[dpapathanasiou]

I did think about doing this as a phone app, since there are libraries for converting pictures of barcodes into the corresponding numbers.

The rub is you need a fairly accurate camera, and while it would probably be ok in iOS, the experience in android would vary depending on your hardware.

The dedicated laser scanner is cheap, accurate and reasonably compact (only the head is important, the rest of the handle is cabling and empty space), which is why I'd like to try combining it into a small handheld device, ultimately.

[gusmd]

I agree this would better packaged as a phone app. There are several apps out there that scan barcodes to detect a product. Amazon's app is an example. There is a price comparison website in Brazil (buscapé) that also has an app which does that. I don't believe the camera needs to be that accurate, as I have used them on several Android devices, from lower- to higher-end phones.

[JosephRedfern]

One such library is ZXing: https://github.com/zxing/zxing

[detaro]

For using the barcode, a dedicated scanner is clearly better (especially faster). Reading the barcode with the camera is reliable as a fallback, but many products have packaging that should be possible to recognize directly with a camera, especially for items you commonly buy.

I don't know, maybe that's overkill and just pointing the barcode at a dedicated reader is actually the better experience.