Local firm creates device for iPod

An Arlington Heights company has developed a small device that attaches to an Apple iPod Touch and could make your checkout experience much faster.

Infinite Peripherals Inc., ipcprint.com, has created Linea-pro, which can quickly read the product bar code and your credit card swipe as the store clerk stands with you in the aisle. It then prints out your receipt.

The device already is being used at 277 Apple stores nationwide, including the one in Woodfield Shopping Center in Schaumburg. It's being tested at 10 other retailers over the next three to six months, said company spokeswoman Julie King. She declined to name the stores, citing a confidentiality agreement.

"When I checked out with it at Apple in November 2009, it took less than 1 minute," King said.

The company, which was founded in 1993, has 14 workers, including six in Arlington Heights. Others are at offices in Irvine, Calif., and Austin, Texas.

The device has a two-piece plastic shell that attaches to iPod Touch units that run OS 3.1.2 or higher. The data is then stored locally or transmitted from the iPod through a Wi-Fi network, King said.

"The Linea-pro also can interact with software written for other applications and industries, including inventory management, asset tracking, ID verification, dispatch, time/labor, lab and health care, so its functionality is quite versatile," King said.

Surfing: An analyst issued a report this week that suggests "mixed progress" for Schaumburg-based Motorola Inc.'s mobile phones business. The success of the Android phones are offset by weaker older model phones sales, said Mark McKechnie of Broadpoint AmTech in San Francisco. He said Motorola estimates it could sell roughly 11 million to 14 million Android phones this year, and he thinks it will be in the 12 million to 13 million range. "(Co-CEO) Sanjya Jha is making the right strategic moves in handsets, focusing Android and platforms for the North American, Latin American and Chinese markets," McKechnie wrote.

• United Airlines (mobile.united.com) has introduced a mobile check-in and mobile boarding passes to and from O'Hare International Airport. Use your mobile phone to go through security and boarding without a paper boarding pass.

• Follow Anna Marie Kukec on Facebook and LinkedIn and as AMKukec on Twitter.