More Photos of QR Codes on Rice Packaging

A couple more photos of QR Codes spotted on food products:

Also noticed is that some 2D barcodes seem to be damaged to the point that recognition is no longer possible.

QR Code Ad (A Poor Example)

Yet another full page newspaper ad (from last month actually, 6/15/08 on United Daily News) from GigaHouse that uses QR Codes for real estate advertisements. This time, there are a whopping 64 QR Codes to be found on the page. However the barcodes' usability has not yet been improved, they are still dense and consist of small module size (due to the long URLs that they encode). End users equipped with auto-focus camera phones such as the HTC Touch Diamond or Asus P750 might have a chance of decoding those barcdoes, but even then they will be disappointed because the target website are mostly not configured properly for mobile phones This is probably one of the most frustating things a QR Code can do to an eager user because it means that one could have potentially wasted their time & effort (in scanning the code), and money (for mobile data rates) on a completely useless piece of information. It is probably still a learning process for advertisers wanting to incorporate 2D barcodes into their marketing materials because they might be unfamiliar with the technology's limitations and capabilities. Personally, I think that 64 barcodes on a page is a little too much. I think that mobile barcodes work best when used sparingly, because it is easier to catch the reader's eyes and prompt actions based on their curiousity. 64 barcodes? Might be a bit too scary for some people.

Buy Tickets With QR Codes

Tickets for Air Supply's concert in Taiwan a couple of weeks ago could be purchased via 2D barcodes on their event posters (the photo depicts one poster spotted in the MRT station). The tickets were sold by the largest online tickets vendor ERA. Users need to be ERA members and download the QuickMark barcode reader to participate. Users that purchased tickets via this new method (scanning the QR Code) were treated to price discounts and better seats. Personally, I wish this offer was available for Namie Amuro's concert back in April or for more artists that are popular among a younger audience :)

QR Code Marketing

QR Code mobile marketing materials from last year (2007). It was a 7 month trial run by a Taiwanese marketing company to distribute these booklets (free) loaded with advertising using QR Codes.

After the end of the trial, they merged their efforts into a different booklet that is distributed for free at various convenience stores in Taiwan.

QuickMark 2D Barcode Reader for iPhone

QuickMark's 2D barcode reader appears to be working on the iPhone. The short video shows the QuickMark software successfully decoding a QR Code containing a UTF-8 encoded Chinese string. No download is available yet, but we are not supposed to be able to do that on an iPhone anyway (at least not officially).

So far the iPhone is still a supposedly proprietary platform, although several developers have already been able to create applications for jail broken iPhones.

Such actions are probably frowned upon by Apple, so they started a iPhone Developer Program and plans to launch its App Store platform later this year to set things straight (and make more money). But it remains to be seen how many 3rd party applications will be available when the Store goes live and when iPhones start to come with version 2.0 firmware.

In terms of barcode reader applications for iPhone, iMatrix is quite active and is looking to add support for a variety of proprietary barcodes. Google's ZXing project has iPhone on its road map and Neomedia has also released a couple of screenshots.

Although the iPhone has plenty of barcode reader support, it is not equipped with a great camera for reading barcodes. From my brief experience with the iPhone, barcodes will probably need a module size of at least 0.8 mm to have a chance of being recognized by the iPhone (in Japan, QR Codes are sometimes printed with 0.25 mm module sizes).

Update: QuickMark for iPhone is now available on iTunes App Store at: http://tinyurl.com/c3obf5

QR Codes For Hua-Lien Organic Products

User scans an official QR Code label issued by the Council of Agriculture

Not only are QR Codes for food traceability promoted by at the national level in Taiwan, I also recently noticed that it is being implemented at a more regional/local level as well. The Hua-Lien Shien Bureau of Agriculture also have their own system for certifying organic agriculture products from Hua-Lien using QR Codes.

QR Code label by Hua-Lien Shien Bureau of Agriculture

The Hua-Lien Shien stickers are noticeably larger and seems to have more information, even including a photo of the producer. However, scanning the QR Code takes you to a web page with pretty much the same information (link). Therefore the enlarged label is probably taking into consideration that most people are still not equipped with mobile barcode readers.

If you are into organic products, Hua-Lien Shien has setup an online shop for these products, check it out.

Related links (Chinese): Taiwanese farmers with cutting edge technology, Technology and tradition