System for and method of communicating barcode information using a mobile device

1. A method of communicating barcode information using a mobile device, comprising steps of:

providing, by an operating system of the mobile device, a printing framework via which print-capable applications on the mobile device access printers;

accessing, by a first software application of the mobile device, a virtual printer driver through the printing framework, the first software application being print-capable and the virtual printer driver being presented by the printing framework to the first software application as a printer;

invoking an application print feature of the first software application to print content to the virtual printer driver;

extracting, by the virtual printer driver, one or more barcodes from the content received by the virtual printer driver from the first software application; and

transmitting a barcode extracted by the virtual printer driver from the mobile device as pulsed light using light-emitting hardware of the mobile device.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the step of transmitting is performed for at least a first one of the one or more extracted barcodes automatically upon being extracted in accordance with said step of extracting.

3. The method according to claim 1 , wherein said step of transmitting is performed upon a user selection of a barcode from among the one or more extracted barcodes.

4. The method according to claim 3 , wherein said step of extracting extracts a plurality of barcodes.

5. The method according to claim 3 , further comprising providing a notification to the user once the one or more barcodes are extracted.

6. The method according to claim 5 , wherein the user performs said invoking of the print feature.

7. The method according to claim 1 , wherein said step of extracting comprises examining the content generated by the first application.

8. The method according to claim 7 , wherein the first application comprises one or more of an email application, a web-browser, or a picture gallery.

9. The method according to claim 7 , wherein said examining is performed entirely on the mobile device.

10. The method according to claim 7 , wherein said examining is performed on the mobile device in combination with a server-based component on an external application server.

11. A system for communicating barcode information, the system comprising a mobile device having:

light-emitting hardware;

an operating system including a printing framework via which print-capable applications on the mobile device access printers;

a virtual printer driver accessed by the print-capable applications through the printing framework, the virtual printer driver being presented by the printing framework to the print-capable applications as a printer;

a first software application, the first software application being print-capable, wherein upon accessing the virtual printer driver, and invoking a print feature of the first software application to print content to the virtual print driver, the first software applications generates the content, and

wherein the virtual printer driver extracts one or more barcodes from the content received from the first software application, and

wherein the mobile device is configured to transmit a barcode extracted by the virtual printer driver as pulsed light using the light-emitting hardware of the mobile device.

12. The system according to claim 11 , wherein the mobile device is configured to transmit at least a first one of the extracted one or more extracted barcodes automatically upon extraction.

13. The system according to claim 11 , wherein the mobile device is configured to transmit upon a user selection of a barcode from among the one or more extracted barcodes.

14. The system according to claim 13 , wherein a plurality of barcodes are extracted.

15. The system according to claim 13 , wherein the system provides a notification to the user once the one or more barcodes are extracted.

16. The system according to claim 15 , wherein the user performs said invoking of the print feature.

17. The system according to claim 11 , wherein extraction of the one or more barcodes comprises examination of the content generated by the first application.

18. The system according to claim 17 , wherein the first application comprises one or more of an email application, a web-browser or a picture gallery.

19. The system according to claim 17 , wherein said examination is performed entirely on the mobile device.

20. The system according to claim 17 , wherein said examination is performed on the mobile device in combination with a server-based component on an external application server.