Several news items on Optiscan! Last week we sent version 1.8.0 to Apple (hopefully it will make the App Store this week). Together with some other cool stuff, this version adds support for structured append, which has been widely requested by users of the King Jim Pomera DM-20. An update to the Optiscan library for our commercial licensees will follow shortly.

We’ve had a note from Greg at SET Japan: their latest designer QR code promotional video features Optiscan, which seems to scan it better than the competition. Check it out: http://youtube.com/watch?v=M5lAT3gVzFc.

Also Optiscan is now featured on the readers page by MSKYNET, which has a rather nice online QR code generator. They “rebrand” QR codes as sparqcodes in the US.

Optiscan has been successful with consumers on the Apple App Store, but it has also piqued the interest of businesses. If you are interested in licensing the image processing library of Optiscan for your own application, or in developing a white-label version of Optiscan for use on devices specific to your company, we want to hear from you.

We will only license the library for use on the App Store if the intended use does not directly compete with Optiscan. To request additional details or an evaluation package, send details of your intended use to optiscan-licensing@airsource.co.uk.

It’s been not quite a year since we released our first application onto the App Store, and we’ve sold over 30,000 units in total across 68 countries. This comes despite the fact that Optiscan was off the store for 6 months for reasons largely beyond our control.

This year we’ll be looking to more than double that, and I think we’ve got a good chance!

Optiscan has just been reviewed on CNET. They say, “Overall, Optiscan is a really nice QR Code reader. … It’s a full-featured app that should satisfy most users.”

Optiscan 1.6 is now available on the App Store. This is a minor update, containing some essential bug fixes.

Today we made Whisper free to download on the Apple App Store! This will last for a limited time only. When you give it a try, please take the time to leave a review!

Airsource were very pleased to see Google promoting QR Codes. However, we pointed Optiscan at the code in the video - and obviously it picked it up. What confuses us is that the code is, shock horror, NOT for the Kasa Indian Eatery in San Francisco- it’s actually for Sweetgreen, over in Washington DC.

The release of Optiscan 1.5 was very rushed in response to a request from Apple, and a few new bugs have sneaked in. We’ve submitted version 1.6, fixing these problems, to Apple today, but because Apple is very busy we don’t expect approval of the update until mid-December.

Due to the delay, we thought we’d offer some notes about the known issues and suggest work-arounds.

Potential crashes

We are aware that a few users have been experiencing instability in the application. There are known crashes in Optiscan 1.5 in two cases:

• Have automatic opening turned on for a type of QR code content (one of the options in the Settings tab), and automatically scan an image containing that content type with the camera, or
• Delete the last saved item on the “Saved” tab

As a work-around, please avoid deleting the last saved item on the “Saved” tab (perhaps keep a dummy empty item there), and turn off any automatic opening preferences you may have set.

Please note: there is no problem with automatic scanning - merely with the logic that can automatically open a browser in the app when you scan a URL.

Encoding selection problem

Optiscan correctly decodes a wide range of character sets that are used in encoding QR codes. However, version 1.5 may be confused by QR codes which use the Shift-JIS character set, and fail to present any available actions.

The work-around is to manually select the encoding on the action selection page. Generally, selecting either UTF-8 or Shift-JIS will resolve the problem.

Starting today, we’re adding a new way that we will be keeping in touch with Optiscan users - via Twitter, as @OptiscanApp. We’re hoping to make this a way that people can make feature requests and we can disseminate hints and tips a little more easily.

Come and let us know what you think!

Airsource are pleased to announce the release of our newest application, Whisper, available today on the Apple App Store!

Why Whisper?

In a class and want to send someone a quick sketch?

In a meeting and want to send a colleague a quick note or a business card? Try Whisper! What is Whisper? Whisper is the new and innovative local chat client for iPhone and iPod Touch. It works over either Bluetooth or local WiFi so you can chat to anyone nearby. There is no server involved, and no need for a cellular connection.

Features

• Send and receive Pictures, from your Photos or taken with the camera
• Send and receive Text messages
• Send and receive Contacts, selecting which details you want to send
• Send and receive Sketches, drawn with the doodle tool
• Save received contacts to your address book
• Save pictures and sketches back to your photo album
• Whisper keeps a complete history of your exchanges, including pictures and contacts sent and received
• Set a profile picture and status message to share with other users
• Tired of writing in the cramped portrait mode keyboard? Every screen in Whisper will smoothly rotate to landscape
• Clear your chat history

Whispered with someone before and want to pick up where you left off? If they’re nearby, but don’t have the app running, just use Whisper to send them a chat request using Apple’s push notification service.

Whisper uses a new, specially designed reliability protocol, so it keeps working smoothly even if the network is slow. Even so, if a message doesn’t get through for some reason, Whisper shows this by turning the message red. If you send a text message while a large picture or contact is being transmitted, Whisper gets the text through while the other transfers continue in the background.

Tips on Getting Connected for the First Time

Getting connected with Wifi: Both devices must have Whisper installed, and both must be connected to the same Wifi access point. Simply start Whisper on each, and they should find automatically locate each other.

Getting connected with Bluetooth: Both devices must have Whisper installed, and each must be an iPhone 3G or better, iPod Touch 2G or better. Turn Bluetooth on in Settings in each device. Then start Whisper! It may take up to 30 seconds for the devices to pair, so be patien

Feedback

We want your feedback! Whisper has an in-app feedback button, so if you think of any features you want added, please just drop us a line. Anyone who submits a new feature may also be offered the opportunity to try out new versions before they make it to the App Store. Find more tips, screenshots, and general information about the application on the Whisper website! Also see our twitter feed for info on future developments.