Category Archives: Mobile barcodes
Guest Post: Common QR code mistakes made by marketers
by Steven Taylor, who occasionally works with Time Warner Cable
Are QR codes a marketing blessing or a curse? If you make any of these five common mistakes, your QR campaign could be the latter. They are: Linking to a desktop site; failing to track; printing code too small; don’t put it in the wrong place; and failing to have a back-up plan. Continue reading
Weekend QR code roundup – Epsom Scouts; Eddison White & Earth Hair
Rating: Hairdresser’s site head & shoulders above opposition
It’s been a while since GoMobile News provided an insight into the current state of play concerning how well QR codes in the UK are being used in the wild for marketing, publicity and promotion purposes. This week’s QR codes which GoMobile News spotted include a (Boy) Scout troop from Epsom; an estate agent from North Surrey and a hairdressing saloon in Central London. The common factor here was that all three made it very easy for anyone with a smartphone and a barcode reading app to scan in the actual QR code. The results – once you connect – varied enormously. Continue reading
Cate is a love cheats’ charter app
Rating: Proving popular with the women
When GoMobile News spotted an article about an Android app called Cate (Call and Text Eraser), we were immediately struck by a similarity between this app and one which we had written about previously here. It is very similar to an app called ‘Redmenu’ which had been developed by the company of the same name. At the same time we were urging Redmenu boss, Gyan Ghuman, to turn it into a B2C app. He’s probably going to regret it because Neal Desai, has already had 10,000 downloads of his app which at $4.99 or £3.22 works out at around $50,000. Somewhat unusually, this app is currently only available for Android devices but iOS and BlackBerry version are underway. What does Cate do? Well, we’ve previously coined the term ‘lover cheats charter’ for it. Continue reading
Weekend Quirky QR code – QR Memories
Rating: Place a QR code on your headstone
When you think about it, placing a QR code on a headstone (tombstone) is a very logical step. It takes advantage of two chief facets of mobile barcodes. Firstly, they can be used to provide a link to any kind of media about the person who has died. It could be pictures, videos, textual tributes and audio files – such as the deceased favourite music track. Yet despite being set in stone, the information provided by a QR code is actually dynamic. Relatives can easily change the information serves up from the URL link embedded in the QR code. Surprisingly, the first company to have woken up to the possibilities (we believe) is a bereavement services firm based in Poole, Dorset (UK) going by the name of Chester Pearce Associates. Continue reading
MACH launches direct operator billing across the UK
MACH Direct Billing Gateway available across all major UK mobile operators
Press release
September 25th 2012. MACH, the world leader in direct operator billing, has announced that it is launching direct operator billing for online payments and app purchases across the UK, making it easier than ever for mobile subscribers to pay for apps and other online goods. The company is launching its direct operator billing service, the MACH Direct Billing Gateway, which includes Payforit Version 4 support, across the UK’’s mobile networks, including Vodafone, Everything Everywhere (EE) and Three UK, and is working with O2 as it rolls out its new Charge to Mobile platform. Continue reading
Show goers are increasingly checking via mobile says ITN
Rating: Steep rise seen in use of mobile devices by pre-registered attendees
An ever-increasing number of preregistered attendees are checking in at trade shows and conferences by presenting barcodes on their smartphones and tablets. Ivan Lazarev, who is CEO with ITN International – a US-based event management specialist (and nothing to do with the UK TV company), claims to have spotting the trend among attendees globally. At the recent IBC 2012 event which took place in early September [2012] in Amsterdam, Lazarev says that more than one-fourth of the 45,000 pre-registrants for IBC 2012 presented their confirmation code – in IBC’s case, a QR Code – on their mobile devices when they checked in at the show. Continue reading
NeoMedia signs up two more firms to its QR patents
Rating: CodeBroker and Paperlinks come onboard
It seems the mobile world is gradually coming to accept that in order to play in the QR space they are going to have to pay the IPR owners. Hence NeoMedia has just announced that it has added two new patent licensees to mobile barcode patent family. The latest to sing on the dotted line are Paperlinks and CodeBroker. Neither company is exactly high profile but NeoMedia loves to point out that Microsoft became a licensee last month [August 2012] here. Continue reading
Weekend QR code roundup: Great British Beer Festival
Rating: UK brewers pretty QR code savvy
Thanks to 3 UK, GoMobile News visited the Great British Beer Festival held at London’s Olympia earlier this month [August 7-11th 2012]. Naturally, we picked up a copy of the show’s guide which is effectively out together by Camra (CAMpaign for Real Ale). Considering that this guide consisted largely of listings, it was quite impressive that the there were four adverts which bothered to include QR codes as part of their call to action. Unsurprisingly Camra’s own QR code was an easy winner. There’s still plenty of room for improvement, though. However, we do think this publication proved GoMobile News‘ that the UK brewing industry is pretty QR code savvy. Incidentally we’ve also found a QR code that makes good use of a simple link to a YouTube video. Continue reading
