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MIT's Junkyard Jumbotron turns your motley collection of devices into one large display (video)
Got a handful of mobile devices layin' 'round when what you actually need is one large display? The kids at the MIT Center for Future Civic Media got you covered! The Junkyard Jumbotron, designed by Rick Borovoy, Ph.D. and Brian Knep, is an ingenious project that makes stretching an image across damn near any collection of displays with web browsers. When you assemble the displays (such as in the picture above), the Junkyard Jumbotron website will ask you to point them all to the same URL. This will cause each device to load the same QR code, which -- once you snap a digital pic and email it to the project -- will allow it to calibrate and stretch a JPEG across your assemblage. It certainly does look like something scrounged up at a junkyard, doesn't it? Well, sometimes that's part of the fun. Hit the source link to try it for yourself. Video after the break.
EPA's letter grade automobile stickers could bring QR codes to car windows in 2013
Ever wonder how the world would still turn after MPG stickers were updated to take hybrids and EVs into consideration? Wonder no more. Purportedly, the Environmental Protection Agency is planning to decide by July's end whether it'll require "emissions grades" on all new vehicles. We're told that said stickers would resemble those shown above, complete with a QR code that could be scanned by any smartphone for more detailed information on how a grade was decided upon. As the story goes, cars would be graded from A through D, with a score of F presumably omitted for political correctness. If implemented, it wouldn't require automakers to slap these onto their rides until the 2013 model year, but as you'd expect, said car companies aren't exactly pumped about the idea. As of now, 40 percent of the vehicles on American roads would receive Cs or Ds, and Ohio's own Rep. Steven LaTourette had this to say about it: "Those who live in Planet Reality might need a minivan or SUV to haul around four kids in child and booster seats, and have room for luggage and a family dog. Thanks to the EPA, they'll be lucky to find a vehicle that gets a C." In truth, he's dead right, but there's always two sides to every story. To counter the obvious, automakers are instead backing "a more modest labeling redesign" that's not quite so jarring to consumers. Ah, the wonders of compromise.
Microsoft 'Tags' 2 billion real-world objects with its phone-friendly barcodes
Microsoft might be late to the cameraphone-able barcode game, but it appears to be making up for lost time. Its multi-colored (and, frankly, rather attractive) Tag barcodes added a few important innovations on top of the general QR code concept, and apparently to good effect: 2 billion Tags have been printed since the January 2009 launch, and 1 billion of those Tags were printed in the past four months. Sounds like Microsoft has found some momentum, and they claim to have gained a lead in the publishing industry already. Obviously, the analytics, customization, and anti-fragmentation nature appeals to Big Barcode, but we'll have to wait and see if Tag is the ultimate choice of the everyman. Plus, won't ads be able to hack our brains and implant URLs at-will soon enough? We're holding out for that.
Goo.gl URL shortener can also spit out QR codes, if you ask it nicely
Once again, Google fails at being ordinary. Although the claim with its Goo.gl URL shortener is that it's more about quality than features, the search giant couldn't help itself and has inserted a QR code easter egg into the mix. Should you be so daring as to append a .qr at the end of your contracted hyperlink -- such as turning http://goo.gl/JCKW into http://goo.gl/JCKW.qr (both point to this post) -- you'll be treated with a QR code, built especially for you by the company's imaging smurfs. So, in case you still don't have Android 2.2 and its awesome Chrome to Phone functionality, here's an alternative method for transitioning the webpage you're reading onto your phone. Heavens forbid we'd ever have to actually type anything out ourselves.
Pioneer shares affordable line of speakers, snobs sob
After releasing a bevy of value-packed Elite receivers, iPod Docks, and Blu-ray players in recent months, Pioneer has now announced a new line of entry-level speakers just in time for man cave upgrade season. Consisting of the SP-DS21-LR and smaller SP-BS41-LR bookshelf monitor, the SP-FS51-LR floor standing mini tower, the SP-C21 center channel, and SW-8 sub, the entire line is on sale now at selected retailers for a reasonable $79 to $199 depending on the component. Despite these wallet-friendly price tags though, all of the speakers sport higher-end details like radio frequency bonded, curved cabinets, improved multi-component crossovers, and gold-plated five-way binding posts -- which seems to fall nicely in line with Pioneer's recent recession-appropriate bang for your buck approach. In case that idea alone wasn't enough to make audiophiles roll over in their acoustically-perfect coffins, Pioneer's release also says the speaker packaging will feature QR barcodes that, when scanned, will direct consumers to YouTube videos of lead designer Andrew Jones discussing the new line. Luckily for you, we've embedded the video along with the full PR after the break, so you can skip the unnecessary mobile hassle and get straight to the unintentional laughs.
Vextini interactive ad campaign: no thanks, we don't need to see what's behind there
It's hard to say what the worst aspect of what we're seeing is here: the tired, generic, Sex and the City-style group of girls who love martinis that make up this ad campaign, or the campaign's pitchman who seems to genuinely believe that pre-mixed martinis will sell better because of a cheesy, "interactive" ad. The idea here, of course, is that you see the above shot in a magazine, then hit up Vextini's website, and use the QR code to watch a full video of the hilarious events unfold. Vextini? Sure, it vexes us plenty. Enough to make us want to drink in fact... so what flavors does this come in again? Hit up the source for the pitch video: believe us, it's worthwhile.
