When I got my HTC Hero a few months back, one of the apps I installed from the Android Market was the Barcode Scanner (by Google).  Such a neat gadget but useful too.

A nice feature is its ability to generate a QR Code for a range of textual data types on your phone.  This can then be scanned by someone else’s phone as a way of sharing information.

  • Contact
  • Bookmark
  • Clipboard
  • Application

I had seen QR Codes occasionally but never knew that they were so useful.

Google have a web site, ZXing (“Zebra Crossing”), with a Java code library that can be used for bar code applications.

The possible uses of QR Codes are almost endless.  Google recently announced a Favorite Places initiative, whereby restaurant and shop owners receive a QR Code to put in their windows linked to Google Maps localised data.  This would allow, for instance, the menu of a restaurant to be viewed by scanning the QR code in the window, perhaps with a special discount voucher deal.

Nerdy idea: How about having a QR Code party, where the guests have QR Code tags which tell something about themselves… it could be interesting.   In fact, it wouldn’t surprise me if someone at Microsoft has already done this for those massively popular Windows 7 Launch Parties… if they didn’t, they should have.  What a missed opportunity.

Another use could be a kind of treasure hunt, where QR Codes have to be collected, and each code provides a clue to the next one.  This could actually be fun.

I wanted to do a QR Code for myself, as an alternative to the traditional business card.  Well sort of.  I found a web site that has this as an online tool, Kaywa QR Code.  Their web app will create a QR Code from any text you enter (up to 250 chars).

So, here I am, in a QR Code… perhaps I should put it on a T-shirt.  Already been done, no doubt.

Scan me  :)