Mobeam & ProLogic to promote mobile digital coupon tech
Rating: Works with existing PoS but requires LED inside handset
Here’s an interesting partnership. Mobeam which has specialist mobile phone technology has formed and alliance with ProLogic which operates a coupon clearing house facility for US based retailers. The beauty of this joint effort is that it won’t require any new equipment to be installed at the point-of-sale – it works with existing PoS systems. The only catch is that Mobeam doesn’t quite explain how it is going to get its technology onto existing handsets as well as persuading handset makers to build the technology into their future mobile phones. Continue reading
NeoMedia adds new recruit for core products
Rating: Hires Mark Lanphear hot on heels of Microsoft coup
Hot on the heels of its announcement that the company had landed Microsoft as a licensee (and how many others will now follow suite?), NeoMedia Technologies, has gone on the head hunt. It has just snaffled Mark Lanphear as its new vp for sales in North America. “To be joining an industry stalwart like NeoMedia at such a positive time for QR codes is very exciting for me,” Mark Lanphear commented. “NeoMedia is a company focused on innovation and I look forward to helping drive NeoMedia’s continued success,” he added. Continue reading
NeoMedia bags Microsoft as an IP licensee
Rating: Might be a death knell for the Microsoft Tag
Regular GoMobile News readers have always urged mobile barcode speciallist, NeoMedia Technologies, to take full advantage of its IP portfolio. This now consists of over 74 patents awarded and pending worldwide. The latest milestone is that the company has now granted worldwide rights to license its patent portfolio to none other than Microsoft itself. Neither side seem to mention the fact, but this is a major triumph for QR code technology because Microsoft itself was desperately trying to push a rival technology in the shape of the Microsoft Tag. Continue reading
Guest Post: QR versus AR – not simply a case of black or white
by Laura Marriott, CEO with NeoMedia Technologies
Much has been written on the topic of the competition between QR and Augmented Reality (see here) for share of mobile marketing budgets. Put bluntly, many believe Augmented Reality (AR) will circumvent QR’s current market share as advertisers flock to the rich experience of AR. The issue, however, is not that black and white. The benefits of QR codes have been well publicised. In effect, a single code can act as a portal to a branded online world, helping to maximise media spend, establish dialogue with the consumer and make the user experience more holistic and media rich. While QR codes provide a real-time source of data for marketers to help shape existing and future marketing programs, they also provide consumers with a range of value-added information and incentives about brands, retailers and their products. Continue reading
Guest Post: Reality deserves to be augmented
By Jay Wright, senior director of business development, Qualcomm
Consumers are increasingly using their mobile devices to learn, engage, and interact about new products and services. From a brand messaging perspective, brand owners are adapting their communication and marketing methods to connect and interact with their audience through that small screen in their hand. New, exciting mobile technologies – like Augmented Reality (AR) – are driving engagement and adoption of mobile devices and apps for brand marketing. The beauty of AR is that it draws the user in to enhance their experience by combining both the physical and digital worlds. AR is a powerful tool that immerses the end-user into the environment designed by the creator to drive brand engagement before, during or after a purchase decision. Continue reading
QRlicious claims America is going through a QR Code Crisis
Rating: Serious over -exaggerations of our time
Here we go .. tenuous links to the London Olympics of our time. Matt Jones, co-founder of QRlicious writes, “As the political atmosphere heats up here in the USA and tensions grow during the heated competitions going on in the Olympics, we here at QRlicious felt it was the perfect time to address America’s QR Code Crisis. Jones then goes on to ask us to sign a petition. There’s no real petition and we’d hardly describe the situation as a ‘crisis’ but Jones has put all of GoMobile News’ gripes about the amateurish use of QR codes by marketers in one place. On the QRlicious web site. Continue reading
Weekend QR code campaign round-up
And this week’s winner is … Schekters Organic
Given the golden opportunities available to marketers at the recent WOMAD (World of Music, Art and Dance) festival, GoMobile News was quite surprised that so few businesses represented at the event bothered to deploy QR codes to attract custom. You only had to go to the front of stage at any performance to see how many festival goers had brought their smartphones along with them. In our opinion, Apple iPhones appeared to dominate, as music lovers held up the phones to video or photograph the event. So significant numbers would have been able to scan in barcodes if necessary. In the end, we decided that Schekters Organic had made good – if just simple, use of a QR code. Continue reading
