The cameras found on the iPhone and iPod touch have been put to good use by a wide variety of apps including a number that have been able to transfer the humble camera into a barcode reader. Zbar Barcode reader performs precisely this function, and it can be put to a variety of uses.

When used to scan books, food produce and other items, the app will search the internet for details of the associated item. This can be useful when out shopping as it could enable you to compare high street and online prices and make a great saving.

There is support for a number of different barcode formats including the increasingly popular QR codes that can be found adorning advertisements and magazines. Using ZBar you can quickly decode these bar code to access the hidden web site or gain other rewards.

The app can also be used to scan the tracking barcodes used on UPS and Fedex parcel, but whatever you use the app for, the results can be sent out via email if you would like to share them with other or send a record to yourself.