Mobile barcode firm Scanbuy is adding the option to generate QR (Quick Response) and Datamatrix codes to its ScanLife mobile barcode platform.
Thousands of businesses use the ScanLife platform to generate two-dimensional (2D) barcodes to extend traditional marketing and track engagement from mobile devices. The codes quickly launch specific content on the phone, removing the need to search by keywords or type in URLs.
The QR code was made popular in Japan and was historically compatible with more sophisticated cameraphones. Due to advances in hardware, it is now compatible with a wide variety of smartphone devices, but it results in a larger size than other code formats with the same content, because of its complexity. The Datamatrix code is a popular format in Europe and is commonly seen on consumer packaging for inventory tracking purposes. It can be published at sizes which are 25 per cent smaller than the QR Code.
ScanLife also offers the EZcode, which can be read at significantly smaller sizes than other code formats, approximately 50 per cent less than the QR code, which is useful when space is at a premium. All Heineken packaging in the US currently includes an EZcode, which links consumers to branded mobile applications like music trivia and Taxi Magic.
Any code created on the ScanLife platform, regardless of format, now allows code publishers to edit the code destination, view performance data, and manage the activation period from a self-managed dashboard. Analytics collected includes number of scans, unique users, demographics, location, and handset type. Brands can also register their existing UPC/EAN codes to link to content which they control. 
The ScanLife mobile application can read any of the supported barcode formats, and Scanbuy notes that it is currently the only barcode application being pre-loaded on new phones in the US which can read all code types.
“Our ScanLife system is completely format neutral, and that is creating rapid consumer growth of mobile barcode technology. We want our customers to have access to all major code formats so they can choose what is best for their needs,” says Scanbuy CEO, Jonathan Bulkeley.“Advancements to cameraphone hardware make the ScanLife application compatible with any widely used code format – creating a truly universal barcode scanner for over 100m people in the United States alone.”
You can download the code reader via your mobile browser from www.getscanlife.com
