Blog entries

iCandyMobile 1.1 is here with Autoscan!

jamey@rii.ricoh.com — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 00:02:01 +0100

iCandyMobile version 1.1 just went up (Dec 4, 2009) on the iTunes App Store and this version includes the critical update of providing autoscan -- the automatic scanning of barcodes. Previously, we were not allowed to provide this feature. However, after a discussion with Apple, our app was allowed. Thank you Apple! So, go grab this version especially if you downloaded the previous version 1.0. This one is waaaaay better.

Have fun and let us know what you think by droRead More...

iCandyMobile iPhone App Update

jamey@rii.ricoh.com — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 02:41:00 +0100

iCandy Friends: We recently released our first iPhone app on the iTunes Store: iCandyMobile. This version, however, is severely crippled by the fact that Apple would not allow us to use real-time camera control while scanning a barcode. We created the app with the real-time capability but Apple rejected the app because this feature is only available via an undocument API.
Yesterday, I spoke with Apple and they confirmed that we CAN use this undocumented feature until tRead More...

iPhone App is coming!

jamey@rii.ricoh.com — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 03:54:30 +0100

I know, we keep telling you it's coming but we're a big company and sometimes these things take time. I can tell you that the development work for version 1.0 is done. We're just putting a few dots on the i's and crosses on the t's. It should be ready any day now. Please drop us a line at feedback@icandy.ricohinnovaitons.com if you're interested in knowing more about the features we've built into the app.

iTunes Free Music Tuesday with a side of iCandy

margarita.quihuis@gmail.com — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 07:00:00 +0100

We love QR Codes. And we love iTunes. Even better is when we can combine the two with Free Music Tuesdays. Follow @icandybot on Twitter and you'll get the heads up on the latest iCandy cards for Free Music Tuesdays. Scan them with your iPhone and the appropriate QR Code app and it'll take you straight to the iTunes store where you can download the song for FREE.

Here's a yummy sampler:

CSI and the mystery of the QR Code

margarita.quihuis@gmail.com — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 02:02:53 +0100

We're often asked to describe QR Codes and what they're for. This scene from CSI describes them beautifully:

[video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IcnxfXlZdgY 425x344]

Tough Love for Xerox: This is Clickable Print: Advertisement for Ricoh Innovation Labs

margarita.quihuis@gmail.com — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 07:16:49 +0100

Michael Josefowicz, aka Dr. Drook, maintains a blog on how the print industry can be transformed by the use of QR Codes - printernet is how he describes it.

He gives a nice shout-out to RI Labs and iCandy: Imagine you are looking Clickable Print instead of a textbook in K-12. The subject at hand is the Ricoh Innovation Lab. The teacher comes into class and hands you one piece of paper... read the rest of the story here

Creating an interactive Art Exhibit with iCandy QR Codes

margarita.quihuis@gmail.com — Fri, 15 May 2009 07:00:00 +0100

Luis Pinedo, gallery manager for Hot Mango Pickle Gallery, recently partnered with artist, Lisa Knoop, and RI Labs to create an interactive Art exhibit using QR Codes.

Luis created a series of iCandy cards that linked to a video we made of Lisa's art. We took jpegimages of Lisa's artwork from her website, and created a YouTube video using iMovie on the Macintosh that could be played back on an iPhone.

YouTube Movie Steps: Total Time approx 20 min

Right click on selRead More...

NerdStalker profiles iCandy - authoring, scanning and analytics

margarita.quihuis@gmail.com — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 07:00:00 +0100

Sand Hill Road is known for being home to some of the greatest venture capital companies that have seeded some of the most successful start ups and crushed the dreams of countless others. So it was interesting that it is home to Ricoh Innovation Labs Inc. (RII) in the heart of Palo Alto on Sand Hill Road. RII has been chartered with guiding the future of Ricoh and one of the current endeavors is a very innovative project called iCandy. We were lucky enough to speak with Margarita Read More...

New iCandy: Twitter, iPhone Apps Cards, tiny URLs

margarita.quihuis@gmail.com — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 08:00:00 +0100

Of course we still have the new Twitter feature that lets you tweet what you're listening to but we've also added a new media type: iPhone Apps. That's right, you can now create iPhone App cards for the apps you create or the ones you think are great! Hand them out so your friends can scan and download your iPhone App. Scan the QR Code and it takes yoRead More...

