Quick Response (QR) codes

These small patterned squares are popping up all over the place. I've seen them on leaflets, business cards, advertisements and the side of vans. I even saw one recently on a recruitment ad in The Times for MI5 (right).

Although QR codes were first launched back in 1994, it's only recently that they've taken off - as more and more of us own smart phones. The images act like bar codes - capturing brief pieces of information. This can include a web address, text message or a link to a map.

To use QR codes to their full potential, it's best to link them to a mobile webpage. It is possible to simply email the link to a PC. But the whole idea is to provide instant information which can be read on the same phone used to scan the code. Click here to read about my mobile website service.

Various options

There are a number of QR readers*, but they all work in a very similar way. Once the code is scanned using a phone camera, the reader usually provides a number of options, such as opening a website in a mobile phone web browser, saving it, or sending the information to an email address.

These three codes each do different things. The first will open my mobile website. The second will open a Google map for any given address. And the third is a brief text message. If you're viewing them on a fairly small screen, click on any image to enlarge it before scanning.

*I've tried a few QR readers. Most are free but some of these will place ads on any linked web page. I also have reservations about how they might use any information they could store. My own personal favourite is the Beetagg Reader. The easiest way to download their reader is to type http://get.beetagg.com into your phone's web browser. This will recognise the phone and install the correct reader.