Hi, There is a nice Android barcode reader app on my G1. Both "compare Everywhere" and "ShopSavvy" use it. I can't help thinking that it is all going to be replaced with RFID so soon anyway.
I suspect the popularity in the far east for 2D bar codes for web sites is that they are not needing to depend on a foreign alphabet (ie, ours) or possibly of symbol mismatch to get people to the right place. 2009/1/3 Frankie Roberto <[email protected]> > Interesting to see QR code currently displayed on > http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/, linking through to > http://www.bbc.co.uk/musicevents/shootthesummer/qr.shtml > > Seems like an odd use of a QR code - it takes you to > http://www.bbc.co.uk/mobile/shootthesummer/ from where you can download a > trailer of the finished video in .3gp format, but are directed back to 'a > PC' to watch the full version (presumably for fear that the long version > would be an expensive mobile download). > > I have to say, I've always been sceptical of the use-case for 2D barcodes > (for consumers that is - it's easy to see how they're used within industry > as an extension of traditional 1D barcodes). Sure, it's fiddly to type a URL > out on a mobile keypad, but not much less fiddly than opening a barcode > reader app buried deep within the menus. And my new N96 didn't even have the > app pre-installed (even though it was on the N95, so maybe Nokia have lost > interest in it too). > > It's hard enough to get people used to the idea of using the internet on > their mobile, with all the barriers that presents. Scanning a barcode to > visit a website seems like a conceptual leap too far. I suspect it's more > likely that users will just use search (Google) as a way of navigating to > websites on their mobile, just as they do on desktop browsers. > > Still though, we're told QR codes are 'big in Japan'... > > Excuse the meandering, but I wondered what developers on here think of QR > codes (and its variants - Semacode, etc - one of the problems is all the > competing standards!). Have you EVER used a mobile barcode reader for > anything other than testing / novelty value? > > > Frankie Roberto > http://www.frankieroberto.com > -- Brian Butterworth follow me on twitter: http://twitter.com/briantist web: http://www.ukfree.tv - independent digital television and switchover advice, since 2002
