1 post tagged “barcode”

This is a pretty cool feature that took me a while to understand, mainly because I haven't seen too many of the two-dimensional matrix barcode images (or QR-Code or DataMatrix as they are also known - see this Wikipedia article for details) in real life situations.

shameless bainsworld plug

Apparently they are cropping up in magazines and the like and allow devices equipped with 2-D Barcode Scanning software - like the Nokia N95 - to easily capture data from an article.  Typically this would be a website address which can then be browsed from the phone, say to register for a conference that is being promoted in the magazine article.

There is a very useful Mozilla FireFox add-on that can be downloaded here which displays the word "Barcode" on the far right of the browser status bar.  When you hover the mouse pointer there, it pops up a barcode for the page address which you can read into your phone.

The example at left encodes the following phrase "Wazza is definitely one of the coolest N95 owners around. Check http://bainsworld.vox.com to see for yourself!".  If you have an N95, try it and see.  This was generated using the QR-Code Generator.

On my N95 I open Menu -> Office -> Barcode -> Scan code and I am prompted to "Open lens cover" (if you open the cover first then the camera application starts automatically so wait until prompted).  Aim it at the screen and "presto chango", the data is un-discombobulated.

 
No need to retype a page you need on the phone and you can save these addresses for later.  Very cool.