Códigos QR y de barra

QR Code for the URL of the English Wikipedia Mobile main page. Note that the white border is part of the encoding.

A QR Code is a matrix barcode (or two-dimensional code), readable by QR scanners, mobile phones with a camera, and smartphones. The code consists of black modules arranged in a square pattern on a white background. The information encoded can be text, URL or other data.
Common in Japan, where it was created by Toyota subsidiary Denso-Wave in 1994, the QR code is one of the most popular types of two-dimensional barcodes. QR is the abbreviation for Quick Response, as the creator intended the code to allow its contents to be decoded at high speed.^[1]

1 Overview 2 Standards 3 License 4 Storage 5 Variants 6 Use as artwork 7 Use in marketing 8 Use in Interpretation 9 Standalone applications 10 See also 11 References 12 Bibliography 13 External links

Overview

Although initially used for tracking parts in vehicle manufacturing, QR Codes are now used in a much broader context, including both commercial tracking applications and convenience-oriented applications aimed at mobile phone users (known as mobile tagging). QR Codes can be used to display text to the user, to add a vCard contact to the user's device, to open a URI or to compose a text message or email. Users can also generate and print their own QR Code for others to scan and use by visiting one of several free QR Code generating sites. Frank C. Hudetz, a US Marketing Services Professional, claims to have invented the idea of mapping bar codes to a URL.^[2][3]

Source
Respecto al código QR (y por ende, los códigos de barras) para leerlos utilizar una webcam (de las más baratas) y el programa zbar en su variante linux con un pequeño script que me permite volcar directamente los datos recibidos por la cámara (ya sea EAN-13 o QR) en el formulario de entrada. Fácil y barato.

En lo referente a los productos, en aquellos que no tienen código de barras del fabricante y que con el código QR puedo personalizar (por ejemplo, el cliente, con una aplicación para teléfono le entrega la URL de la tienda online dónde puede realzar la comprar/reserva o ver más detalles del producto)