24/11 KERRANG! the weekly rock magazine goes QR Code
| Category: QR Code, Data Matrix... By editor at 10:14 |
Photo: Robert Price
The new Kerrang, the english weekly rock magazine, hit the newsstands yesterday. We are proud to announce that the mobile tag below made it in the magazine*.
Short Code: 20207331 / Download the Kaywa Reader / Supported Phones
So if you want a Free Fightstar Video download, you should probably try it out.
By the way - if you know some german, you can read a review of FIGHTSTAR's Grand Unification over at Bandsmagazine
* See our other mobile tag projects.
Related: And see Emily's post about QR Codes for Food Traceability in Japan.
Comments
Stan Wiechers
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whoisstan [at] gmail.com
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http://www.semapedia.org
2006-11-26 03:56:30
Great content, but I don't understand why I need a Kaywa Reader when my N93 already has QR code reading build in. And what does the magazine gain when only a single reader can be used?
QR codes should always have URL encoded and not an ID only consumable by a single reader software.
I did try the code and got a number.
Any thoughts?
Stan
2006-11-26 03:56:30
Great content, but I don't understand why I need a Kaywa Reader when my N93 already has QR code reading build in. And what does the magazine gain when only a single reader can be used?
QR codes should always have URL encoded and not an ID only consumable by a single reader software.
I did try the code and got a number.
Any thoughts?
Stan
David Harper
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dharper [at] wirelessink.com
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http://harper.wirelessink.com
2006-11-26 04:22:09
I agree. It is important that open formats like QR Codes be handled consistently by bar code readers. It hurts usability and adoption when a single company hijacks the experience of a QR Code resolving to a URL (that a phone's Internet browser can retrieve.) I understand why you are doing it Kaywa, but it causes more harm then good.
2006-11-26 04:22:09
I agree. It is important that open formats like QR Codes be handled consistently by bar code readers. It hurts usability and adoption when a single company hijacks the experience of a QR Code resolving to a URL (that a phone's Internet browser can retrieve.) I understand why you are doing it Kaywa, but it causes more harm then good.
Roger
2006-11-26 15:21:14
Dear Stan, dear David,
Good points!
However for most publishers size is a crucial factor, that explains the short code approach for now (we leave it up to the publisher to decide wether they want to use the URL or the short code approach, either works for us.). With the evolution of phones (macro lenses) this will be less a problem.
Also, we do offer both possibilities: short codes and full URL's.
If you want to encode an URL, you can go here: http://qrcode.kaywa.com
So the Kerrang Site with an URL QR Code would look like this:
On our Feed2Mobile project by the way, we only use URL's that can be read by all possible QR Code Readers.
See http://feed2mobile.kaywa.com
2006-11-26 15:21:14
Dear Stan, dear David,
Good points!
However for most publishers size is a crucial factor, that explains the short code approach for now (we leave it up to the publisher to decide wether they want to use the URL or the short code approach, either works for us.). With the evolution of phones (macro lenses) this will be less a problem.
Also, we do offer both possibilities: short codes and full URL's.
If you want to encode an URL, you can go here: http://qrcode.kaywa.com
So the Kerrang Site with an URL QR Code would look like this:
On our Feed2Mobile project by the way, we only use URL's that can be read by all possible QR Code Readers.
See http://feed2mobile.kaywa.com
Roger
2006-11-26 16:20:59
Dear Stan, dear David,
Be it URL's or Short Codes either works for us.Both approaches have pro's and con's. We leave it up to the client to decide which approach he wants to choose.
Kaywa Short Code: the PRO's
- SIZE. With a Short Code we can make codes no bigger than 2 cm's.
- MORE POSSIBILITIES:
* I can type the Shortcode 20207331 in the Kaywa Reader. This makes a lot of sense, if I don't have a QR Code with me (telephone call: "Go to 20207331") or if I want to point to a lot of resources without having much space (ex. newspaper).
