Code Corporation's New Imager Offers Revolutionary Performance and Bluetooth® Radio

Salt Lake City, UT -- 2/19/2003 -- Code Corporation today announced a new product line, Code Reader 2, which promises to dramatically change the landscape of the bar code reading industry. Able to read complex, two dimensional matrix symbols and linear bar codes over a wide working range, the Code Reader 2 surpasses traditional laser bar code scanners.

“The Code Reader 2 is an all-application product line which sets a new benchmark for bar code reading systems,” said George Powell, CEO of the Code Corporation. “We expect to garner market share from a significant part of the traditional laser scanner business, as well as the newer, high-end imager market. Critical to the product is a new, highly integrated System-on-a-chip(SoC) processor from AMD, which incorporates high computational speed but utilizes a relatively tiny amount of power to operate. By combining the AMD Alchemy™ Solutions Au1100™ processor, a megapixel imager, and our own innovative optics, the CR2 equals the performance of a laser scanner yet is also able to read complex two-dimensional matrix symbols. This is truly a groundbreaking product for the industry.”

The bar code industry is undergoing a significant series of changes dictated by the popularity of high capacity symbols. High capacity symbols carry hundreds of bytes of data in the same area where only a dozen are possible with the familiar linear bar codes found on consumer products. The emergence of high capacity symbols has been driven by the need for more information such as expiration dates and production batches on consumer products, and biometric information on driver’s licenses and identification cards. The bar code industry has been scrambling for new technology to support the exotic new bar codes. The Code Corporation, founded in 1998, develops hardware and software products to meet this growing demand.

“When we developed the Alchemy Au1100 processor, we knew it would find its way into a new set of portable devices that could not have been not possible with existing microprocessors. We expect future applications to require greater performance and lower power consumption,” said Phil Pompa, Vice President of Marketing for AMD’s Personal Connectivity Solutions. “The Code Reader 2 is the first product of its kind, incorporating high-end machine vision capabilities into a tiny, battery powered package with real-time cordless data communication to any number of compatible systems. This rich feature set is enabled by the high-performance, low-power and high-integration of the Au1100 processor.”

“Although two-dimensional bar code readers have traditionally offered a wide range of capabilities, users sometimes hesitate to purchase them due to concerns related to size, weight, and cost,” said David Andrews, editorial director for Supply Chain Systems Magazine. “Additionally, if you added a radio for wireless communication, the reader became too big for many users and applications. Code Corporation, with AMD, appears to have solved these problems.”

The Code Reader 2 (CR2) uses a 1.3 million pixel CMOS sensor, as well as a 400MHz CPU capable of processing images more than 20 times quicker than most imaging systems. The raw power of the electronics is coupled with a unique dual path optical system which allows the unit to “see” small, high resolution symbols, as well as large, distant objects simultaneously. This provides working range and code symbol density support that dramatically exceeds existing imagers and laser reading systems.

The compact, lightweight reader includes configurations for cabled, portable batch, and portable cordless applications. It can be operated as a palm-held device, a “gun” format reader by snapping a handle on the unit, and in a presentation-style stand. The CR2 was specifically developed to be easily configurable, creating a complete product line with only four different parts. This is a definite advantage for end users and distributors because of the large number of applications which are covered by a small number of product variants, or SKU’s.

Historically, imagers have been relegated to high-end devices and niche applications due to their cost and relatively poor price-performance when reading the simplest of one-dimensional bar codes. The break-through cost and performance of the CR2 allows it to compete in the market at lower costs than much of the laser reader market, particularly in high performance, omni-directional applications such as convenience and drug store point-of-sale applications. In addition, the CR2 adds the capacity to read the new two-dimensional Composite symbology and the PDF 417 symbology found on identification cards and drivers licenses.

Optical performance is not the only thing new about the CR2. The reader has significant advantages in durability. The compact device features no moving parts and outperforms all other competing products in drop testing.

The CR2 compliments the company’s existing breakthrough Code Reader 1.1 products which have been widely adopted for high density matrix symbol reading in a variety of product tracking and manufacturing applications. The new product line is further enhanced by CodeXML™, the open-platform development environment which eases the implementation of data collection systems.

The CR2 uses the architecture incorporated in the high-performance, low-power AMD Alchemy™ Solutions Au1100™ processors. These MIPS® technology-based, highly integrated system-on-a-chip (SOC) processors offer as much as 400 MHz at 250 milliwatts - and are ideally suited for a broad variety of non-PC Internet appliance applications. Such devices include automotive navigation/entertainment systems; computing devices such as web tablets and PDAs; home and small office networking; and access devices such as gateways, routers and firewalls, and gaming devices.

Code Corporation (www.codecorp.com) designs, develops and manufactures automatic identification implementation and data collection platforms. Its worldwide headquarters are located in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Information Contacts:
Benjamin M. Miller
Code Corporation
11814 South Election Road,
Suite 200
Draper, UT 84020
(801) 495-2200
bmiller@codecorp.com