The firm, Mediastick, licenses its MS-Mark bar codes to e-tailers taking part in the scheme, according to Nikkei Electronics News.
The phone user then snaps an image of the bar code, which can be displayed next to an image of the product in a magazine, newspaper, TV commercial or even Web site, said the report.
By sending the image to the Mediastick's phone number, the bar code is extracted from the picture, processed for product information and the buyer's personal data sent to the e-tailer, who in turn bills the buyer and ships the product.
And it's not just physical products that can be bought this way: digital goods such as ring tones and e-books can also be bought from Web sites using the Mediastick system.
By directly extracting user information from the mobile operator's database, Mediastick removes the hassle of online form filling and lessens security issues such as transmitting and storing credit card information over the Web, according to the company.
The link between Mediastick, the mobile operator and the e-tailer is securely encrypted. According to pictures on Mediastick's Web site, the MS Mark image doesn't look like a traditional bar code; it looks more like the electronic snow on an unused TV channel.
Takashi Kitagawa, a professor at Tsukuba University and a designer of the Mediastick system, was quoted as saying that the system has promise as it does not require new technology, such as phones with radio tag readers.
Mediastick will earn revenue from the e-tailer rather than charging the buyer, said the report.
The catch for now is that only a few high-end phones are capable of the one-megapixel resolution required to capture the bar codes in sufficient image detail. However, such phones are expected to become more widespread in Japan in the coming months.
The system will go on trial in September with subscribers of mobile operator NTT DoCoMo, with full-scale commercialization in Japan planned early next year.
