We discussed this since the post QR Codes combined with Maps (Novasys, Google and Endoxon are you listening?) from 15 August 2006.

But I never made it to bring this idea to Bernard Seefeld, map.search.ch guru and now working at Google.

Anyway now Wubbahed did the Yelpmap, a mashup of Yelp and Google Maps with QR Codes.

Just great!

TRY OUT THE YELPMAP. The QR Codes change when you move the pointer.



NOTE: One thing though, I would make the Quiet Zone around the QR Code a bit larger (whereas the QR Codes can be a bit smaller). The spec says: QR Code requires a four module wide quiet zone around the symbol.

The transcript Mob Rules: The Law of Fives and the Screencast from Mark Pesce

We live in increasingly interesting times. Half of humanity has suddenly dropped in (via cellphones) – uninvited and unannounced – crashing our private party, eager to participate in an exploration of the possibilities of human communication. Whatever they want, they’re going to get. That’s the way things work now. Fortunately, they want what we want: better lives for themselves and their families. How they get it – that’s in their hands. We can assist them, but they don’t really need our help. That mob will work it out for themselves. And in the process, everything will change for us, as well.

Mob Rules: The Law of Fives

1. The mob is everywhere.
2. The mob is faster, smarter and stronger than you are.
3. Advertising is a form of censorship.
4. The mob does not need a business model.
5. Make networks happen.

Somewhat related:
Putting people first - Experientia - Daily insights on user experience, experience design, and people-centered innovation

Nokia, Google, Microsoft are working or starting to work with QR Codes (see former posts). And there are several good QR Code Readers out there now. And most importantly there are many many people and companies who have already embraced it. Will QR Codes be as successful as in Japan today or even reproduce the success story of SMS? We believe so and we even think that this open standard will set loose the creativity and ingenuity of millions everywhere in the world.

***

I posted already about .NET projects here and about Confucius there. Now Thomas Amberg sent me this link:

OpenNETCF QRCode Library for .NET Compact Framework

The OpenNETCF QRCode Library is a .NET Compact Framework component that allows developers to decode QRCode images on a Windows Mobile or Windows CE device.

After reading about Windows Live Barcode* (which doesn't seem to be available anymore*) OpenNETCF decided to port an existing Java implementation to C# specifically for .NET Compact Framework.

NOTE: Currently QRCodeCF is fully functioning as a decoder but there is no encoder implemented. To generate a QR Code see the Kaywa website

You can download the latest stable release of the OpenNETCF QRCode Library for .NET Compact Framework source and samples from here. You can also get the latest source code from the anonymous Subversion repository.

OpenNETCF QRCodeCF is released under the MIT X11 license. OpenNETCF QRCode Library requires Smart Device Framework 2.1 (Community Edition or Extensions for Visual Studio).

ZXing - Google’s Open Source barcode reader for Android

In general, there’s nothing here that really struck me as being any different than any other open source bar code reader. The most important thing I pulled out of the presentation is that Google is going to trial QR codes with print advertisers. This shows that Google is going to start actively pushing bar codes, but more importantly, it shows that they’re moving more into the print area, even if it is just to link people to online services.


Photo: Wubbahead

Die Welt Kompakt*, the newspaper of the new generation, opens today with 3 Pages on QR Codes. This could be the breakthrough for QR Codes in Germany, no less.

Christian G. authorized us to publish the full epaper here:
Welt Kompakt mit QR Codes (PDF) - no longer available (update: 27.11.2007). We will soon put up the pages with the QR Codes again, but no longer the full epaper.

* partly from Wikipedia.
Axel Springer AG is the biggest publisher in Germany and one of the largest newspaper publishing companies in Europe, having over 150 newspapers and magazines in over 30 countries, including several central and eastern European countries: Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic, Russia and western European countries: Germany, France, Spain, Switzerland.

Dein Handy, ein Star! (Theater quotes as downloadable ringtones)

Laden Sie die MP3-Datei auf Ihren Rechner und senden sie dann wie gewohnt auf Ihr Handy. Noch einfacher ist es, wenn Sie mit einem QR-Code-Reader den Code einlesen. Einen Reader bekommen Sie unter anderem bei Kaywa. Die geeigneten Mobiltelefone finden Sie hier.

