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• USPS – the Postal Service is now running its second campaign that uses a QR code. In this case, it is offering discounts of 2 percent to companies choosing to use their mailers with the barcodes printed on them. This benefits both the companies and shows that there is still a place for snail mail in this increasingly digital and mobile world.

• Coca-Cola – the soft drink giant placed a QR code on its containers throughout the 2012 Europe Cup soccer tournament, giving scanners exclusive videos from the tournament, as well as an easy way to obtain the free SmileWorld social app.

• Proctor & Gamble – PGMobile shopping trucks were launched last month by the beauty and home products corporation, distributing free samples as they patrolled New York City. Both the samples and the truck were emblazoned with quick response codes that could be scanned by smartphone users.

The Pew survey also showed that the majority of cell phone users experiencing glitches are African Americans and Hispanics. “This might be tied to the fact that African-Americans and Hispanics are more likely than whites to rely on their cell phones as their primary or exclusive phones for calling and for Internet access,” a note in the survey said.

The survey revealed that 72% of mobile phone users have complained about dropped calls, with some of them having the problem more than once a week. Some 68%, on the other hand, reported spam messages and unwanted sales and marketing calls. When it comes to mobile web browsing, 77% of people surfing the Internet using their cellphones have been struggling with slow download speeds.

there are around 1.3 billion phone lines in the world. The number of TV sets and personal computers is higher, around 1.5 billion of each.

by the end of 2010 there will be an estimated 5.3 billion mobile cellular subscriptions worldwide.

Cellular coverage is reaching about 90% of the world population and 80% of the population living in rural areas.

64 percent of American consumers can remember seeing television ads that included social media and QR code symbols such as those for “likes” on Facebook.

33 percent of consumers in the United States have gone on to interact with the social media that was shown on television after having seen it.

This survey included 1,000 respondents. Most of those participants said that they had noticed the use of social media on television and were aware of the ways in which they could interact with those various social networks, including the “Like” symbol for Facebook (42 percent), QR codes (28 percent), the Hashtags for Twitter (18 percent), and Shazam symbols (9 percent).

Per ScanLife’s recent 2012 quarterly report consumers are scanning a lot more now, by about157% from this same time last year.

Today, more consumers are attached to smart phones and other such devices than they have ever been in the past. This has created an opportunity that businesses have been unable to ignore. QR codes have been identified as an effective way to reach out to these consumers, and many companies have begun using the black and white barcodes to promote goods and services. These companies have found that using QR codes can be tricky, however, with many failing to utilize them effectively.

Microsoft recently launched their updated, all-in-one, QR Code and Tag reader, that also has the ability to interact with NFC (Near Field Communication) technology.

The new Microsoft Tag app can not only scan QR codes and Tags but it also can read Near Field Communication triggers too.

The consumer uses his/her mobile phone to scan a simple QR code at the cash register terminal. The terminal is connected to Seamless' transaction platform and the QR code identifies the cash register that the customer is using. Seamless' platform then responds with a list of items entered and an amount to be paid. The consumer can thereafter pay directly using his/her mobile phone. The transaction takes approximately half the time of a standard card payment transaction.

The retail and grocery trade sectors currently pay high fees to credit card companies in order to use their services. In addition, they are required to invest in new card payment terminals every time a new standard is introduced. In the US, retailers pay $49 billion each year in credit and debit card fees. With Seamless`solution, retailers have a chance to halve their current costs.

The holiday shopping season has officially begun, and a new survey has revealed that shoppers are going mobile to find the perfect gifts for their friends and loved ones.

More than half of respondents report they are making purchases using their mobile devices, and nearly a quarter have used mobile devices in the past to purchase holiday gifts. The results also show that during the holiday season: -- 56 percent of respondents had made a purchase from their mobile phone; -- 58 percent of respondents will use their mobile phone to compare prices while shopping; -- 48 percent will use their mobile phone to find store locations that carry the products they seek; -- 90 percent of those who had made a mobile purchase said that convenience was a major factor, and 47 percent said ease of use was a primary reason they had made a purchase.

Mobile commerce will nearly double to $6.7 billion this year -- fueled by rising smartphone adoption and growing mobile Web use, according to a new eMarketer forecast. The market research firm estimates m-commerce sales will leap another 73% in 2012 to $11.6 billion.

“Mobile commerce is growing at a fast clip -- and it’s acting as an engine of overall e-commerce growth, by converting potential brick-and-mortar sales to digital sales as consumers use their smartphones while shopping in-store,” said eMarketer principal analyst Jeffrey Grau,

EMarketer forecasts that 37.5 million U.S. consumers ages 14 and over will make at least one purchase on their mobile phone next year, up from 26.8 million this year. Nearly all those buying via mobile will be smartphone owners, at 97% in 2012.

a silicon bracelet that carries a QR (quick response) code. Emergency responders and health care providers can use a smartphone to scan the QR code, which also can be printed on a necklace or wallet card, and call up the patient's personal website, maintained by Richardson's Edmond-based company.The website “basically gives customers the ability to create a profile, and they can choose to show or hide illnesses, medication and emergency contacts

The company plans to sell the wristband or necklace for about $10, with a $5 monthly subscription to the website containing the client's medical information, Richardson said. Each customer would fill out a template on the company website, then the client can determine how much of that information will be displayed when the code is scanned, Richardson said.

Here are some best practices for maximizing the return on your QR code direct mail initiative:

Ensure that QR codes link to Web pages that are optimized for mobile devices

Provide online content that adds value for the targeted consumer and makes it worth their while to scan the code.