Ever since Apple’s iOS devices started allowing apps, my dream has been some app to allow remote scanning from my phone into Delicious Library (DL2 from here-on). I THOUGHT this would be the case when the Delicious Library app was released, but alas, that just allowed a copy of your library to be synced/stored on your iOS device. =/ So when I found iCody I about jumped out of my skin. I quickly bought it, and only after found an article that said it didn’t work with DL2 (which, as it turned out, was incorrect). Anyway, after conversing with both the developers of DL2, and iCody, and then them speaking to each other, I have found a solution that works, and works well ((As well as Appthology pulling the page saying it didn’t work.)). And since I haven’t seen the info anywhere else, I figured I’d post here in the hopes someone will find it useful.
Cuecat
Today I went to a local used technology shop (Next Step Recycling) and in the front case, they had a “Cuecat” for $3. Knowing that they work in Delicious Library, I snatched it up (along with a few other things), and headed home. After plugging it into a computer, and attempting a scan, I got a load of gibberish (not a recognizable barcode). A bit of googling later, I found this. Figuring that someone wouldn’t bother posting something like this to the net if it was wrong, I went ahead and took a small screwdriver to the pin indicated, and sheared it off the side of the chip. Total mod time was about 2 minutes, and most of that was finding a small/thin enough flathead blade to shear off the pin.
After putting it back together, I gave it a try, and viola, it gives a real barcode now. You might wonder why I purchased something like this? It’s mainly the size and the fact it works in DL2 (and on the iPad with a USB Camera Connection Kit adapter).
So how does it work as a barcode scanner? So-so. It sometimes takes multiple passes to get the code to read, but given it’s size, and cost, it’s well worth it. Previous to this, I carried around one of these any time I wanted to help someone with an inventory of their media library. It’s about 2-3x as big, and has it’s own issues.
For more info, albeit more geeky, and may/may not apply to your particular Cuecat (should you find one), see here, here (includes sample output before modification), and here.