What’s a QRCode?
This entry isn't about a specific gadget, but rather something some gadgets can actually read: QR codes. Quick Response codes are similar to barcodes. They are designed to make it easy to input data into a mobile phone. The included picture is a QR code.
QR codes have been used in manufacturing for the past couple of years. They are insanely popular in Japan where just about every phone sold has as a camera and the ability to read QR Codes. Higher-end Nokia devices have been shipping with a built-in barcode reader application, which will read these QR codes.
Denso Wave Incorporated, the creators of QR Codes, state that you can encode 4,296 of text into a QR code, or 1,817 Kanji/Kana characters. That's quite a bit of data. Other features, including built-in error correction, make this a great way to encode data in a machine-readable format that can easily be read later.
If you look at the QuickMark website, you can easily generate QR codes for a number of different types of data! QuickMark also provides software downloads for a number of mobile handsets which will turn your camera phone into a QR code reader!
If QRcodes were everywhere, would you use them? Leave your thoughts in the comments.
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By Driss, September 14, 2007 @ 4:44 am
IMHO, I’d rather suggest you to take a look at http://www.jaxo.com Surprising! Those guys propose FOR FREE a full gallery of tools to generate, colorize, and finally decode 2D barcodes from the camera of your mobile phone. My 2 cents.
By Dameon Welch-Abernathy, September 14, 2007 @ 8:43 am
Thanks for that one. Nokia also has a site as well: http://mobilecodes.nokia.com
By learning, September 27, 2007 @ 3:24 pm
In answer to the question, if QR code were everwhere, would I use it? Yes, I like it and have it on my phone. One thing I will point out however is that if you have a phone with a proprietary browser (not NOkia) QR code can be a bit of a pain to link.
I have also used shotcode.com, and in my use it works much faster on most phones and the pick up distance is greater. YOur phone does not have to be right over it.
I have also used buildhardlink.com for cases where I can not stick a barcode on something.
Living in the US I can say we are far behind on all this stuff but maybe that will improve next year.
thanks
learning consortium
By Dameon Welch-Abernathy, September 28, 2007 @ 1:48 am
We are pathetically behind on all of these things, you’re right.