From an ad in a mall to an internal announcement in Cisco, QR Codes are now everywhere… 5 years ago i was working in a startup active in that area without much success*! Who said that in a venture timing is critical??
(well ok… the business model is still missing)
Shortly after my first QR Code scan of a public signage (I have been scanning QR Code for a long time :-), I get my first “scan QR Code on tv” experience yesterday night as I was watching “L’oeil de links” show for the first time. This new show on Canal+ is basically reporting what’s interesting/hot on the web and they use QR Code incrusted in the lower right corner of the screen to communicate the URL to the viewership. Easy. Smart. Useful. And best of all they are not using one of the proprietary solution out there… just standardized QR Code.
The show is available on the web, go and watch it by yourself (there is even a 15 seconds explanation on how to use QR Code at the begining).
I scanned my first QR Code in the street last week. It was on a signage and it lead me to a form to participate to a contest (unfortunately the deadline had passed). Surprinsingly the target webpage was well formated for my mobile device. I guess that’s a sign that both QR Code and the mobile web are progressing… Neat.
Yesterday Google announced that they have mailed out window stickers with two-dimensional QR Codes to the most-searched for or clicked-on businesses in its local business directory. The goal is to have them displaying in there windows so that by scanning them you will get all sorts of information about the business like phone number, photos, customer reviews,…
If you have a QR Code reader on your cell phone you can wave it in front of the barcode and you will be transported from the physical to the digital world.
An idea not so new… I am sure some persons have thought about it but Google just has the resources to effectively do it. They even partnered with Quickmark to distribute 40’000 pieces of their software for iPhone for free (instead of $1.99). iPhone owner go ahead and download it!
Took some time this morning to give a shot to Insqribe, a webapp that allows you to manage your QR Code.
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J’avais eu une petite discussion avec Mr. Pain il y a quelques semaines, et il semblerait que le reportage sur les QR codes a été diffusé hier à la Capsule sur la RSR. A réécouter ici.
[audio:http://podcast.rsr.ch/media/capsule/20080409-la-capsule-le-quick-response-code.mp3]C’est quand même fou ce qu’ils peuvent faire au montage :-)