Slashdot Mirror

QR-codes, Data Matrix, Beetagg, etc . there are alot of 2D codes around.
Now MS has decided to add yet another one.

The advantage of keeping the info inside the code is you are not dependant on a serviceprovider to interpret the code. That's maybe a key feature here when involving MS (and Beetagg an a few more).

Many services uses a subscription based system where a 2D-code, only has a function as long as the subscription beeing paid. Guess what system MS in using? Real info or interpreted/serverbased?

Please stay away from those and use codes that has real info in them, just like normal barcodes.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/QR_Code

"A QR Code is a matrix code (or two-dimensional bar code) created by Japanese corporation Denso-Wave in 1994. The "QR" is derived from "Quick Response", as the creator intended the code to allow its contents to be decoded at high speed. QR Codes are common in Japan where they are currently the most popular type of two dimensional code.

Although initially used for tracking parts in vehicle manufacturing, QR Codes are now used in a much broader context spanning both commercial tracking applications as well as convenience-oriented applications aimed at mobile phone users. QR Codes storing addresses and URLs may appear in magazines, on signs, buses, business cards or just about any object that a user might need information about. A user having a camera phone equipped with the correct reader software can scan the image of the QR Code causing the phone's browser to launch and redirect to the programmed URL."

But, in the good 'ol US of A, many stores would KICK OUT patrons who openly comparison shop. In Japan, it's the norm, otherwise QR would have flopped, I think. Even on the street, I was handed adverts having QR codes on them. Makes life a HELLUVA lot nicer to not have to type in or use a search engine when a QR will do either, and quickly.

More URLs:

QR-Code Generator:
http://qrcode.kaywa.com/

DENSO WAVE INCORPORATED
http://www.denso-wave.com/qrcode/index-e.html

But, even USPS & UPS and such entities use them, too, seemingly to replace get around damaged bar codes. IIRC, QR Codes are multiply (plee) redundant, so damaging part of it still does not prevent extraction of information.

I believe this is defeated by Denso's QR Code which was developed in 1997. It is a 2D barcode that is typically scanned by taking a photo with your cellphone or similar handheld device, and pushing a single button. The photo is decoded by the scanner into presumably an URL, and the resulting page is accessed and displayed. Alternatively you can store arbitrary data in it to the size of the symbol, i.e. a serial number or manufacturing date. It was created in 1997 it seems. In Japan it is now common in most phones and is often seen in magazines and on billboards. I don't see how Bezos can help but be embarrassed by this sort of thing. When he started out he used to be a straightforward kind of guy..

Here in Japan, almost every new cellphone is equipped with a bar-code reader capable of reading "regular" bar-codes, as well as 2D "matrix" codes (QR Codes being the standard). You simply take a photo of a bar-code, and it translates it into text into the browser address bar. While not "searching" per se, but now almost every advertisement seen in a magazine, on a train, etc. has a QR code printed on it. It's much easier to snap the photo and be blitzed to a webpage than to either jot down (or try to remember) a URL like http://www.denso-wave.com/qrcode/aboutqr-e.html
(and that URL about QR Codes is an easy one to remember).

While image search technology has its uses (identifying things without "written" landmarks), I believe advertising isn't one of them.

I can appreciate the underlying technology of pattern recognition and virtual reality, and I can understand the allure of dabbling with it, but this combination doesn't make any practical sense. Why bother with a book?

I can recall those Sony Vaio computers with built-in cameras that came out years ago included software that allowed you to use the camera in a way similar to a barcode reader. It could recognise matrix type 2d code that looked like pixelated squares.

The technology used for this BlackMagic book is similar to that. I can see how it can be useful for integrating a video feed with data acquisition, for example recognising inventory from a security camera video. And I can also see how it can be used for optical motion tracking for CGI and virtual reality. But the combination in this story just doesn't seem useful.

But with cameras and processing power on cell phones getting more sophisticated, other 2d barcode like QR Code or semacode will eventually outpace this technology with their considerably larger data capacity (up to as many as 4000 alphanumeric characters). In fact, semacode is already demonstrated on Series 60 implementations.

The submitter points to an application that uses spotcodes for remote control. In that implmentation, the spotcode translates to a number which the program then uses to send an instruction over Bluetooth.

However, those wishing to skip the tedium of entering URLs from the keypad using Spotcodes should note that BangoSpot (using the Spotcode technology) almost certainly uses a middleware server which performs a Spotcode number-to-URL lookup. So someone will know that you're using the Spotcodes. It's sort of like the CueCat but the implementation _requires_ them to know what you're looking up in order to provide a WAP URL.

It's an interesting approach, but I wonder how fast cellular carriers can adopt Spotcode-to-URL servers in their network before phone technology ends up leapfrogging and reading and entering sophisticated 2d barcode data directly into a phone browser.

QR Codes:
This guy has got a phone that reads qr codes. More info here.

CueCat:
nuff said

My CD Player: (blatant self promotion)
Keep the camera still and move the cards.

Also I couldn't find any of the guestural/movement stuff you'd associate with a mouse. More like buttons you'd press with the camera.

I'm not sure if it's just because I'm interested, but there seems to be a lot of camera based code reading bits around recently.

I tried it in Japan this week. Take a photo with your camera phone and it decodes the message. Superimposed cropmark-like crosshairs ensure the entire encoded field is captured.

Saying that a website where you could upload a gamboy sized image and have it produce a pdf encoding an image viewer would be very nice.

Checkout 2D barcodes such as QR-code, DataMatrix, and MaxiCode:
here

QR-code can store 2,953 bytes in a single code.. I'm not sure what the size of the code is, but looking at photographs of it shows that it is "damn'ed small".