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Mobile marketing solutions provider Blue Bite and digital media company Reach Media Group (RMG) are teaming up to deploy NFC technology to over a third of RMG's 200,000 digital screens over the next six months.  In addition, Blue Bite is working with other partner networks to bring its total NFC deployment to 200,000 screens across the U.S. These digital screens, such as those found in malls, theaters, bars, clubs, gyms, airplanes, taxis, and elsewhere, allow advertisers to display video ads to millions of viewers per month. RMG, in particular, provides access to over 70 million viewers monthly.

Now those viewers will be able to learn more about any given advertiser using NFC technology. Simply put, it's one of the largest commercial rol-outs of NFC-based advertising this country has seen so far.

First there were bar codes, then there were QR codes, now there are zebras. StripeSpotter, a program co-developed by researchers at the University of Illinois, Chicago and Princeton University scans the distinctive stripes on a zebra.

The open-source system, which focuses on field photographs of zebras, can be used to associate field notes on a given animal, with the distinctive pattern, to track them through their life cycle.

Google is moving away from barcodes and towards NFC (near field communication) if a pair of stories about the search company are tied together. Yesterday, news broke out about Google's decision to officially end support for the use of QR codes, the 2D barcodes readable by camera-equipped mobile phones, in its business listings service Google Places. Today, non-profit industry association NFC Forum announced that Google has joined its ranks as a new member with voting privileges.

If you've been waiting to see momentum surrounding NFC, here it is.

A recent report released by research consultancy PSFK looks at the key trends occurring within the mobile tagging space - that is, the trends associated with the use of mobile barcodes, QR codes and Microsoft Tags. In particular, the report looks at usage and development from the branding and marketing angle, to determine the many ways in which companies have adopted barcode tagging to better communicate with their customers.

While that may be too narrow a focus to dub the report "The Future of Mobile Tagging," as it's being called, it's an interesting read nonetheless. We've included it below courtesy of Slideshare, so you can read through the report for yourself.

The Center for the Studies of Archaeological and Prehistoric Heritage (CEPAP) at the Autonomous University of Barcelona have developed a process using QR codes to ID and track ancient artifacts, from kraters to potsherds.

Previous methods of on-artifact ID shared one thing in common: it was painfully easy to rub out, rub off or scratch out the identifying number of code written directly on or in the artifact. That process also ran the risk of marring the object.

This morning, eBay announced its recently acquired mobile barcode scanning application Red Laser will now support QR Codes, also known as 2D barcodes. In addition, the updated version of the price comparison shopping app, available now in the iTunes App Store, will also incorporate eBay Marketplace and Half.com listings in its product results section.

This news comes on the heels of another big-name barcode scanning app update: Amazon Mobile. Only yesterday, Amazon announced its mobile application would now offer barcode scanning.

Is a barcode scanning battle brewing?

ShopSavvy, BarcodeHero, Stickybits, CheckPoints, Tecca, Microsoft Tag, RedLaser, SnapTell, Shopkick, the recently updated Amazon Mobile - if you're like many smartphone owners, you've used at least one (if not more) of these mobile barcode scanning applications. In fact, you're now part of a growing trend of users who do.

Once upon a time, smartphones were mostly about connecting busy professionals with their email accounts while on the go. Now that smartphones have reached the mainstream consumer market, however, people are looking for more than just email access - and a surprisingly large number of smartphones hardly ever leave their owners' homes.

According to a new study from Web analytics firm Compete, 74% of smartphone owners now primarily use their devices for personal reasons, and they often spent the most amount of time with the device at home.

Two of the biggest trends we tracked last year were Mobile Web and Internet of Things. In a new series on ReadWriteWeb, which we're calling Mobile Web Meets Internet of Things, we'll explore how these two important trends are converging and look at some cutting edge example products. We start with barcode scanning...

Internet of Things is when everyday objects become connected to the Internet, via technologies such as RFID tags, sensors and barcodes. One trend we saw expanding in 2008-09 was mobile phones being deployed as readers for barcodes.

German company apnoti.com has today launched what it claims is the world's first mobile price search engine with integrated barcode scanner. It's an iPhone app called iBARCODE, which enables users to scan product barcodes and find the best prices. It currently only works in the U.S., U.K, Germany and France.

To scan, the user simply holds the iPhone over a product's barcode. The integrated camera in the iPhone essentially takes a photograph of the barcode, from which the app recognizes the product and finds the best offers on the Internet for it.