Create promotional iPhone App download cards with iCandy

margarita.quihuis@gmail.com — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 08:00:00 +0100

Did you know that you could create iCandy cards to promote your iPhone application? It's pretty easy actually.

Creating your promotional iPhone App iCandy Card:

Launch iCandy as usual and select Create Card.With iTunes open, find your iPhone app.Drag and drop your iPhone app icon into the iCandy Print window. iCandy will create a QR code of the URL that cRead More...

iCandy Demoed at SF NewTech 2/11/09

margarita.quihuis@gmail.com — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 08:00:00 +0100

Jamey and I had a great time demoing iCandy to the San Francisco digerati at SF NewTech. Here's the video of our presentation. By the way, the video was shot with a Ricoh Caplio R7 camera.

[video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ex02Vmrowoo 425x344]

iCandy plays Coldplay Music Videos

margarita.quihuis@gmail.com — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 08:00:00 +0100

Did you know that iCandy QR Codes can launch YouTube videos as well? Here are some iCandy cards that I created for a couple of Coldplay music videos:

Archive your iCandy Cards online

margarita.quihuis@gmail.com — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 08:00:00 +0100

Did you know that you can keep a history of every iCandy card you create? Go to the preferences window in iCandy (under the iCandy menu) and select "Enable Print Archive."

You can view your Print Archive under the 'My iCandy' menu option on the website. We'll also use those same images to help you track analytics on specific cards. So what are you waiting for? Enable Print Archive now.

My iCandy Dashboard tracks your QR Code Analytics

margarita.quihuis@gmail.com — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 08:00:00 +0100

We've just launched a new feature on the iCandy website - My iCandy ->My iCandy Dashboard.

What does the dashboard do? Well, it displays your iCandy card activity. Each iCandy card has a User ID embedded in it (hence the dog and pony show when you sign up - registration/confirmation code yada yada). The iCandy service can then keep track of your card activity - how many cards have been printed, scanned by you or others.

What can you do with these analytiRead More...

iCandy Print Formats

margarita.quihuis@gmail.com — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 08:00:00 +0100

iCandy Print Formats

iCandy for the Mac can print in the following print formats:

iPhoto Picture Book (small)
10 cards
4x6 card
4x6 card - Half
QOOP CoffeeTable Book
QOOP 5.25 x 3.75 Book
QOOP 3.75 x 2.5 Minibook

The following are in the order displayed in the iCandy app:

iPhoto Picture Book (small):
layout optimzed to work with iPhoto application; appropriate for printing to disk; import images into iPhoto to produce book.

The next three forRead More...

iCandy gets Social

margarita.quihuis@gmail.com — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 08:00:00 +0100

We know. It's true. White lab-coat researchers don't have a reputation for being the most social folks. But wait! We've been hanging out on Facebook and learning to tweet on Twitter. Become an iCandy fan on Facebook and get new iCandy cards, learn about the clever things people are doing to promote their sRead More...

Ice Cream Man's guy Knife Digs iCandy

margarita.quihuis@gmail.com — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 08:00:00 +0100

The Ice Cream Man put his top man, Dr. Knife, on the iCandy beta testers team earlier this fall. We appreciate his call to action to all those ice cream fans out there.

Dr. Knife is the Patron Saint of the Ice Cream Man with a PhD in Awesomology. Learn more about Dr. Knife here.

iPhone Apps can read iCandy QR Codes

margarita.quihuis@gmail.com — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 08:00:00 +0100

Kudos to Michael and Jamey! The iCandy QR Codes can be ready by popular QR Code Reader apps on the iPhone. We will be testing soon on Windows mobile media readers as well.

Download one of these iPhone applications from the iPhone Apps store to get started!

New! iCandy Supports MySpace, Flickr Slide shows

margarita.quihuis@gmail.com — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 07:00:00 +0100

iCandy isn't limited to music you know. You can create iCandy cards for:

iTunes Track|Album|Playlist|VideoFlickr Slideshows Scribd.com documentsYouTube videosSlideshare presentationsMySpace profilesPandora music channelsYour own URLs

Ice Cream Man meets iCandy Team

margarita.quihuis@gmail.com — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 07:00:00 +0100

Ice Cream Man Matt Allen came by RII to meet and brainstorm all the cool things we could do with iCandy.

Matt is a resourceful and creative entrepreneur who tours the country, giving away ice cream at various music events .

He was very hip to the idea of iCandy and how it could make a difference in getting the word out for up and coming bands.Read More...