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Where was that QR code scanned?

Knowing when and where a QR code is scanned can be valuable information for marketing professionals. Because QR codes are mostly scanned by mobile and smartphones of which most have GPS (Global Positioning System) on board, It could be interacting to request this geographic location information from the device that scanned the code to determine the location and time the scan was made.

Putting Geolocation of a QR code scan to the test

Below are two QR codes, one for the iPhone/iPad(click on it) and the other for Android mobile devices. Scan the code to see how it determines your geographic position.

Android Geolocator QR Code iPhone Geolocator QR Code

The result on an Samsung Android system

QR Code Mobile Geolocator Android

The results from an iPhone

QR Code Mobile Geolocator iPhone

 How geo-location works

The iPhone geolocator uses new HTML5 features to ask for the co-ordinates. Unfortunately Android (froyo) in combination with the Samsung Galaxy S's standard browser does not seem to support this, so here we went back to Google Gears which did the trick, but the accuracy leaves a lot to be desired.

The technology used in the two test cases above is openly and freely available on the Internet, so if you have QR codes in newspapers, magazines or on materials that move around a lot and you want insight into where these QR codes are being scanned. These systems may be helpful in providing you with the geographic information you need. If you want to integrate geolocation with your QR codes and need assistance, please contact us.

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Posted by: jeroen Steeman
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Categories: QR Code Use | QR Codes
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QR4 is maintained by Jeroen Steeman - Geleenhof 42, 5655 AH Eindhoven - Tel: +31 (0)6 130 33 743