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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]
Elecom's ColorCode reading mouse
While we're still stuck with 20th-century style bar codes 'round these parts, our friends around the world (mostly Japan) are currently enjoying the abstract art and added info of QR codes and ColorCodes. You can, of course, read 'em with a cellphone camera, but if that's not convenient enough you might want to consider Elecom's latest mouse, the M-CZ1UR, which'll cease its cursor pushing duties and turn into a ColorCode reader at the push of a button. Apart from that, the M-CZ1UR looks to be a fairly standard, if undeniably stylized, optical mouse, with 1,000 DPI resolution and the standard USB interface. No word on what you can expect to shell out or even Japanese availability, so you'll still have to do your ColorCode reading the old fashioned way for the time being.[Via Akihabara News]
McDonald's Japan provides cellphone-readable "nutrition" information
QR codes may be slow to catch on here in North America but they are, like so much other cellphone-based goodness, big in Japan. The latest to get in on the action is none other than McDonald's, which is now printing the newfangled barcode patterns on all its food packaging so you'll know exactly what you're eating (if you want to know, that is). To read the info, you simply scan the QR code with your cellphone camera, which should automagically recognize it and direct you to a mobile website with the lowdown on the contents of your McFood, including any potential allergy warnings. For the two people in Japan that don't have a camera-equipped cellphone, McDonald's is also printing conveniently short URLs for the corresponding mobile website. Of course, all this info only is really more of a curiosity, since you've likely already bought the food by the time you're snapping pics of it with your cameraphone.
Fujitsu FPcodes, like QR without the mess
You just forget everything you know about that QR coding qrap 'cause Fujitsu just went next-gen with the introduction of FPcodes. Like QR codes, Fine Picture codes allow you to photograph the code with your trusty cameraphone and then be redirected to a URL for the product. However, instead of looking like a greasy black smudge, the pale yellow FPcode is printed directly onto the image of the product, just snap the product and off you go. FPcode-printed catalogs and magazines are expected to be released as early as October and require the download of a free app to use. Now considering we don't even have QR implemented yet, we'll call you daddy on this one Japan. [Via lariviereauxcanards]
