The Barcode Evolution

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Barcode reader is something that is often neglected in the mobile phone world, especially in the case of 2D barcode.  While our Japanese brethren have long enjoyed the benefit of the technology, here in the states we are still in the early process of adopting and implementing the technology in our daily lives.

There are quite a couple of useful 2D barcode software available for our Windows Mobile phone. I personally have been using Quickmark’s free QR reader (http://www.quickmark.cn/En/basic/download.asp) in conjunction with Firefox 2D Mobile Barcoder plugin (https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/2780). The combination allows me to instantly access pages or download files directly to my HTC Fuze.

This convenience will definitely benefit people who download and store all their cabs files in the microSD card, or if you are just one of those people that feel that we are under-utilizing our 3G connection and couldn’t get enough out of Opera 9.7’s speediness.  Here are some QR codes that you should try out:

Another recent contender in the 2D barcode arena is Microsoft’s Tag reader. It basically uses the same concept behind barcode decoding while adding some other nifty enhancements such as color codes and reduction in minimum decoding size requirement.

Currently, the software is still in beta stage but you can give it a try by accessingthe page from your phone at http://gettag.mobi, or if you’re feeling fancy you should instead use the QR reader and access it from here:

Despite all of the fun with 2D barcode, researchers at MIT has just revealed a new barcode technology dubbed “Bokode”.  Bokode was based on the “Bokeh Effect” in photography world where light blurs into a round blob as a lens focuses to infinity.  The idea behind Bokode is to eliminate the needs of close-range precise scanning required by our current 1D and 2D barcode scanner.  With Bokode, it is possible to scan the barcode from a few meters away as shown in this video:

It will be awhile before the new technology becomes available to the public, and until that day comes we just need to be content with our black & white 2D barcodes, or Microsoft’s Tag if you may.