A QR Code is a matrix barcode (or two-dimensional code), readable by QR scanners, mobile phones with a camera, and smartphones. The code consists of black modules arranged in a square pattern on white background. The information encoded can be text, URL or other data.
Although initially used for tracking parts in vehicle manufacturing, QR Codes are now used in a much broader context, including both commercial tracking applications and convenience-oriented applications aimed at mobile phone users (known as mobile tagging).
QR Codes storing addresses and URLs may appear in magazines, on signs, buses, business cards, or on just about any object about which users might need information. Users with a camera phone equipped with the correct reader application can scan the image of the QR Code to display text, contact information, connect to a wireless network, or open a web page in the phone's browser. This act of linking from physical world objects is known as a hardlink or physical world hyperlinks. Google's mobile Android operating system supports the use of QR codes by natively including the barcode scanner (ZXing) on some models and the browser supports URI redirection, which allows QR Codes to send metadata to existing applications on the device. Nokia's Symbian operating system is also provided with a barcode scanner, which is able to read QR Codes[citation needed], while mbarcode [2] is a QR code reader for the Maemo operating system.
While the adoption of QR codes in some markets, including the United States, has been slow to take off, the technology is gaining some traction in the smartphone market. Many Android phones come with QR code readers already installed. Blackberry phones running Blackberry Messenger 5.0 (or more recent versions) can also scan QR codes using the "Scan A Group Barcode" option in the BBM menu. Both the Android Market and the iTunes App Store offer several free applications that can decode QR matrices.
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