THINKS NFC WILL OVERTAKE QR CODES
POSTED BY DAN YOUNG
After attending the World Mobile Congress, I have been thinking about NFC and QR codes.
NFC (Near Field Communications) chips are going to be embedded in Apple's iPhone 5; presumably in iPads and other mobile iOS devices. Android now supports NFC in the current releases. Microsoft will undoubtedly follow suit (if they have not already). NFC has consensus support among the major operating systems; the technology will be ubiquitous in 3 to 5 years in the mobile space. The question is if we, as mobile developers, can leverage NFC to make QR codes obsolete? I think it will happen for a set of use case scenarios.
QR codes are fantastic for print advertisements. One code can reach many people; this use case represents what I see as the ultimate future for the code. Use cases around QR codes being used for location-based navigation, point-of-sale activities, etc. start to break down when the alternative technology of NFC is introduced to the process flows.
The user experience for NFC requires fewer user steps--they need only wave their phone over a designated area--to complete a transaction. QR codes require a photo being taken, it being transcribed and a follow-up action being required to complete the transaction. NFC is a far more elegant solution in this respect.
NFC also has the advantage of being secure. This will allow users to complete mobile payments, be securely identified and to conduct other confidential and/or private transactions. QR codes are irrelevant here as they are just barcodes.
The bottom line is that QR codes are good for a few things, but the real hope behind QR codes will be achieved with NFC and not a barcode.
