Wednesday, July 29, 2009
When did qr-codes start in Japan? (in August 2002)
We are often asked: when did qr-codes for mobile phones start in Japan?
Here is the answer: the first mobile phone with qr-code reader was the J-SH09 produced by SHARP for Japan's J-Phone mobile operator (today's Softbank) and came on sale in August 2002 - seven years ago.
More details and about 50 case studies of qr-code applications in our QR-Code report (corporate subscription here)
Here is the answer: the first mobile phone with qr-code reader was the J-SH09 produced by SHARP for Japan's J-Phone mobile operator (today's Softbank) and came on sale in August 2002 - seven years ago.
More details and about 50 case studies of qr-code applications in our QR-Code report (corporate subscription here)
Labels: j-phone, QR, sharp, softbank, vodafone
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Top 10 mobile trends for 2009
Answering the question "Top 10 mobile trends for 2009: what would you choose?" We answer from our perspective here in Tokyo:
- Mobile payments and wallet phones
see our mobile payment report - GPS and location based services (LBS) such as navigation and mapping
see our location based services (LBS) report - Mobile search including location related search
- QR codes and other 2D bar codes for information input into mobile phones
see our location based services (LBS) report - Ultra low cost mobile phones for low end not only in emerging markets but also in advanced countries in economic crisis times
- Subsidized $1 mini-laptops with flat rate HSDPA (7.2Mbps) data plans
- WiMax networks come into commercial service
- Embedded B2B applications
- Beautiful OLED ultra-high resolution screens (bigger than iPhone displays)
- Mobile agent services
Labels: LBS, mobile payment, oled, QR, trends, walletphone
Monday, January 29, 2007
Mickey mouse & Disneychannel use QR-Codes
Disneychannel places advertisements with huge QR-code on Tokyo's roofs. People passing by point their mobile phones at Mickey's QR-code, and the mobile phone takes them to Disneychannel's mobile site.
QR codes were developed in the 1990s to manage car parts - today they are by far the best way to link mobile phones to almost anything. In many applications QR codes are cheaper, easier, more flexible and more secure than RFID and NFC.
If you need more information about qr-codes and their business applications, download our report here (pdf-file) or contact us.
QR codes were developed in the 1990s to manage car parts - today they are by far the best way to link mobile phones to almost anything. In many applications QR codes are cheaper, easier, more flexible and more secure than RFID and NFC.
If you need more information about qr-codes and their business applications, download our report here (pdf-file) or contact us.
Labels: 2D barcode, nfc, QR, QR-code, rfid
European Central Bank (ECB) uses QR-codes
QR codes were developed in the 1990s to manage car parts - today they are by far the best way to link mobile phones to almost anything. In many applications QR codes are cheaper, easier, more flexible and more secure than RFID and NFC.
The European Central Bank (based in Frankfurt) manages the EURO, is one of the world's most important central banks, and uses QR-codes to link traditional PC-webpages to mobile pages.
If you need more information about qr-codes and their business applications, download our report here (pdf-file) or contact us.
The European Central Bank (based in Frankfurt) manages the EURO, is one of the world's most important central banks, and uses QR-codes to link traditional PC-webpages to mobile pages.
If you need more information about qr-codes and their business applications, download our report here (pdf-file) or contact us.
Labels: 2D barcode, barcode, ecb, european central bank, nfc, QR, QR-code, rfid
Sunday, January 21, 2007
QR code and color
QR-codes turn out to be the killer-app for camera phones - not MMS.
QR-Code have become ubiquitous in Japan, and link mobile phones to life in many ways. QR-Codex are usually the quickest, most efficient and cheapest way to link mobile phones to information in daily life, and to provide feedback in both directions, and even for user-to-user interactions.
QR-Codex do not have to be in boring black-and-white:
Operators, governments, equipment makers, start-ups rely on Eurotechnology Japan KK to plan QR-Code business.
QR-Code have become ubiquitous in Japan, and link mobile phones to life in many ways. QR-Codex are usually the quickest, most efficient and cheapest way to link mobile phones to information in daily life, and to provide feedback in both directions, and even for user-to-user interactions.
QR-Codex do not have to be in boring black-and-white:
Operators, governments, equipment makers, start-ups rely on Eurotechnology Japan KK to plan QR-Code business.
Labels: 2d bar code, bar code, QR, QR-code
Saturday, November 11, 2006
Barcodes for mobile payment
Japan's mobile operators DoCoMo, KDDI/AU and SoftBank are expanding their business into mobile payment and mobile credit, traditionally the realm of banks, credit card companies, financial institutions and cash. With the bubble/post-bubble bad loans problem largely resolved and the mega-mergers completed, Japan's banks are now ready again to develop new business.
Customer's camera phone reads the barcode or QR-code on an utility bill or mailorder invoice, and forwards secure payment instructions to the customer's bank account.
What is the expected impact?
(1) Expect positive impact on Mizuho's earnings.
(2) Today such payments are typically made by walking to the nearest convenience store: expect negative impact on convenience stores which handle much of the barcode based bill payments today.
(3) Expect additional competitors with alternative methods to compete with Mizuho in the domain of mobile phone based bill payments.
More about mobile payments in our "Mobile Payment and Keitai Credit Report"
More about QR codes in our "QR Code Report"
Customer's camera phone reads the barcode or QR-code on an utility bill or mailorder invoice, and forwards secure payment instructions to the customer's bank account.
What is the expected impact?
(1) Expect positive impact on Mizuho's earnings.
(2) Today such payments are typically made by walking to the nearest convenience store: expect negative impact on convenience stores which handle much of the barcode based bill payments today.
(3) Expect additional competitors with alternative methods to compete with Mizuho in the domain of mobile phone based bill payments.
More about mobile payments in our "Mobile Payment and Keitai Credit Report"
More about QR codes in our "QR Code Report"
Labels: 2D barcode, barcode, mobile payment, QR
Thursday, November 17, 2005
Mobile marketing with QR-code
QR codes (QR = "quick response") have a lot more capacity than conventional bar codes:
Marketing i-Pod-nano with QR-code: QR-code takes you directly to the mobile Apple store to buy your i-Pod-nano here and now on the road (read a detailed description of the Apple i-Pod QR-code campaign in our QR-Code report):
QR-code is the only message:
More about:
- QR-codes
Marketing i-Pod-nano with QR-code: QR-code takes you directly to the mobile Apple store to buy your i-Pod-nano here and now on the road (read a detailed description of the Apple i-Pod QR-code campaign in our QR-Code report):
QR-code is the only message:
More about:
- QR-codes
Labels: campaign, ipod, marketing, mobile, mobile marketing, QR, qr code, QR-code
