Mobile ID Scanner for Android, iOS and Windows Mobile Devices
Building on the success of the IDWedge® drivers license scanner, TokenWorks® is introducing IDWedge BT where BT stands for BlueTooth. IDWedge BT is designed for the mobile device market with a built in battery supply and our embedded drivers license parsing engine. It scans drivers licenses / state issued ID cards and sends field data directly to applications (apps) running on Android, iPads, iPhones and Windows Mobile devices.
There are two operational modes. One is a keyboard wedge mode using the Bluetooth Human Interface Device (HID) keyboard interface. Like the IDWedge, a user configures the scanner to send a series of ID fields (e.g. first name, address, zip, etc.) and keyboard navigation key strokes (e.g. tab, enter, right arrow, etc.) which moves the cursor between text boxes on an existing applications and autofills the form. There is no software development which means the scanner can be operational in minutes. We have already demonstrated to clients using a web based CRM system running on iPads and the response has been – when can I get one?!
The second operational mode is the serial port profile which sends drivers license field data like first name, middle name, last name, title, address, city, state, zip, drivers license number, date of birth, date of expiration, etc in a fixed field order, comma separated string via the Bluetooth serial port. This mode is used by developers who need only open the Bluetooth port to receive parsed drivers license field data. There is no System Development Kit (SDK) or software libraries to include with their code. Just open the communication port, scan an ID and see the parsed ID data in a comma separated fix field order appear.
Like the IDWedge, its fast and just about error free especially when compared to Optical Character Reading (OCR) business card solutions. IDWedge BT is mobile and does not require an external application to extract drivers license data. It scans, extracts and send the data to just about any mobile Bluetooth computer.
One note about Apple iOS devices like the iPhone, iPod and iPad. Apple controls the serial ports (and other interfaces) to its mobile hardware with an authentication chip (iauth chip), but not HID devices like Bluetooth keyboards. The standard version of IDWedge BT works via HID keyboard interface with iOS devices but can’t pair with iOS devices until create a special version which is planned for later in the year, once we get this one launched.
Look for a press release in the next week or so.
IDWedge, TokenWorks are registered trademarks of TokenWorks Inc.