As there is a growing interest of Kaywa blog publishers for QR Codes, especially for classifieds (in german: Kleinanzeigen), I quickly wrote up a QR Code DIY Guide:

Kaywa's QR Code DIY Guide for blog publishers

Introduction

You have a Kaywa blog and you want to use QR Codes*. On most Kaywa blogs you already see the QR code in the navigation column on the right. Currently this QR Code is what we call a Short Code. Every Short Code can also be changed into an URL which we call the Short Code URL. The advantage of a Short Code URL over the Short Code is that all QR Code Readers and not only the Kaywa Reader can make something with the encoded data in it. This way your QR Code immediately can be read by millions of handsets everywhere in the world. We at Kaywa believe that the URL approach is the only one that will prevail in the near future.

How To Create A QR Code For A Single Post (Short Code)

Let's take the example of this post here.

What we have:

• The Short Code QR Code with the Short Code written right under the QR Code: 2020415403. This Short Code brings us directly to the mobile version of the blog at http://bossardpartners.kaywa.ch/mobile.
  
  
  

  2020415403
• The ID of the post: it is 175, derived from http://bossardpartners.kaywa.ch/p175.html or rather http://bossardpartners.kaywa.ch/mobile/p175 as we want to access the mobile version and not the PC/Mac version of this post.
  
  ※ To get to the post ID, you can simply search for your post (recommended) or click the latest posts if it's one of them. As an alternative you can also check the post ID in your RSS feed.

Ok, now we know the Short Code of the post, it's 2020415403 (Blog ID) + 175 (Post ID) which gives us 2020415403175. We now can create the Short Code of this post with the QR Code Generator. Go to Content Type Text and enter 2020415403175 into the Free Text field. Then hit Generate!. The result is the Short Code for this particular post:

How to URLize my Short Code (Short Code URL)

As you read in the introduction the Short Code can only be understood by the Kaywa Reader. All other QR Code Readers will simply give you 2020415403175 as a result. They can decode the QR Code's data but then they do not know what to do with it - it's simple text for them. That's why you want to URLize it - making an URL out of this Shortcode - to get a maximum reach.

Enters the Short Code URL! The Short Code URL has an URLizer part and a Short Code part:

• URLizer: http://d.kaywa.com/
• Short Code: 2020415403175

Put this two together and you get: http://d.kaywa.com/2020415403175. Basically this works like a TinyURL.

We now can create the Short Code URL of this post with the QR Code Generator. Go to Content Type URL and enter http://d.kaywa.com/2020415403175 into the field. Then hit Generate!. The result is the Short Code URL for this particular post:


The difference between the codes is obvious, the Short Code URL is a bit bigger than the Short Code as it contains more data.

※ Also keep in mind to keep a sufficient Quiet Zone around the QR Code. The above examples do have a quiet zone of between two and three modules. This works normally well, but you certainly shouldn't go nearer.

Conclusion

I hope you enjoyed this little DIY Guide for creating QR Codes for single blog posts and you understand now the difference between Short Codes and Short Code URLs - and why the latter are important to create a worldwide ecosystem. You can also find a much shorter version of this DIY guide in german here and there.

※ Kaywa provides statistics** for both type of codes: Short Codes and Short Code URL's in our commercial solutions. Please contact us by phone or email, if you are interested in our commercial solutions.



* QR Code ® is a registered trademark of DENSO WAVE INCORPORATED in Japan and other countries.

** It is important to note that we only provide reading statistics without any personal data as we strongly believe that the user has data protection rights.

Revenue Share Model over Content Business Value Chain

In the Mobile Content Business value chain there are several parties (ie. Telecom Operator, Platform Vendor, Content Aggregator, Content Owner or Creator, Content Sponsor etc) involved nowadays. Everyone is involved here for their own benefits. From my experience I have seen that the operator tries to lower their CAPEX (Capital Expenditure) as well as the OPEX (Operational Expenditure). Hence Revenue Share business model came in the scene to satisfy all the related parties. Here in this article I will not just try to describe on the Revenue Share Business Model but also will try explore some concept on the Expenditure share model.

Didn't read it yet, so I am not sure if I will agree;)

Head over to http://lendorff.kaywa.com to get one of the 500 QR Code enhanced invader scarfs.



Or buy now right here.

QR Code? = Be invisible. Be Seen

HouseOfBurvo is particularly concerned with Typography, and enjoys creating custom/bespoke fonts for both personal and briefed work.
This book serves as a collection of all the Typography & Lettering that HouseOfBurvo has created during the years of 2005 and 2007.

Contains 158 pages of black; and 80% red ink throughout. Content as seen in pictures below, but with the new cover design. (QR code takes you directly to Houseofburvo.co.uk with code readers available for mobile phones!)

