15th April 2012: What are QR codes?

So, you may have seen some of these funny looking square barcode things on a magazine or newspaper article you have read lately, or even on a billboard.

Look familiar? They are QR (Quick Response) codes and they are the latest trend in mobile technology that allows smartphone users to quickly access videos, coupons, maps and other information by scanning the images with their phone's cameras.

The reason why they are more useful than a standard barcode is that they can store (and digitally present) much more data, including url links, geo coordinates, and text.

The other key feature of QR Codes is that instead of requiring a chunky hand-held scanner to scan them, many modern cell phones can scan them.

There are a number of apps in the iPhone App Store that can read QR Codes, including the free QRReader. Most Android phones and BlackBerries are able to read the codes right out of the box, as can newer Nokia handsets. Windows Mobile users can download QuickMarks. All you need to do is launch the appropriate app, and point your phone's camera at the QR code you want to scan.

QR codes are only bound to become more common in the coming months and years. We're increasingly reliant on our mobile devices, and typing out URLs or other data on their tiny keyboards is still not very efficient. These squares of elaborately arranged boxes are a shortcut around that problem, can easily be integrated with various services, and incorporate geo-location data.

Fletchers are already using QR advertising in a lot of our print media and brochures to enable property searchers to gain quick, easy and instant access to the properties they want to know about.

With many of our properties offering the option to view a video tour, you can get more of the best, most comprehensive details at your fingertips even faster!

Example of a Fletchers property advertisement featuring a QR code.