Are you ready for sticky bits?
Filed under: Android, Apple, entertainment, innovation, iphone, lifestyle, mobile codes, mobile handsets, mobile internet, mobile phone, Next G™, smart phone, trends
Something interesting arrived in my Pop URLS home page a few days back. Apparently QR Codes are set to go mainstream this year.
What on earth are QR Codes I hear you ask?
QR Codes (quick response) are graphical codes that store online addresses (URLS). The ability to scan codes on objects that point to digital content online has been around for a while now since the mid 90′s in fact. These days you are likely to come across them on advertising on the street, in newspapers or magazines, on public transport, business cards, maps and now with services like stickybits, you can print codes and add them to any object you like to point users to online digital content.
If you have a smart phone equipped with a reader app, you can easily scan a QR Code to open a website or other digital media in the phone Internet browser. You can even scan these codes from your television screen. One of the most interesting uses of this technology was the use of QR Codes on tombstones a few years back in Japan.
This new rise in QR Codes popularity makes sense to me as we’ve also seen a marked increase in smartphone usage with devices such as the HTC Wildfire priced right for the pre-paid market.
Now offline meets online around any kind of real world object. I can see myself using these stickybits in FrontlineSMS:Bullyproof, a personal project of mine. I’m also keen to explore the potential of collective scanning. Start a digital thread? Add a comment, share a link, all from these sticky codes you can place anywhere. This has great potential. You could also just buy some sticker paper and produce your own on your home computer.
Telstra has it’s own QR code generator and scanner. There’s also a Telstra Scan Code (QR Code Reader) app for Apple iPhone available in the iTunes store. Microsoft have more recently launched their own platform called Microsoft tags.
For those of you living in Melbourne, Mobile Monday Melbourne is a great place to meet up with mobile entrepreneurs and industry people. The organisers have been using QR codes in their promotional materials to promote events offline and direct traffic to their website.
Here’s an idea. Looking for love? Need some extra offline promotion? How about a QR code on your t-shirt to point people to your unique dating site profile.
So, are you ready for sticky bits? Where would you put these sticky codes to point people to your stuff online?
I’ve been wondering for a while now what the best way to actually implement a QR code might be for someone who can’t afford to advertise in print media – nice find with Stickybits!
If nothing else, a less expensive and flexible alternative to the lengths this guy went to: http://bit.ly/9wbPxY
Nice one Collin, If you’re into temp Tattoos and have the body to show it off then this is a really impressive way to market your stuff.
How about this for another interesting use by the Pet Shop Boys.
i love QR codes. i recently designed my business card to incorporate a QR code with all my contact details in it.
whilst on the topic of novelty QR coding – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jd5yzgELGy4
James, I love that M&Ms QR! Thanks for sharing.
Found this little gme the other day.
QR Codes in the Wild….
http://www.flickr.com/groups/qrcodes/
can also help with wine selection!
http://mashable.com/2010/09/01/cellar-key/
Thanks for putting up this article, Brendan – as you may know, 3GVision is Telstra’s technical partner for QRcodes.
Unlike StickyBits, Telstra decided that its Scan Code application must cater to all of its customers since 2008 (when the service was launched) – whether on Smart-Phone or Feature-Phone.
This choice is beginning to pay off now, with the constant increase of usage in the Australian market.