Thursday, September 29, 2011

Monday, September 26, 2011

Random picture

Source: The Big Picture - A glimpse of North Korea Lunch aboard the inaugural trip of a North Korean cruise ship trying to encourage Chinese (and other) tourism... (Budweiser and dried fish)

Sunday, September 25, 2011

Additional BB QR readers - XXIV


Another QR code reader is TinyBarCode by Handrapid. Per AppWorld: "Barcode scanner/writer for BlackBerry® *Friendly user interface *Support OS6 and OS7 *Easy to use *Send generator with Email *Support "Code 128/39", "DataMatrix", "EAN-13", "EAN-8","ITF ","PDF417","UPC-A","UPC-E","QR Code""


As always the first stop post installation is at the QR Code Quality Standards Test v1.02 The application decodes the QR codes directly (and not after taking a picture). Nice and speedy it decoded the various flavors of QR codes handily. However not all QR code types were integrated with the corresponding BB applications... While phone, email, url QR codes were; WiFi, geo, vevent, mecard, vcard QR codes were not.






The application can generate (png) QR codes, that you can then email:


One issue was that having successfully scanned a QR code, any immediately subsequent attempt to scan another QR code invariably failed (see resulting screen shot below), requiring that one exit and re-enter the application for it to function...


The bottom line? A very respectable, but second tier, showing (given that there are other free readers available that do a better job at integrating a wider range of QR code types, and have a 'History' function)

Previous QR code reader entries:
Additional BB QR readers - XXIII - QR CodeFX
Additional BB QR readers - XXII - QR Scan
Additional BB QR readers - XXIa - Arion & Carpet One QR Scanners
Additional BB QR readers - XXI - Arion & Carpet One QR Scanners
Additional BB QR readers - XX - Barcode
Additional BB QR readers - XIX - QR Scan Now
Additional BB QR readers - XVIII - Qrem
Additional BB QR readers - XVII - Mobio
Additional BB QR readers - XVI - intARact
BB QR readers - Biz Barcode II - Biz Barcode updated review
Additional BB QR readers - XV - CodeREADr
Additional BB QR readers - XIV - ContactScanner
Additional BB QR readers - XIII - Mception Scanner
Additional BB QR readers - XII - Biz Barcode
Additional BB QR readers - XI - QR Code Scanner
Additional BB QR readers - X - SimpleScanner
Additional BB QR readers - IX - WIMO
Additional BB QR readers - VIII - Upcode
Additional BB QR readers - VII - Lynkee
Additional BB QR readers - VI - Code Muncher
Additional BB QR readers V - Mobiletag
Further ScanLife - ScanLife
Additional BB QR readers - IV - i-nigma
Additional BB QR readers - III - Barcode Assistant
Additional BB QR readers - II - Deco, CertainTeed
Additional BB QR readers - BeeTagg, AT&T Code Scanner
BB QR Code Scanner Pro - BB QR Code Scanner Pro
Barcode Happiness - I - barcoo
No luck - Upcode
Misc update (BB/2D barcodes) - Mobiletag (also updated above)
BB & 2D barcodes - NeoReader, Microsoft Tag, ScanLife

Final note: Tested on a BB 9810 Torch II i.e. BB OS 7

Note: TinyBarCode also reads some flavors of 1-D bar codes. However, since the only actions available after it reads the barcode are "Copy" or "Search with Google.com" I'm not very sure of the value-add there. Results for the "Search with Google.com" were mixed:




Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Great quotes


"Well, it's just we believe that to be the case."

- U.S. Ambassador Cameron Munter. Munter, in an interview on Pakistan Radio, had claimed that there was evidence linking the Haqqani network to the Pakistan government. When pressed for details and/or evidence, this was the gem he came up with... See 'US says evidence ties militant group to Pakistan'

Saturday, September 17, 2011

Additional BB QR readers - XXIII


Another BB QR code reader is QR CodeFX by appsFX... (for use with OS 6 and higher). Per the web site: "As QR Codes become more popular, and useful, make sure you use this easy to user QR Code Reader from appsFX. QR CodeFX™ for BlackBerry® will read a standard QR Code and take the appropriate action on you behalf. QR CodeFX will automatically do the following when the QR Code requires it: • Launch a Browser • Make a Phone Call • Launch an Email Editor • Launch a Text Message Editor • Launch a Map with Coordinates"

(Note: this app decodes the QR code and does not take a picture that is subsequently decoded).


A quick trip to the QR Code Quality Standards Test v1.02 website shows that mostly does what it claims. It was successful with url, phone, email, and geo QR codes, decoding the QR code and launching the appropriate application. The speed to decode was pretty impressive.

However, it reported a SMS QR code that only had a phone number as "Unknown QR Code Format", and though it read a SMS number with an associated message, it failed to launch the appropriate application (see below):









However, there was no success with other QR code types, including SMS, WiFi, vEvent, vCard, and meCard QR codes... (Note: the application did not claim the ability to decode these QR codes)





The application is currently free, though it does warn that this might not be the case in the future (and they have built in registration features). A half hour of usage generated some pretty detailed (including my email address) application and device logs (the latter clocking in at over 40 screen pages of information), and this was with the standard install and not having turned on 'Debug'...




The bottom line? A quick QR code reader, albeit only for a defined subgroup of QR codes. Given this, plus the fact that there are free readers available that do a wider range of QR code types, are better integrated, can generate QR codes, and have a 'History' function, the developer would be well advised to make several improvements before converting this to a pay application... Also a little 'queasy' about the logs, and wonder how much, if any, of that information is sent to the developer.

Previous QR code reader entries:
Additional BB QR readers - XXII - QR Scan
Additional BB QR readers - XXIa - Arion & Carpet One QR Scanners
Additional BB QR readers - XXI - Arion & Carpet One QR Scanners
Additional BB QR readers - XX - Barcode
Additional BB QR readers - XIX - QR Scan Now
Additional BB QR readers - XVIII - Qrem
Additional BB QR readers - XVII - Mobio
Additional BB QR readers - XVI - intARact
BB QR readers - Biz Barcode II - Biz Barcode updated review
Additional BB QR readers - XV - CodeREADr
Additional BB QR readers - XIV - ContactScanner
Additional BB QR readers - XIII - Mception Scanner
Additional BB QR readers - XII - Biz Barcode
Additional BB QR readers - XI - QR Code Scanner
Additional BB QR readers - X - SimpleScanner
Additional BB QR readers - IX - WIMO
Additional BB QR readers - VIII - Upcode
Additional BB QR readers - VII - Lynkee
Additional BB QR readers - VI - Code Muncher
Additional BB QR readers V - Mobiletag
Further ScanLife - ScanLife
Additional BB QR readers - IV - i-nigma
Additional BB QR readers - III - Barcode Assistant
Additional BB QR readers - II - Deco, CertainTeed
Additional BB QR readers - BeeTagg, AT&T Code Scanner
BB QR Code Scanner Pro - BB QR Code Scanner Pro
Barcode Happiness - I - barcoo
No luck - Upcode
Misc update (BB/2D barcodes) - Mobiletag (also updated above)
BB & 2D barcodes - NeoReader, Microsoft Tag, ScanLife

Final note: Tested on a BB 9810 Torch II i.e. BB OS 7