Video a File to your Phone

Leading provider of global IT products and services, Fujitsu, recently began working on new technology that permits users to transfer files from their PCs to their smartphone by simply capturing a video of them. Company representatives say their IT experts have created software that embeds minute groups of pixels, so small that they're invisible to the human eye, into computer screen images. Users create a short video using the smartphone app, and the pixels are decoded, creating a unique ID which recognizes the host PC. You can use the software to download all types of files to your phone, including photographs, word processor documents, and presentation slides.

The company displayed its product in a presentation in Tokyo, in January 2013. The point-and-shoot downloader is set to be a hit with smartphone users, mainly because of its ease of use. All it takes is a few seconds of video footage of the file you wish to transfer, the software produces a wireless link and the download commences.

Fujitsu has created the software as a potential solution for the issue of direct transfers between computers and mobile phones. Downloads via Wi-Fi or cable necessitate manual setup and configuration, and cloud-based options transmit files via third-party servers. Fujitsu explains that its technology can also be used in the reverse direction: to send files from your phone directly to your PC. In this instance, a link is created in the same way - using a smartphone to create video footage of a computer screen, then uploading data. The software will work equally well with projectors and large screens; this enables multiple users to download a file simultaneously.

To use Fujitsu's technology, you will need computer software to embed the pixelated ID in the display and track which files are up on the screen. You'll also need an app for your smartphone that will record and process the ID and sequence the downloads. The technology has already been demonstrated on Android phones and tablets.

More and more camera and smart phone manufacturers are beginning to experiment with encoding data as color and light and transmitting it visibly. In 2012, Casio displayed an iOS app capable of encoding and transmitting short messages and photographs using flashes of colored patterns. Fujitsu intends to release the technology in February 2014 when it will demonstrate its capabilities at the Mobile World Congress, to be held in Barcelona, Spain. (CU) Link