Rating: Definitive proof mobile barcode world is still divided
An eagle-eyed GoMo News reader pointed out that the barcode in our recent story ‘British Airways’ new iPhone app uses barcodes‘ isn’t actually a QR code as most would imagine. Reader Cameron thought BA had gone with a DataMatrix code. But actually it’s an Aztec code.
This incident helps to illustrate the fact that the mobile world is still confused over which type of 2D barcode is going to dominate.
Is it a plane? Is it a QR? No, it's an Aztec barcode
Most US writers appear to think that the battle is done and dusted because QR codes – popularised originally by the Japanese – have started to dominate the US market.
However, as this case ably illustrates, the world of travel ticketing is dominated by the Aztec code not the QR code, nor the DatMatrix code for that matter.
The mobile travel ticketing systems created by Masabi for example, have set the standard for train ticketing in the UK. This system uses Aztec codes too, not QR codes.
Another very significant point is that the standard barcode reader in a typical Android handset cannot read that Aztec code.
However, if you have happened to install a genuinely universal barcode reader on your handset, then you would be able to see that the code contains a great deal more information than a QR code typically handles.
GoMo News used NeoMedia‘s Neoreader software to read the barcode. It can show the information onscreen but if you ask it to resolve the barcode you end up in NeoMedia’s own Qode system.
This GoMo News hack has long struggled to illustrate the differences between the basic 2D barcode types but companies will insist on referring back to Wikipedia which isn’t much help.
To set the record straight, I’ve uploaded pictures of the main types of 2D code to my own personal web pages here.
The page shows that an Aztec code has a bull’s eye while a DataMatrix code has an ‘L’ shaped band and a QR code has squares in three corners. Simples.
Can you spot the deliberate omission? Yes, it’s the Microsoft Tag which adds colour to the whole proceedings but only serves to muddy the waters even more.
At least the other three barcode types are truly Open. Microsoft might say the Tag is Open but then it has claimed that about Windows, too . Enough said.
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I am with a company (pervasivetags) which creates solutions based on 2D barcodes, and we made the decision to use QR codes because they appear to be the emerging standard in the US.
Ultimately these barcodes are just links to other sites/content, so it does not generally matter which are able to store more information, it is more important that the information remain dynamic, so it needs to live online.
While Microsoft has a nice technical solution, but it does not appear that it brings enough added value to the table to overcome the fact that you are locking yourself into a proprietary solution, even if it is free for now.
My question would be is why don’t we have more universal readers ?
The UX problem should be on the decoders, not the user. I would love ( in the US) for my phone camera to have firmware that can read any code regardless of format semantics. My two cents.
Patrick Donnelly
QrArts
The Aztec Code has been selected by the airline industry (IATA’s BCBP standard) for the electronic boarding passes. Several airlines send Aztec Codes to passengers’ mobile phones for ticketing purposes, relating to online (or paperless) ticketing.
I think it’s very important to differentiate between the two uses for a barcode:
1) To display machine-scannable information on a mobile handset’s screen;
2) To allow a mobile handset’s camera to read information from the outside world.
These are very distinct usage scenarios.
Aztec tends to dominate the first, because it is the easiest for a scanner to read from an LCD display which may be moving around. That is why it is becoming dominant in the travel sector – users present a ticket on their phone to a scanner. For this use case, there is no need for another phone to be able to read the Aztec – almost certainly the binary payload would be meaningless to a generic reader anyway.
QR code is the de facto standard for the second, largely because DoCoMo made it the standard in Japan – arguably the only market where 2D barcodes designed to be read by phones have taken off. Others have simply followed suit. In this use case, it is essential for a barcode to be readable on the widest number of handsets, so it really matters what each handset OS builds into its camera application.
Datamatrix has found a number of niches outside of the mobile world – I’m looking at one on the address label of a parcel right now.
Whilst it would be quite possible to use any of the barcode encoding schemes for any data payload, in the mobile world we are likely to see more polarisation between Aztec for tickets and QR for printed links and contact details.
The IATA standard is open for Aztec, DataMatrix and QR codes and all readers can read all three of them. The IATA standard is about what data should be into the barcode to enable reading out all details from the barcode instead of making a back-end connection to verify all details.
Not all readers can read barcodes from mobile phone screens though.
Regards, Ron
Hi Tony,
Excellent story about the various two dimensional (2D) codes. That said, you’re missing the ScanBuy (ScanLife) EZcode 2D code.
Plus, you and your GoMoNews readers may find my “Top 10 Reasons ScanLife EZcodes Are Better Than Quick Response (QR) Codes For U.S. Marketers article http://j.mp/EZvQR (6/22/10) helpful.
The EZcode will win-out in the U.S.
Dan Smigrod
CEO & Chief Creative Officer
GREAT!
Atlanta, GA USA
http://blog.GREATtv.com
http://www.twitter.com/smigrod