APP REVIEW
RedLaser for iPhone: There's a Bargain for That

RedLaser, an app from Occipital, is available for US$1.99 at the App Store.

It's easy to see why the retail industry has been in love with the bar code for the past several decades. It makes checkout faster, and it probably makes inventory a lot easier when you've got a computer system to keep track of everything that passes over the counter.

But some retailers abuse the technology by using it as an excuse to not put an actual price tag -- written in good ol' Arabic numerals -- anywhere on or near the products on their shelves. The customer is expected to make a small economic leap of faith and presume the item is reasonably priced. When it's not, my attempts to haggle with checkout clerks are seldom successful.

That's what originally drew me to RedLaser, a barcode reader app for the iPhone. That's not exactly what RedLaser does, but for bargain hunters, this app may actually be more useful than something that tells you what a product sells for at the store you're already standing in.

Nope, RedLaser doesn't add an actual laser to your iPhone; it just takes a photo of a product's UPC bar code using the camera. It identifies what the product is, then it automatically runs a search using Amazon (Nasdaq: AMZN) and Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) Product Search, returning prices and sites at which the item can be purchased online.

So it doesn't necessarily tell you the price for that item in the store you're in right that minute, unless you're in a big retailer with a major online presence -- Best Buy (NYSE: BBY), for example. However, if some etail site out there is having a big sale on the product you're looking at, RedLaser may be able to save you a few bucks if you don't mind waiting on delivery.

All the products you search out are added to a list you can edit any time. You can also email this list to yourself if you're more comfortable ordering from a proper computer instead of an iPhone. Or you can email it to someone else if you're trying to drop gift hints and you don't care for subtlety.

RedLaser's settings are handled through the iPhone's main Settings app, not RedLaser itself. There you'll be able to turn sounds on and off; adjust which sorts of product codes it's able to scan; tell it whether to report prices in dollars, pounds or euros; set which nation's version of Amazon you want to use; and toggle automatic search.

Can You See This?

RedLaser surprised me at how quick it was to pick up a barcode the first time I tried using it. Hit the lightening bolt button at the bottom of the screen, and it brings up a camera viewfinder with an overlay frame. You'll need to line up the barcode within the frame just right, and make sure the lighting is good but not glaring. The instant the app is able to read the code, it automatically runs the search.

However, RedLaser doesn't get it right all the time. About a third of the bar codes I pointed it at got no response, even after a good 20 seconds of staring with the frame properly lined up. The image in the viewfinder appeared very fuzzy, and I wondered whether the app was having a hard time reading the code (the iPhone 3G I used for this review does not have the autofocus or macro lens that the 3GS has, so 3GS owners may see better performance in this regard). Fortunately, you have the option to manually input the numeric code found under the bar code, which usually solved the problem.

Once, however, RedLaser was just plain wrong -- I pointed it at a box of tissues and it gave me info on a set of Mag-Lite replacement LEDs. It can also be a little confusing if you're trying to compare prices on goods like office supplies or anything else that's often sold in varying quantities. You'll see prices all over the map for those, so it's hard to compare based on the quantity being offered.

Start Your Lasers

RedLaser reminds me of an app I looked at about a year ago called "SnapTell." That one lets you take a picture of a product, then it tells you some of the same info as RedLaser gives you. But Snaptell also looks at your GPS coordinates to tell you what other stores nearby are charging for the same item. It might be tricky to add that to RedLaser, considering it lets you scan any product with a barcode, whereas SnapTell's useful basically for just CDs, books and DVDs. If there's a way to work it in, though, it would definitely be a plus.

SnapTell also had the benefit of being free, but RedLaser's ability to scan just about any item on any retailer's shelf gives it an edge. SnapTell got 3.5 stars last December, so I'm rounding up for RedLaser. If you're getting ready to do some holiday shopping -- and you remember to make your online orders with enough time for shipping to make it -- then RedLaser will probably pay for itself within three or four scans.