Decoding the QR Code

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We’ve all seen them, and chances are pretty good that a lot of us still don’t know what they are. QR Codes, or Quick Response Codes are everywhere. But, what are they?

That square box is the printed equivalent of a hyperlink online. Instead of clicking on a link on the internet, users would snap a picture of the QR Code on their phone. The phone then processes the code and will then fire up the browser and direct you to the URL that’s encoded.

Think of a QR Code as a one-seat vehicle. There are a lot of “people,” or data types, that want to get from point A to point B, however, there’s only one seat. You have to choose which is the most important to send. Data types that a QR Code can transport include: a phone number, a short text message, V-Card data (think: a virtual business card), social media information or a link to a website.

I’ll spare you the technical jargon that goes into making a QR Code work, but here’s the basics:

QR Code Reader Software

For your phone to be able to read QR Codes you will need to have QR Code barcode reading software installed on it. Check out the list below to find an app for your phone:

Optiscan – The best QR Code scanner for iPhones – it understands all the new trickier encoding types and has definitely kept up with development in QR code technology.
I-Nigma – Probably the most popular decoder/reader application and works on most of the popular smartphones. (Supported Devices)
Quickmark – For most phones, but most noticeably has an Android version and a Windows Mobile version
Barcode Scanner – Another good Android QR code reader. Available in the Android Market in the Applications/Shopping category.
Nokia – Most Nokia’s now come standard with the Nokia’s own scanning software, but this one is good for N78, 6210 Navigator, N80, N96 and 6220 Classic
Google Zxing – For the Android and iPhone plus quite a few others, but not Windows Mobile
SnapMaze – QR code reader for Nokia, Sony Ericcson and Motorola phones (Supported Devices)
NeoReader – A good range of phones and mobile devices (including iPhone and Blackberry) and also available as AppStore download. (Supported Devices)
Jaxo Systems – Runs on most Java-enabled phones (Supported Devices)
OkoTag – The new one from Jaxo. Java, Blackberry, Windows Mobile and Android. (Supported Devices)
Blackberry Messenger – Comes standard with most Blackberry’s these days
Upcode – Support for a wide range of Symbian, UIQ, windows mobile, Iphone, Blackberry and Java phones. (Supported Devices)

So, what does QRstuff.com do then? You guessed it. They make QR Codes out of your data. You can snag your code in a printable format, email it someone or even make a t-shirt with it (seriously). If you splurge an pick up a subscription, you can even submit a spreadsheet full of data and they’ll send you QR Codes holding that same data in return. Pretty awesome.

If you take advantage of their batch processing option, just make sure to take a few extra seconds to make sure that you’re associating the right QR Code with the right product, because let’s be honest (and I’m not being a barcode bigot here), but they all look the same.

Subscriber Services

• Generate QR Code images at user-specified sizes up to 3000 pixels across and at your choice of 72dpi, 150dpi or 300dpi.
• Generate QR Code images in either PNG or PDF format
• Directly download (save) your QR Code immediately, or email it to an email address.
• Batch processing – upload a single TSV file and generate up to 500 QR Codes at a time
• A history facility allowing you to re-generate a past QR Code, or to browse the history of previous codes that you’ve created.

Subscription Rates

• 1 Month: $11.95
• 3 Month: $27.95 (save 20%)
• 6 Month: $49.95 (save 30%)
• 12 Months: $85.95 (save 40%)
• A casual 24 hour subscription is also available for $3.95 if you just want to check out our service, or need to generate a small number of codes (or even a single QR Code) as a one-off task.

website: www.qrstuff.com
twitter: www.twitter.com/qrstuff