The phrase "a bar code reader" is correct and usable in written English.
You can use it when referring to a device that scans and interprets barcodes for various purposes, such as inventory management or point-of-sale transactions.
Example: "The store recently upgraded to a new bar code reader to improve checkout efficiency."
Alternatives: "barcode scanner" or "barcode device".
A bar code reader developed by DigitalConvergence. Com, a hyperlink company, will be distributed to read those symbols and translate them into Web pages that appear on the screen.
In Louisville, Ky., the 21c Museum, which describes itself as the only museum in the United States dedicated exclusively to displaying art made in the 21st century, in April will introduce an iPhone multimedia tour that takes advantage of a bar code reader app available at Apple's App Store.
Each form is run across a bar code reader to confirm that it was returned by the household that received it and examined by actual people for things like blobs of peanut butter that might gum up the system, then fed into oven-size scanners made by Eastman Kodak.
"GoodGuide," an iPhone app, can help consumers too, using a bar code reader to rate products according to personalized, preset "green" user preferences.
Similarly, on the enterprise side, a company could outfit employees with camera phones and use the devices similarly to a bar code reader and keep track of its inventory by scanning bar codes on their products.
Today everybody carried a bar code reader in their pockets in form of mobile device.
"People think it's a bar-code reader".
But the average consumer did not own a bar-code reader — until now.
An application called ScanLife, widely available online as a free download, turns a phone into a bar-code reader.
The device combines a bar-code reader with an internal database of pollution complaints and ethics violations within a casing resembling a cold-war-era Geiger counter.
Options include a 40-gigabyte hard drive for storing or backing up photographs and a bar-code reader for associating photos with individuals or groups.