See also
Out of Square from Aschaffenburg in Bayern offer to download a song via QR Code.
via ftropf (Tag auf Myspace)

An excerpt from an email from Marc:

but your kaywa reader is only for Qr Code?
Don't you like datamtrix technology?

As this is a recurrent question, I want to answer it once and for all;)

The Kaywa Reader reads both QR Codes and Datamatrix;)
And you can also create both: here and there.

We love open, well defined, certified and thought through standards* and Datamatrix as well as QR Code fall into this category, but QR Code is definitely the better code for all things mobile and especially mobile tagging. There are several reasons:

1. The QR Code is "iconic", whereas Datamatrix is not very attractive (it's has no form, it's a mess).
2. Especially Women** and the Creative*** adore QR Codes (nonetheless the European Central Bank and the business executive school IMD also love it)
3. People on the web have already "voted" for QR Code
4. Japan has pioneered QR Codes on mobile phones since 2003 and all global brands have already used it (from Nike to McDonalds, from Zurich Assurances to BMW).
5. The incredible fast way of adopting QR Codes in Japan and Taiwan is a very promising sign
6. Japanses pop culture is to my sons generation what american pop culture was for me. Youth today is therefore continously in contact with QR Codes. Just buy your son a Naruto plastic toy and you can't miss it.
7. The japanese example is right - offline and online codes - especially in a time where consumers fear to spend a lot of money by accessing the mobile internet (even if this is true for Datamatrix, the QR Code set the good example - and so far most european Datamatrix initiatives are not very keen to adopt the "offline+online" model.
8. Here in Switzerland we have Datamatrix on our bills and it is therefore
a) confusing (which code is to read for mobile phones and which one is only for internal use; you would have to add a marker to the code to differentiate them)
b) some associations ("I have to pay this") could be harmful

* Would there be a web without HTML, and think why SMS became such a global success?
** The publishing company Axel Springer did some study on this
*** Just watch the Pet Shop Boys video, Spex or Zadig&Voltaire

Gallerie Japan is a great blog to know about the newest QR Code developments in Japan and it shows that QR Code are useable for far more then mobile marketing.



This is convenience supreme.

The home delivery system in Japan is already well advanced but yesterday I noticed a new development in the form of a letterbox recently installed at a new house in our neighborhood.
The box is to secure deliveries and includes a time & signature receipt stamp for the driver.
[...] I missed a delivery at home a few weeks ago. When I got home, waiting in the front door letterbox was a card with a QR Code. I scanned it using my mobile phone (with a QR Code Reader); it displayed options such as a link directly to the driver’s phone, hotline to head-office or hyperlink to the delivery company website.

I wonder when UPS or Swiss Post will come out with something similar. And I hope even more that they will be smart enough to take a ISO-Standard code and one that is immediately recognizable as a mobile code. Well, we got then only one choice here - and it's the same as in Japan;)

See also:
Freewheeling thoughts about CRM and social interactions with QRSS (12.9.2006)
Yamato Shipment Tracking with QR Code

Interesting course:
Mobile Social Networking, the Financial Saviour of the Mobile Sector

The smart guys working in 3G now accept that the one-to-many broadcast of mobile content is a broken business model. So what now? The passion of connected people to socialise words, voice, media and digital possessions around their personal networks never went away - it just went mobile. Mobile Social Networking. It's time is right now.

From The Impact of the Mobile Internet by Stuart Carlaw.

This clash is only just beginning and is being fuelled by the dual forces of fear and greed. The wireless carriers are fearful, while the large internet companies such as Google and Yahoo! see expansion into the mobile domain as a logical extension of their current businesses. The internet companies’ open approach to internet is diametrically opposed to the traditional telecoms attitude. Of course, disruptive elements in the telecoms market will advocate change, but on the whole, conflict will continue. Remember, these internet companies are in a very good financial position — especially Google. Their dollars could resolve this conflict through the artificial dissemination of disruptive approaches such as the ad-funded model, which could spread like wildfire in highly competitive and churn-susceptible markets.

It looks like Stuart wrote the article dated November 6, before the announcement of the Open Handset Alliance (this concerns mostly the end of the article and not the part quoted here).