Via Aisle One

PSst: A semi-secret I am gonna blog about tomorrow:
.

10 Things You Need to Know About Mobile Marketing, December 2007 Issue

9. There will be a lot of chatter in 2008 about the QR Code, the two-dimensional visual bar code made popular in Japan but years away from U.S. ubiquity. Phones scan a unique UPC-like stamp on any real world object to pull in more information or offers. Hold a phone up to a movie poster, and get a trailer, movie times or even tickets. The prospect of making the physical world this interactive (even transactive) is too delicious to ignore. But we need a standard.

And QR Code is just that - a universal standard which works (as universal as wikipedia I might add after having scanned the above QR Code).

Via Matt Eliason

Today also in the swiss Sonntagszeitung:

Weltweit gibt es über 70 konkurrierende Codes; der in Japan erfundene Quick Response Code, kurz QR-Code, und die amerikanische Datamatrix haben die grössten Chancen, sich als Standard durchzusetzen. Auf diese beiden setzt auch Nokia, die auf ihren neuesten Handys entsprechende Leser bereits vorinstalliert, und die Zürcher Kaywa AG mit ihrem «Kaywa Reader» (http://reader.kaywa.com).

Der Clou an der Sache ist die Einfachheit. Man muss nur das Handy auf einen Tagg halten und schon liest die installierte Software das Raster und verwandelt es in einen Link, einen Text oder ein Musikstück. So füttern Firmen ihre Produkte auf simple Weise mit Zusatzinfo.

Die Post sucht mit quadratischen Strichcodes Lehrlinge, [...], die SBB führen per Pixel-Code zum Fahrplan und Google-Ads versieht Zeitungsinserate neu mit QR-Codes von Kaywa.

Auch Printmedien erhoffen sich viel vom Anschluss ans Internet. Als erste deutsche Zeitung führte kürzlich «Die Welt kompakt» QR-Codes ein. «Zum ersten Mal gibt es eine direkte Verbindung aus der Zeitung ins Internet», schwärmt Chefredaktor Frank Schmiechen in einem Video auf Youtube.com. Auch im deutschen Magazin für Popkultur «Spex» und im Schweizer Internetmagazin «Anthrazit» finden sich die Pixelquadrate. Ein Blick nach Japan genügt, um den 2D-Strichcodes eine grosse Zukunft vorauszusagen. Dort sind sie überall: in Zeitungen, auf Postern, Lebensmittelverpackungen und Visitenkarten.

Kleine Korrektur: die QR Codes von Google sind QR Codes. Google verlinkt dafür auf den Kaywa Reader, um diese zu lesen.

QR Code Reader [CP-01] by Psytec. (Price: 29400 Yen (180 Euro))

One more example how you benefit from a standard code. There is a huge ecosystem already in place and prices are affordable.

Follow up to this earlier post. I finally saw the video with the Kaywa Reader in action on a N95, thanks to the people from TraceTracker.

Norway's biggest TV-channel NRK1 featured an innovative use of the GTNet in their main evening news program "Dagsrevyen"

The program showed how a mobile phone with a 2D-barcode reader application connected to the internal mobile camera could be used by a consumer at the retail store to retrieve traceability information on a product.

This particular case showed how barcodes on vacum sealed packets of fresh fish could be scanned by the mobile application to retrieve information about producer, origin, best-before dates etc. COOP has previously run some market campaigns targeted at the consumer where they focus on traceability as a product differentiator.

Yesterday's showcase is part of a seafood industry project run by The Norwegian Seafood Association (NSL) together with COOP and TraceTracker. This project is also a part of the Norwegian Ministries e-Traceability project.

See also:
Fiskekontroll på mobiltelefon (Video)
TraceTracker article (see also: Effective seafood traceability to Coop Norway)
More about traceability and QR Codes on mobile.kaywa.com

PS: When does Coop Switzerland follow the example of Coop Norway?

Airtel, Western Union offer mobile money transfer service

Indian workers in other countries will soon be able to send money, less than $100, to their family back home using a mobile phone.

Bharti Airtel and Western Union have decided to jointly develop and pilot a mobile money transfer service in the country. The move is part of a global initiative by the GSM Association wherein 35 mobile operators spread across 100 countries have taken a commitment to enable the world’s 200 million international migrant workers to easily and securely send remittances to their dependents.

See also:
Global Money Transfer Pilot Uses Mobile To Benefit Migrant Workers And The Unbanked (From GSM Website)

We got a very touching email from Ramon Montana from Schönefeld. He just put up a QR Code on the Berlin firefighters site.

You can see it here.