcoo:

You will have noticed the striking Samsung bada dent in the middle of last year. This is due to the fact that we supported bada from the start, that the Samsung devices sold well and that their app store was pretty empty. Therefore users downloaded most of the few apps available to them in the store. This temporary high market share could not be kept indefinitely. With a current overall market share of 5%, but nonetheless increasing steadily, the bada platform should still remain of interest to some app developers.

Nokia Symbian is a tragedy (see analysis by Tomi Ahonen). From August 31st, barcoo will cease supporting Nokia Symbian. It was a very painful decision: we’ve invested again and again in this platform, but now it’s enough. It’s all over.

In the graph, Windows Mobile and BlackBerry are hardly to be seen. Here also, because of the continued lack of use, we have been compelled to discontinue support for these platforms. We are currently not planning any WP7 or webOS version either. Anyone interested in detailed statistics will find the historical data in Google Docs.

The evolution of the current market share, compared to the average for 2010:

No surprises. It should be quite clear where we’re heading. Or not? Nokia will be (most likely) purchased soon. A lot is possible then: Maybe MeeGo after all? Exciting.

We’ve just had another sensational couple of months: in July alone, 269,767 consumers installed barcoo! Check out the development of our installations in the last months:

Okay, so it’s still in an experimental phase. But it’s cool anyway, and that’s why all Android users can give it a try now immediately: We have integrated object recognition into barcoo in cooperation with Deutsche Telekom Laboratories. It’s only a limited test-run for now and works exclusively with drinks. That’s why we need your help. Object recognition is a great thing because all you have to do is hold up your smartphone’s camera to a product, which is then automatically recognized, thus rendering the search for the barcode unnecessary. When starting the Android app you’ll find the following little button on the bottom:

When you click on it, the camera window automatically appears, allowing you to search for bottled or canned drinks and to try and identify them.

Object recognition in barcoo

Since we can’t always find out the exact product immediately, a short list appears from which you have to select the appropriate product. When you do that, you’re helping improve recognition technology. The visual search doesn’t work with character recognition like our peers’ (cool) Goggles (for products) which would “only” iniate a Google search for “rivella” for the example above. When using barcoo, it’s only that specific product by rivella that gets identified. Have fun giving it a try!

Preliminary for our blog readers here our brand spanking new first German TV spot:

Everybody’s always told to “eat more fruits and vegetables”. But few people stop to ask which fruits and vegetables – and from where (and when)?

Fresh fruit and vegetables from local trees and fields can contain vitamins because they grow and ripen in a natural way. If fruits and vegetables come from countries far away, they get harvested when they are only half-ripe, then treated with chemicals, and then kept cool during the transportation process. That not only has detrimental effects on the food, but on the environment, too, since all of that produces a ton of CO2.

And so we ask: when do fruits and vegetables from our European trees and fields actually grow? As of now, barcoo can give you answers with its Mini-Guide for Seasonal Fruits and Vegetables. When you scan barcodes of packed produce, you can check whether it’s listed in the current season’s calendar. Or if you need a side dish that goes with fish, meat or noodles, scan one of those, and a number of suggestions appear according to which fruit and vegetables are in season (designed by the Verbraucherzentrale Hessen, and for now only available in Germany). Aside from that, barcoo also provides direct links to recipes for fruits and vegetables of your choice.

With barcoo’s new seasonal calendar, it’s super easy to eat healthy and at the same do your part in protecting the environment!