Wednesday, May 09, 2007

North America Wireless Needs Physical World Connection

Russell Shaw discusses the latest Forrester Research report entitled "How Japanes Companies Guide Their Customers to Mobile Internet Experience"


From ZDNet North American wireless needs this Japanese innovation

The authors refer to these services as "Using bar codes to link users to contextual support," and "Using wireless tags to push content directly from the urban environment."

The "bar code" solution is best for cell.

"Most camera phones in Japan include software that scans two-dimensional bar codes, known as QR (quick response) codes, which can contain data such as a Web site URL," the authors write. "Tokyo's metropolitan transportation bureau posts unique codes at hundreds of bus stops around the city that link commuters to journey planning tools, timetables, bus locations, and estimated wait times for each specific location."

As shown in the image at the top of this post, your cellphone's built-in bar code reader would scan the bar code at a specific transit stop. The scan would direct your cellphone's wireless broadband Web browser to a landing page where further, and quite specific info about the route that stops where you are would be available.

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