Cognex's add-on technology allows smartphones to scan bar codes

MX-100 Cognex's new device uses a smartphone's built-in camera to scan bar codes. It attaches to an Otterbox uniVERSE case holding an iPhone (model 7, 7 Plus, 8 or 8 Plus), and uses an app to control all bar-code reading functions. The MX-100 has its own rechargeable battery and employs a patent-pending optical communication method that uses its photocell and LED aimer to trade encoded flashes of light with the iPhone's LED flash and camera. This approach eliminates the need for a Bluetooth, Wi-Fi or Lightning port connection to the iPhone. Scanned bar-code data is passed to the user's app.

What's new? The device and its optical communication capabilities.

Benefits Faster and more accurate bar-code decoding. The device provides an LED aiming pattern to precisely center the bar code, emits diffuse lighting that can scan bar codes in poor lighting conditions and supports a broad range of bar-code symbologies.

Cognex Corp., Natick, Mass., 855-426-4639, www.cognex.com