New Bar Codes Can Talk With Your Phone

This is no April Fool’s joke. “New Bar Codes Can Talk With Your Phone�? is the New York Times write-up of the emerging trend.

From the article:

“In Japan, McDonald’s customers can already point their cellphones at the wrapping on their hamburgers and get nutrition information on their screens. Users there can also point their phones at magazine ads to receive insurance quotes, and board airplanes using their phones rather than paper tickets. And film promoters can send their movie trailers from billboards.”

Clearly the US has a way to go before catching on. Mainstream media just may be catching on too:
“The cellphone is the natural tool to combine the physical world with the digital world,�?

Related resources:
1. “China: Craking the Mobile Ad Biz�? – An article from BusinessWeek focusing on mobile barcodes in China
2. “All About Mobile Life�? - A blog focusing on Kaywa QR code, a barcode service in Switzerland offering a bridge between We-based and Mobile content.