QR Barcodes

There seems to be a real push lately (mostly by Google) for the implementation of the QR barcode. You will see these on websites, in advertisements, at your local store (generally restaurants so far) via Google Location stickers, and even on business cards. We recently added these to the back of our business cards at the company I work for. If nothing else it’s been a fun topic to speak to customers about.

What has sparked the interest (other than Google pushing the technology) is the rapid growth of smart phones. If you have a Droid, iPhone or Blackberry, and the appropriate application, you can simply read the QR barcode and the information contained will be presented to you in your phone. This can be a number of different things including contact information, website URI, dialing a phone number, or even just a block of text. There are a number of free sites on the internet that allow you to enter your desired information, then will build your QR barcode for you. You just download the corresponding image.

Evidently QR barcodes have been popular in Asia, particularly Japan, for a number of years. Not surprisingly we are a little behind here, but as usual when something takes off it quickly spreads, and we’ll all believe to be the first to have it. From what I can tell these are being used in the Philippines, but as most things it probably matters where you live. You are probably more likely to encounter them in places like Manila, Cebu and Davao than in the provinces.

So what exactly are QR barcodes?:

• Definition

  QR-Codes are two dimensional barcode (datamatrix) that is designed to have it’s contents decoded at a high speed.

• About the Name

  The acronym QR is derived from the term Quick Response. The company Denso Wave originally spawned the term QR as the creator intended that such barcodes and their contents were to be decoded at high speed electronically.

• History

  QR-Codes originated within the technology hungry country of Japan and have merely only recently began to become popular within the Middle East and Europe.
  Barcodes that you see on any commercial product are extremely beneficial as their reading speed, supreme accuracy and their functionality are key.

  As barcodes reached their peak and began getting used worldwide, the need for more data and characters types to be stored was inevitable.

  Developers began tying to expand on the current amount of bars within the barcode and how their positioning to allow further data capacities. The need for smaller barcodes also was another defining factor in their development.

  Such developments failed as reading and printing implications caused more problems than solutions. The 2D barcode was then born.

• Overview

  QR-Codes first hit mainstream when they were initially used for tracking parts by vehicle manufacturers. After a while, companies began to see the scope for where QR-Codes could be used elsewhere within the world. The most commercial use for QR-Codes is in the telecommunications industry where the mobile phone seems to be the biggest driver of their popularity.

• Data Capacity

  QR-Codes are capable of handling of sorts of data, including numbers, alphabetic characters, Kanji, Kana, Hiragana, symbols, binary, and control codes.
  A total of 7,089 characters can be encoded in one symbol alone.

  QR-Code Data Capacities
  Numeric only Max 7,089 characters
  Alphanumeric Max 4,296 characters
  Binary (8 bits) Max 2,953 bytes
  Kanji, full-width Kana Max 1,817 characters

It will be interesting to see how this used going forward. Whether this has any lasting usefulness, or is just another temporary technology on the way to the next. I find the application of the contact information on the business card to be very useful, but it is only so if a lot of people use it and you own a smart phone. I’ll see if there is any real use for me when traveling and I visit the Philippines later this year.

reference article: Mobile-Barcodes – About QR Codes