Microsoft Tag comes out of beta, promises free colorful codes for all
It was about a year and a half ago that Microsoft decided it could do QR codes better, that any universal coding system needed a dash of color, and launched Tag. Now, the roughly one billion Tags that users have printed have been made a little less illegitimate, with Microsoft bringing the service out of beta and taking the opportunity to toot Tag's trumpet a bit. The codes have appeared in 20 million magazines so far and have recently been deployed to create a sort of tour for geeks in Amsterdam (no word on whether our own international man of mystery is featured). Meanwhile America's cultural hub, the Mall of America, has been similarly bestickered to "enhance customer engagement," but based on our previous experiences at that bastion of commercialism we're thinking scooters and foot massages might have been more effective.
Tag: Microsoft's first Android app is it
Everybody loves a world's first. So we might as well mention that Microsoft just released its very first application written for Google's competitive Android smartphone platform: Microsoft Tag Reader. Tag, as you might recall, is Microsoft's pseudo QR code implementation that uses high capacity color "barcodes" to link back to content. Download the app from the Android Market, scan a Tag with any camera enabled Android phone, and the linked data will automatically load on your device, be it a web page, video, advertisement, coupon, etc. Of course, readers without tags are as useless as tags without a wide swath of people with devices to read them -- so really, Microsoft has no choice but develop its Tag apps (already available for WinMo, Symbian, Blackberry, and iPhone handsets) for as many platforms as possible. First!
Weather Channel distributes Android app via on-screen QR code
Google's been doing some pretty slick stuff with QR codes lately, and now it looks like The Weather Channel's getting in on the fun -- it's running a little on-screen graphic prompting Android owners to download their app by scanning their TV screens. Sure, it's not the craziest thing in the world -- it just takes you to the Android market listing -- but it's certainly fun, and one of the more mainstream uses of QR codes we've seen in a while. Check the video after the break. Update: We originally said it takes you to the webpage; in actuality, it takes you to the Android market. (Thanks, Caleb!)
Google Goggles brings visual search to Android; Favorite Places brings QR codes to restaurant reviews
Looks like Google's been busy on the camera tip lately -- not only is it launching a new QR code-based Favorite Places mobile search product today, it's also demoing Google Goggles, a visual search app that generates local results from analyzing mobile phone images. Favorite Places isn't super-complicated, but it sounds like it'll be pretty useful: Google's sent QR code window decals to the 100,000 most researched local businesses on Google and Google Maps, and scanning the code with your phone will bring up reviews, coupons, and offer the ability to star the location for later. (It's not implemented yet, but you'll be able to leave your own reviews in the future.) Google hasn't built this into the Google Mobile app yet, so you'll need something to read QR codes with -- Android devices can use the free Barcode Scanner, and Google and QuickMark are offering 40,000 free downloads of QuickMark for the iPhone today. We just tried it out using QuickMark and it works pretty well -- although we'll wait to see how many QR codes we see in the wild before we call this one totally useful. Google Goggles is a little more interesting from a technology standpoint: it's an Android app that takes photos, tries to recognize what in them, and then generates search results about them. Goggles can recognize landmarks, books, contact info, artwork, places, wine, and logos at the moment, and Google says it's working on adding other types of objects, like plants. Pretty neat stuff -- but how about linking these two services together at some point, guys? Check some videos after the break.
Blinking LEDs to give QR codes a run for their (ad) money
We're still waiting for this so-called QR code revolution to hit North America, but our contemporaries across the Pacific are already looking to develop the next big thing. Reportedly, a smattering of mega-corps (including the likes of Toshiba and NEC) are joining hands in order to concoct a rivaling technology that requires even less effort to get content from billboards, books and posters to one's mobile. The heretofore unnamed system utilizes blinking LEDs to send data to phones, and so long as an ad has enough room for a minuscule light, consumers can come within five meters of it and receive the associated information by simply pointing their handset in the direction of the light. If all goes well, the technology will be ready for commercialization by 2013, or just after phase one of the Robot Apocalypse.
Esquire hopes augmented reality will trick people into reading
Remember that time last year when Esquire embedded an E Ink display in its front cover and everyone you know rushed out to buy one, and how the scheme saved the once-doomed print magazine market? Well, it appears that the periodical (and the industry as a whole) are again in need of a dramatic technological sales boost -- this time in the form of augmented reality. When the mag hits the newsstand on November 7, readers (and their webcams) will be have a chance to scan some QR codes fiduciary markers and partake in the technology that's been known to teach children about architecture and help jaded club kids party underwater -- except this time the unsuspecting public can look forward to seeing Robert Downey Jr. emerge from the front cover to spew what the AP calls "half-improvised shtick on Esquire's latest high-tech experiment for keeping print magazines relevant amid the digital onslaught." With that kind of content -- alongside a computer-animated snowstorm and a dirty joke or two from Gillian Jacobs -- can anybody doubt that traditional media will soon be back on its feet?
