Submission + - New QR Codes Scan 2.0 Released (thenextweb.com)
Pan T. Hose writes: Garret Gee, the creator of the application to scan QR codes on smart phones, The Scan App that has 25 million users and performs 27 million scans per month, is not satisfied with the QR codes in the current form, where they are usually just pointing to remote websites, so he decided to make the experience fully native.
Gee said: "QR codes have a poor reputation, and that’s been our uphill battle from the beginning. But it’s on its way up, rather than on its way down." Gee decided to free the experience from the disadvantages of using the Web to overcome the inevitable latency of opening Web browsers, initiating Web connections, downloading and executing rich Web applications just to do a simple task of following a business on Twitter or Facebook. "People created this to be a shortcut, so don’t try to lengthen the experience," says Gee.
The new QR codes are designed to be lightning fast and offer visually appealing branding opportunities for businesses but what should be most important to consumers is the complete rethinking of the user experience with instant access to information that users seek, or actions that they want to perform by scanning codes.
The new codes will be able to instantly trigger a specific action, like following a business on Twitter, instead of just opening a browser with a Twitter home page. The security implications of those new features are still unknown. Some experts see it as a potential medium for cross-site scripting and cross-site request forgery attacks and point to the recent rise of malicious QR codes in use that even banks are not immune to. The company behind the Scan 2.0 doesn't see the new features as insecure but as something that will help users do what they really want. "In my mind, it’s the person who builds the product’s responsibility to build the product in a way that encourages proper usage," says Gee.
You can download Scan 2.0 here.
Gee said: "QR codes have a poor reputation, and that’s been our uphill battle from the beginning. But it’s on its way up, rather than on its way down." Gee decided to free the experience from the disadvantages of using the Web to overcome the inevitable latency of opening Web browsers, initiating Web connections, downloading and executing rich Web applications just to do a simple task of following a business on Twitter or Facebook. "People created this to be a shortcut, so don’t try to lengthen the experience," says Gee.
The new QR codes are designed to be lightning fast and offer visually appealing branding opportunities for businesses but what should be most important to consumers is the complete rethinking of the user experience with instant access to information that users seek, or actions that they want to perform by scanning codes.
The new codes will be able to instantly trigger a specific action, like following a business on Twitter, instead of just opening a browser with a Twitter home page. The security implications of those new features are still unknown. Some experts see it as a potential medium for cross-site scripting and cross-site request forgery attacks and point to the recent rise of malicious QR codes in use that even banks are not immune to. The company behind the Scan 2.0 doesn't see the new features as insecure but as something that will help users do what they really want. "In my mind, it’s the person who builds the product’s responsibility to build the product in a way that encourages proper usage," says Gee.
You can download Scan 2.0 here.