Has anyone seen the the black and white boxes appearing on billboards, consumer goods and business shopfronts recently and thought “What is that?”
What you’re seeing is a quick reference code or QR code. The QR code is just like a barcode, it contains data that can be read with the correct scanner. These barcodes can be used to link to websites, provide contact information or list the features of a product or service.
If you want to read the QR codes, the first thing you need is a phone with a camera. The phone must be able to support QR scanning. Many Android phones have a scanner included as standard. The iPhone does not come with a scanner but there are several free versions available from the App Store. I use QR Reader for iPhone and it works fine for me, but I would be interested to hear of other users’ experiences.
If you are a business owner wanting to use QR codes, there are a number of free QR code generators online. Telstra has one, but typing QR code generator into Google will provide you with a list.
The QR code in this article is my basic contact details. I have a copy on my phone so I can share my details easily with anyone who has a scanner phone.
Many businesses in the US are using QR codes to take people directly to their websites and advertisers use QR codes to provide additional information about the product or promotion on offer.
What have you seen QR codes being used for?