Takashi Murakami and Louis Vuitton make QR codes fun again
Bland, black and white QR codes got you down? Well leave it to artist Takashi Murakami to shake things up. Creative agency SET has laced the psychedelic-anime expert's playful, colorful imagery into versions of the machine-readable code for Louis Vuitton that -- amazingly -- still work. The company has also done similar work for Coca-Cola, though nothing quite as luxuriously squeezable as this multi-colored panda. Now, if someone could just dress up those drab bar codes... [Via DVICE]
Tikitag renamed Touchatag, adds QR codes to repertoire
We haven't heard much from Tikitag since they showed up on the scene last September, sticking RFID tags to everything in sight. The Alcatel-Lucent Venture-backed company's popped up on the radar again, only this time it's taken on a more tactile-focused name, Touchatag, and is now touting 2D barcode support, including do-it-yourself tag creation system for adding some QR ciphers to your business cards or anything else you wish to lay claim. No word on the new pricing -- a Tikitag RFID set was supposed to cost $50 in October -- but if you're interested in testing the service out, there's a sign up to join the developer community on their main site.Read - Press ReleaseRead - Touchatag Developer Network
Microsoft co-opts QR codes, Pet Shop Boys 'not stoked'
Microsoft has announced that they're jumping onto the mobile tagging thing, having developed a system of High Capacity Color Barcodes that encode information in tags smaller than those allowed by QRCode and Datamatrix formats. Additionally, the specification has been designed to work with out-of-focus and fixed-focus cameras, making the thing more feasible for cellphone use. Although the "humanities" angle is kind of cute -- the company is rightfully stoked over the fact that HCCBs were on exhibit at MoMA in New York -- this is clearly aimed at organizations looking to sell more people even more useless junk. Hooray for conspicuous consumption!
Firm proposes "double QR code" -- we say, why stop there?
So a Japanese company by the name of Design QR had a brilliant idea: combine two QR codes to allow twice the information to be stored. Ah, but we had an even more brilliant idea: combine three flippin' QR codes. Design QR says three or more are "possible," but we turned possibility into reality by mocking one up for you. You're welcome.[Via Slashphone]
Ricoh unveils bizhub that understands QR Code
Here in the US of A, a do-it-all bizhub that cranks out caffeinated beverages would do us a whole lot more good than one that speaks QR Code, but we can certainly see the relevance when marketed in Japan. Ricoh's uber-snazzy MP C4500it can not only fax, scan, copy, e-mail, and print with the big boys, but it can easily boost the productivity of the average office administrator by understanding a command-laden QR Code. Reportedly, users can scan the QR Code before getting down to business, and the machine will automatically interpret and adjust to match your desired settings -- you know, duplex, 400dpi, compressed PDF with a personalized header on top -- rather than forcing you to use the intern's arrangement. Additionally, you can load up data through the built-in USB port / SD card slot and see where the paper jam is on the 10.4-inch color touchscreen, but first you'll have to hand over a whopping ¥2,280,000 ($18,694).[Via TokyoMango]
Rakuten exploits cameraphone craze for advertising purposes
Although this certainly won't go down as the first attempt to integrate cellphones into discrete marketing, Japan's largest online shopping mall operator is apparently taking advantage of the country's oh-so-superior handsets and offering up tantalizing "promotional videos" for consumers who snap pictures of ads. Rakuten is reportedly set to hand out thousands of pilot issues of a magazine, Zero90, in hopes that mobile-wielding readers will snap photos of certain articles in exchange for a free commercial intellectually stimulating media clip. While this sounds an awful lot like QR codes, the actual technology used in the pages isn't mentioned, but we do know that Japan-based Clementec is behind it -- and you thought print media had too many plugs as is.[Via Physorg]
Microsoft readies colorful QR code competitor
While QR codes and their ilk have been big in Japan for years, they haven't exactly been quick to catch on 'round these parts, where we've had to be content with old school bar bodes for our product identification needs. Microsoft looks to be trying to change that situation, however, with the company set to roll out its so-called High Capacity Color Barcode (HCCB) later this year with the assistance of the International Standard Audiovisual Number International Agency (ISAN-IA). While their use will apparently initially be limited to DVD media, Microsoft eventually sees the codes being used on TV, in magazines, and on billboards (among other places), from which you'll be able to scan 'em with your cellphone to get additional information about a product. Of course, good looks are the codes' only selling point, with Microsoft also promising that they'll make anything tagged with them harder to counterfeit.
Japanese apartment sports "world's largest" QR code
If you thought QR codes were much ago about nothing, apparently you were badly mistaken. On the broad side of an under-construction apartment in Hiroshima City resides what appears to be the "world's largest" QR code to date, and considering that most of these 2D codes make their appearances in magazines or on business cards, we'd bet that claim is legitimate. Purportedly, the hangers are hoping to sneak into the Guinness Book of World Records with the feat, as the 15.3- x 14.58-meter banner features a 10.97- x 10.97-meter QR code which can reportedly be snapped (from afar, obviously) with a cameraphone, and utilized just like any other (much smaller) rendition. Now, which one of you can find your way to this monstrosity and tell us where the code leads your handset?[Via Slashphone]
