Do you develop mobile apps for iOS or Android? If so, read up because this is pretty exciting stuff. Even if you aren't currently a mobile app developer, chances are you've thought about it and this might pique your interest even more. LEADTOOLS 19 has been released for Android, iOS, and OS X development platforms!
Below is a summary of the big stuff included in this release. We'll go into more details on some of the features in the coming weeks, such as the improvements we made to the OCR and Barcode engines.
Upgraded OCR, Barcode, and Document Writers
Previously running strong on LEADTOOLS Version 18, this release brings the LEADTOOLS Android, iOS, and OS X development libraries up to Version 19. With Version 19, developers gain access to vastly upgraded OCR and Barcode technologies. Additionally, the Document Writers, which are used by the OCR engine to save document formats, have been updated to bolster format support, including the addition of PDF and DOCX formats. Using Version 19 OCR as a foundation, LEADTOOLS mobile developers now have access to LEADTOOLS Driver's License Recognition and Passport Recognition technologies. LEAD's expert image processing and recognition developers have also significantly improved the speed and accuracy of LEADTOOLS recognition technologies on devices with fixed-focus digital cameras still found on many popular devices. LEADTOOLS recognition technology eliminates the obstacles associated with mobile recognition and is the most robust and comprehensive solution available.
Credit Card Recognition
The new Credit Card Recognition SDK technology in LEADTOOLS provides a high-level framework to extract numerical data from credit cards. Utilizing the built-in camera on Android and iOS smart phones, developers can easily capture the credit card number and expiration date for use in their payment processing workflows. This new Credit Card API is a great addition for LEADTOOLS customers already utilizing existing recognition technologies such as MICR, OCR, and Driver's License Recognition to build a full-scale payment processing solution that can handle a wide variety of input documents and cards.
Additional New Features for Mobile
With this upgrade, LEADTOOLS mobile SDKs have an even broader support for imaging features than ever before. The number of supported formats that can be loaded and saved has tripled from the previous version and now includes support for new raster, vector, and document formats such as CALS, DWG, PDF, and DOCX. The powerful and time-tested LEADTOOLS Annotation and Image Markup technology is now available for Android, iOS, and OS X development. By utilizing LEADTOOLS Annotation technology, developers can create mobile applications for users to markup images on a separate presentation layer or permanently change the image data. Be sure to try these and other mobile LEADTOOLS technologies by downloading the updated LEADTOOLS demo apps from the Apple App Store and Google Play.
New Swift-Compatible API for iOS and OS X
LEAD reworked its Objective-C libraries from the ground up for a significantly improved experience for developers using Swift to create iOS and OS X applications. By taking advantage of new Objective-C features, such as generics and nullability, developing applications with LEADTOOLS in Swift is easier and more natural. Enhancing the ability to program with Swift appeals to a wider audience of app developers, and helps current LEADTOOLS customers modernize their codebases.
