MSKYNET Introduces SVG Output for QR Codes

We have been getting many requests for this feature lately and we are happy to announce that Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) output is now available for all of our premium account subscriptions and is an essential ingredient for being able to scale QR Codes for any size and medium. SVG is available in our QR Code Generator (Maestro), QR Code API (QRGen), and our Campaign Tracking system.

Links mentioned above
Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG)
QR Code Generator API (QRGen)
QR Code Generator (Maestro)


MSKYNET Launches Beta MMS/Email QR Code Decoding Service (Mailbot)

mailbotWe are pleased to announce our Beta MMS / Email QR Code decoding service called Mailbot.  It’s quite simple.  Anyone can use a mobile phone and take a picture of a QR Code and either MMS or Email it to our special address GO@SPARQ.IT.  Our system will decode the contents and immediately reply to the user with the call-to-action stored in the QR Code.  We have also introduced the concept of tagging QR Codes with labels and arrows to help increase the discoverability of QR Codes and integrated this with our QR Code API (QRGen) and our QR Code Generator (Maestro).

qrgen[1] qrgen[1]

Links mentioned above
QR Code Generator API (QRGen)
QR Code Generator (Maestro)


US QR Code Statistics for MSKYNET (Q1 2010)

stats-img[2]

The first quarter of 2010 is a very exciting one for the QR Code space in the US and the world abroad.  We are seeing some huge jumps in our QR Code Generator (QRGen) integration that spans the globe from the UK, Thailand, Australia, and even all the way through to Africa.  On the US front, the mobile landscape is changing very drastically.   In the last quarter of 2009, the iPhone had a lions share of our scan traffic at 42.8%.  However, the current iPhone share has dropped considerably by almost a full 10%, whereas the Android share has increased by almost the same amount.  Notably, the Symbian platform has lost about 5% share and the BlackBerry has only gained a few percentage points despite the native QR Code scanner built in to its BlackBerry Messenger 5.0 app. However, we think that the BlackBerry adoption rate usage for QR Codes is actually much higher.  The reason for this is that from the generation side we are seeing some very large month over month upticks of websites and other entities integrating BlackBerry PIN exchange QR Codes.  These QR Code scans are not trackable from our system since those scans do not route through us, but we are able to track when these QR Codes are being generated.

We think the next quarter is going to be even more exciting and we eagerly await to see what comes next. 

Links mentioned above
QR Code Generator API (QRGen)
QR Code Statistics (Updated Quarterly)


MSKYNET Launches QR Code Campaign Tracking BETA

signupchart[1]By popular demand, we have decided to open a free beta program for a limited time.  We are allowing users to create a campaign and track an unlimited number of QR Codes.  The beta campaigns will never expire and we will be limiting our analytics engine to only show results for the first 1,000 scans per campaign.  We will soon be adding some of our more advanced features to the beta program as well.  Stay Tuned!

Links mentioned above
QR Code Campaign Tracking (BETA)


MSKYNET Supports URI Integration with QR Codes

uri[1] We have just launched custom URI integration with both our QR Code Generator API (QRGen) and QR Code Generator (Maestro).  This new functionality allows QR Codes to be created that can pass meta-data to any existing app that is already installed on an a mobile device.  This is an easy and convenient way to allow QR Codes to be the junction for launching apps and to facilitate information exchange.  Our implementation is mobile platform independent and we have tested this extensively with Android, Windows Mobile, Symbian / Nokia, BlackBerry, and iPhone.

Links mentioned above
QR Code Generator (Maestro)
QR Code Generator API (QRGen)


MSKYNET Adds Multi-Platform Calendar Support to QR Codes

vcal[1] Today we are announcing the launch of multi-mobile platform support for calendaring to both our QR Code Generator (Maestro) and QR Code API (QRGen).  Once scanned, we will detect the phone type and automatically generate the best type of calendaring solution for that particular handset.  This is far superior from the traditional methods since integrators no longer need to worry about what type of phone model is being used to scan.  We will continually update our API on the back-end to support new phones as they enter the market so all existing calendar QR Codes created using our tools will automatically work for phones that are released in the future without any changes.  Our calendar framework supports iPhone, Windows Mobile, BlackBerry, Symbian / Nokia, and many other platforms.

vCal Example
qrgen[1]

Links mentioned above
QR Code Generator (Maestro)
QR Code Generator API (QRGen)


US QR Code Statistics for MSKYNET

stats-img[1]The month of December has marked a major milestone for MSKYNET.  Our QR Code Generator (QRGen) usage has well surpassed the 10,000,000 (10 Million) QR Code impressions per month.  As far as we know, this makes us one of the largest QR Code makers in the US.  There is very little data in general about adoption rates, statistics, and trends available for QR Code activity.  We plan on publishing a quarterly aggregate report on our US traffic in hopes that this can aid other developers in their efforts for QR Code development.  Our quarterly reports will be located here under our QR Code Stats page.  Please ping us if you have any suggestions for things that you would like to see.

Links mentioned above
QR Code Generator API (QRGen)
QR Code Statistics (Updated Quarterly)


MSKYNET Adds vCard Support for BlackBerry QR Codes

With the recent launch of SPARQ Coder for Salesforce.com applications, we have been receiving a lot of requests to enable BlackBerry support for QR Codes with address book entries. To our disappointment, it appears that BlackBerry Messenger 5.0 and all the QR Code scanners available for that platform do not support any Address Book Contacts such as the MeCARD format. To work around this problem we have come up with a fairly novel solution and we are happy to announce that our QR Code Generator API (QRGen) now supports vCards that work with BlackBerry.  Using a combination of our database compression and dynamic vCard generator we not only fully support vCards for BlackBerry but we also simplify the QR Code data payload needed which is much less compared to a traditional MeCARD.  

BlackBerry VCard Sample

qrgen[1]

Links mentioned above
QR Code Generator API (QRGen)
SPARQ Coder – Salesforce AppExchange


Rails URL Redirect

redirect_to :overwrite_params => {:controller=>’survey’, :action=>’handle_single_scan’}

Here’s a little trick I discovered recently.

I wanted to rewrite a url, forwarding a request to another controller, with all the other parameters intact. Rather than define each individual parameter, I found that rails has a built in API to preserve the existing URL with just a few fields specified.

For instance, say I had a request going to http://www.mskynet.com/foo/log?id=123&param=456, and I wanted to redirect to http://www.mskynet.com/bar/do_work?id=123&param=456, I could do the following:

redirect_to :overwrite_params => {:controller=>’bar’, :action=>’do_work’}

This syntax would let you overwrite any of the parameters that you want to change and keep everything else the same.

If I just wanted to overwrite the parameter ‘id’ but keep the controller and action, I could do:

redirect_to :overwrite_params => {:id=>’234′}

Check out the :overwrite_params option here: http://api.rubyonrails.org/classes/ActionController/Base.html#M000649


MSKYNET Simplifies Mobile App Downloads With 2D Barcodes.

app-store-logos-small[1] We have recently been seeing a flurry of activity where many mobile app downloads have integrated with SPARQCodes (QR Code) using our QRGen API to allow easier app downloads from messages posted in chat groups and news forums.  We have added new pictograms that are automatically displayed if the URL within a sparqcode is pointing to an App Store.  This new functionality is also integrated with our QR Code Generator (Maestro) and we support the three most popular App Stores:  iPhone App Store, Android Market, and BlackBerry App World.

Links mentioned above
QRGen API
QR Code Generator (Maestro)
iPhone App Store
Android Market
BlackBerry App Word


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