The way we exchange contact information has changed very little since the Chinese started using Visiting cards (or calling cards) in the 13th century and the Europeans in the 17th century. These evolved into the business cards of today.

Enter QR Codes. A QR Code is a matrix code or two-dimensional bar code created by Japanese corporation Denso-Wave in 1994. The "QR" is derived from "Quick Response", as the creator intended the code to allow its contents to be decoded at high speed.

The possibilities of using QR Codes are endless: QR Codes could accompany newspaper and magazine ads so that people could scan the code with their mobile phones and get additional information and videos of the product via their phones. The QR Codes could also be displayed on store shelves so that customers could use their mobile phones to find more information about the product.

I decided to experiment with QR Codes and to do this I first installed a QR Code Reading Software onto my phone. I downloaded the software from : QuickMark QR Code Reader. This is a free QR Code Reader and worked great on my Cingular 8525 (Windows Mobile)

I then proceeded to generate a QR Code for my Blog via QR Code Generator. Once I did this I got a QR code for my blog:

To test this I fired up the QR Code Reader on my Mobile Phone and took a picture of the generated QR Code (above) and it worked beautifully.

QR Codes can work great for Social Networking. Picture this scenario: You attend a conference where all the attendees have Name Tags with QR Codes displayed on the badge. You can use your phone to scan the QR Code and capture the information that the person wants to share: this could be his or her vCard, LinkedIn or Facebook profile, company url or just about any information. You can also get creative by printing the QR codes on T-Shirts as well.

Snappr.Net is an excellent site that aims to do just that. You can generate the 2D codes at the Snappr site for either a URL, VCard or text that you would like people to scan. Snappr also goes the extra length in supporting phones that cant install the QR Code readers (or you choose not to): in this case you simply send the code to Snappr and it returns back the information. I also love the fact that Snappr has integrated into their site the process of customizing and printing the QR codes on shirts and hats. Philip Stehlik, the CEO and Founder of Snappr, also pointed me to his blog where he discusses the different data formats of 2D codes: See blog

Its time to QR code my business cards :)