iPhone QR Code Reader

QRCodes are two dimensional bar codes very popular in Japan. This app is a QR Code reader which uses the iPhone camera.

Kaywa goes fashion:) More in a couple of days

M-CA$H

Como funciona o M-Cash do HSBC ?
Com o M-Cash do HSBC, você pode pagar suas compras nos estabelecimentos credenciados, informando apenas o número do seu celular. Em instantes, você recebe uma ligação para confirmar a compra e sua senha pessoal, exclusiva para este serviço. Após a confirmação, o valor da compra é imediatamente debitado em sua Conta Corrente, sem tarifas adicionais.

Official Copy:




Inspiration



Via Klaas

Andrew Currie earlier compared various mobile transcoders and Feed2Mobile was also mentioned:
Kaywa’s Feed2Mobile service will generate a QR Code which you can use in one of two ways:

1. You can use your phonecam and built-in decoding software to grab the URL straight from your desktop computer’s screen, or…
2. You can display the code on your very own page and have your readers do the same.

The image underneath Andrew's text is however not from his feed on Feed2Mobile (which probably he should change so that there is no confusion).

***
As a side effect, Russell Beattie now also enabled QR Codes on Mowser. Great!

Dopod video via Flanagan


The asian pacific region will become ever more important in the near future and we believe that QR Codes are therefor most suited to be the best international code. Or do you know any other 2d barcode which can encode offline codes with kanji (chinese signs) and kana (japanese syllables)?

I just found this blog about QR Code Usage in Tokyo

I was intrigued by the Otona no QR kodo book:



Otona no QR kodo on Amazon.jp and Hanmoto

As AZUMA Junichi, I think emoji's / emoticons could be the first truly universal language. The heavy use of emoji's in our daily written conversations by phone or computer are truly amazing. And this will only increase with "mobile connectedness".

So how about standardization of emoticons and emoji's? Here are some resources to start with. If you want to add more resources, please do so in the comments.
Emoji standardization (DoCoMo, EzWeb, Softbank)
Emoji - Emoticon compatibility chart (Japan / Europe)
Skype vs. Regular Emoticons (see also: Skype Hidden Emoticons Video and Secret Skype Emoticons (de))
Jaiku Icons
Kaoani - animated emoji's
Gamer Culture Emoticons: here and there
Anime Emoticons
Ascii Emoji Photoset


Emoji (絵文字)
Emoji are japanese picture (絵) characters (文字) and not as Tim Bray meant emotion characters. More information and links can be found at Wikipedia.

Emoticons
Emoticon article on Wikipedia is quite thorough.


Related:
Design of Signage Systems. via NotasD


Not related, but interesting nonetheless:
When I was in Tokyo in 2003 I wondered why the top level domain .ch was so interesting for my hosts - they created a japanese website with a .ch domain at that moment. I guess I found the answer now: 2ch or 2channel (Wikipedia entry).


And last but not least: QR Code for mobile bookmarking of this post



http://d.kaywa.com/ +2020400102 (Short Code for this blog) + 845 (blog post ID)
=
http://qrcode.kaywa.com/img.php?s=4&d=http%3A%2F%2Fd.kaywa.com%2F2020400102845

Informative to see how the journalists at Welt Kompakt work with QR Codes and nice to see our tools in this video:

“Die wunderbare Welt der Quadrate”

Via Jepblog

I adore Sharp Phones for their cameras and screens and their classic look since the times I bought a GX-30 via Vodafone (who was then in a fight with Nokia). Sadly the Sharp brand has almost disappeared from mobile phone shops and that's a pity - even more so, as Sharp phones come with a preinstalled QR Code Reader made by Sharp's inhouse team.

Note: Cool, I just discovered a QR Code on the Swiss Sharp Site:).


See also:
Sharp is still undisputed handset leader in Japan: 1Q 07 data

Sharp continues to hold its dominant position in Japan’s handset market through four consecutive quarters, increasing its market share to 22.6% in 1Q07 from 21.2% in 4Q06, reports IDC. Strong sales of Raku-Raku series phones are worth mentioning among other 1Q07 highlights as they helped Fujitsu get in the top five handset vendors.