* In Switzerland I can also send an SMS to 202 with QR 20207331, so nobody is left out.
The CON's
Can only be read with the Kaywa Reader for now.
2006-11-26 16:20:59
Dear Stan, dear David,
Be it URL's or Short Codes either works for us.Both approaches have pro's and con's. We leave it up to the client to decide which approach he wants to choose.
Kaywa Short Code: the PRO's
- SIZE. With a Short Code we can make codes no bigger than 2 cm's.
- MORE POSSIBILITIES:
* I can type the Shortcode 20207331 in the Kaywa Reader. This makes a lot of sense, if I don't have a QR Code with me (telephone call: "Go to 20207331") or if I want to point to a lot of resources without having much space (ex. newspaper).
* In Switzerland I can also send an SMS to 202 with QR 20207331, so nobody is left out.
The CON's
Can only be read with the Kaywa Reader for now.
stan wiechers
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whoisstan [at] gmail.com
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http://semapedia.org
2006-11-27 15:58:44
Hey Roger,
I think the most suitable solution is to have a real short URL like http://kerrang.com/m/ or so, that should fit and would be universal. Below the code you can always fit a shortcode or so.
I think propriatary numbers as identifiers for URLs are obfuscating access and certainly don't help the content that wants to be free.
When you only use numbers you might as well use a regular barcode or join the likes of shotcode, beetag and so on.
Stan (whoisstan at gmail dot com)
2006-11-27 15:58:44
Hey Roger,
I think the most suitable solution is to have a real short URL like http://kerrang.com/m/ or so, that should fit and would be universal. Below the code you can always fit a shortcode or so.
I think propriatary numbers as identifiers for URLs are obfuscating access and certainly don't help the content that wants to be free.
When you only use numbers you might as well use a regular barcode or join the likes of shotcode, beetag and so on.
Stan (whoisstan at gmail dot com)
Roger
2006-11-27 17:29:50
Dear Stan,
I agree and no problem. You can encode the mobile URL as you want by using the QR Code Generator. We can open up regular URL's as well. This is what we did for Rossignol, see here.
As said, this changes a little bit for publications where space is scarce and expensive like in a newspaper. There you normally do want to keep the size of the code always the same and as small as possible. For more reasons see my answers above.
Also a Short Code (ex. 20207331) has some advantages for marketing purposes, say you want to have ten different barcodes (for ten different locations) pointing to the same web address, to check at which location most people scan your barcode. You can do this with shortcodes much easier than if you had to create the same ten pages with different URL's.
2006-11-27 17:29:50
Dear Stan,
I agree and no problem. You can encode the mobile URL as you want by using the QR Code Generator. We can open up regular URL's as well. This is what we did for Rossignol, see here.
As said, this changes a little bit for publications where space is scarce and expensive like in a newspaper. There you normally do want to keep the size of the code always the same and as small as possible. For more reasons see my answers above.
Also a Short Code (ex. 20207331) has some advantages for marketing purposes, say you want to have ten different barcodes (for ten different locations) pointing to the same web address, to check at which location most people scan your barcode. You can do this with shortcodes much easier than if you had to create the same ten pages with different URL's.
Woody
2006-11-27 23:49:59
And here is the Kerrang! Blog:
2006-11-27 23:49:59
And here is the Kerrang! Blog:
David Harper
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dharper [at] wirelessink.com
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http://harper.wirelessink.com
2006-11-28 18:26:38
Roger. Thanks for explaining your position.
2006-11-28 18:26:38
Roger. Thanks for explaining your position.
Roger
2006-11-28 18:58:37
Thank you guys for the good conversation. Love what you do!
2006-11-28 18:58:37
Thank you guys for the good conversation. Love what you do!
jkjhk
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cherierowe [at] hotmail.com
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http://jkljikl
2007-01-18 12:55:49
who is tha publisher??????????????????????
2007-01-18 12:55:49
who is tha publisher??????????????????????
