Barcode Generator displays the power of QR codes

QR codes, such as the one you see to your right, have become more commonplace in the past few years. Their main purpose is to direct us somewhere without having to enter in an address manually. On the BlackBerry, users can add contacts to BlackBerry Messenger by scanning a user’s QR code. With Android we see them every day; they direct us to specific apps in the Android Market. But they have so much more potential. With them you can share calendar events, contact information, and even network IDs. An app called Barcode Generator helps move us toward this QR Utopia. With Barcode Generator you can create a sharable QR code for any of the following items: Calendar event, contact information, email address, geo location, phone number, sms, URL, WiFi network, or a text string. Once you enter the information into the app, you will see a 2D barcode that you can share in many different ways. It also stores your barcode, so you can, for instance, bring up your WiFi network information after entering the information just once. But you don’t even have to do that, since you can share it via email, SMS, Twitter, WordPress, Facebook, and more. As Talk Android notes, the best use of this is for your wireless network information. Handing out WiFi information so someone can connect a laptop is no big deal. But on a mobile device, especially one without a physical keyboard, it can become a pain. I mistype things constantly, and with passwords I can’t take advantage of suggestions. Using a QR code, then, makes sense. I can just pull it up and have my buddy scan it. That way he doesn’t have to fumble to enter in the correct SSID and password. (And maybe that’s not a big deal for you, Mr./Ms. Fleet-of-finger, but it is for me. It took me a good 40 seconds to enter my network password when testing out the app.) This app isn’t perfect, but it’s a good way to encourage the expanded use of 2D barcodes. We can store and share so much information within these little black and white boxes. Apps like this help illustrate the potential. You can get it in the Market for free.

About the Author

Joe Pawlikowski is the Senior Editor at MobileMoo.com and has been covering the mobile industry full time since 2007. When he's not writing about the tech scene, he can be found discussing his personal love - baseball (and more specifically the New York Yankees) as well as writing on his personal blog.