Sunday, February 18, 2007

zapcode in singapore

I got the heads up about this from ag407's Fernando Barros (thanks Fernando), who told me about shotcode, a technology that resembles a barcode. Unlike the traditional barcode however, this technology allows mobile phone users to access more detailed information about a product, for example. Basically the code contains a link to a website, which people can access only by taking a picture of it. The applications are endless. It can be used to provide more information about products, events, movies, etc.
Now Singapore's SPH, publisher of The Straits Times, has launched a similar product called ZapCode.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

This is kind of like the already developed Qode platform.

Nelson said...

yes, you're right, I didn't know they (Qode) had links to websites as well, thought they were just another form of barcodes.

alex said...

Hi Nelson,

and would you beleive, that I was at the Iguatemi mall, here in São Paulo, and I saw a girl with a shot code tatooed on her neck. It did look quite cool.

Nelson said...

Ha, gotta be kidding... it probably links to her myspace page or her blog!

Anonymous said...

Hi man.

So they have it in Brazil? But do you think it will catch on in Singapore?

How accepted are these new technologies?

Nelson said...

Hi techie in Singapore,
Don't know if it's been launched in Brazil yet, but having recently been to Tokyo I can tell you that their equivalent QR code (the difference is that QR codes are black&white), is very common. You can see on many ads in local dailies and magazines. Very convenient. You can get info about a restaurant location, for example (and its map, which is very important given the confusing address system in Tokyo) on your mobile by just snapping a picture of the code.