QR Codes Introducing QR Codes to the Livestock Industry Have you noticed the “black and white boxes” that have started to show up in printed materials? The Showbox is right on board with this latest trend! Many magazines on the rack at your local supermarket have already began to implement this technology.
What is a QR code? A QR or “Quick Response” code, also known as a 2D barcode, gives users information on their smart phone or cell phone in an instant. In the simplest sense, think “print-based link to web.” QR codes were created in Japan in 1994 and have spread across Asia and Europe and are gaining popularity and usage in the United States. Decoding software interprets the codes, which represent considerably more information than a one-dimensional code of similar size. If you see these QR codes, you take a photo through an application on your smart phone or cell phone, the program analyzes or “scans” the barcode, and it asks if you’d like to be redirected to a web address/URL.
Can I use QR codes on my phone? Because this technology is relatively new, there is no standard program or 96 july 2011 | THE SHOWBOX
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application for you to use. iPhones® and BlackBerrys® accommodate QR scanning applications quite easily and have very inexpensive (or even free) downloads available from their respective application stores. Even some cell phones allow it. Here is a website that will allow you to see if your phone is compatible and even download a code reader to get started: www.mobile-barcodes. com/qr-code-software.
How do I get a QR Code in my ad in The Showbox? A QR code can be generated and placed into your ad that will allow readers to be linked directly to the details that you chose — ranging from a web address/URL, an e-mail address, a phone number, video link, or just plain text. Beginning with this issue of The Showbox, all advertising that is one-half page size or larger will have a complimentary QR code placed in the ad provided the
Scan the QR codes with your smart phone for more info. www.theshowbox.com/mobile
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advertiser has a web site link. Ask your Showbox ad sales representative for more information and how to make the “print to web” transition easy for your customers.
Go to this web site to see if your smart phone is compatible and to download code reader software to get started with QR Codes.
www.mobile-barcodes. com/qr-code-software