BARCELONA—One of the many technologies being featured during Mobile World Congress {MWC} this week is 2D barcoding. Neustar is collaborating with Visa to offer attendees a 2D barcode reader application and the chance to win a Visa gift card.
It’s all part of Neustar’s push in the mobile barcode segment. The company is debuting its Mobile Barcode Clearinghouse Services, which enable interoperability among mobile operators, ad agencies and apps providers. Neustar is inviting brands and operators to participate in an upcoming commercial pilot program.
Steve Edwards, senior vice president of Converged Addressing at Neustar, says it’s an early phase of the market for 2D barcode readers and it’s a fragmented one; it will only grow in mass adoption if somebody offers operability across readers, operators and campaign managers. That somebody happens to be Neustar, and Edwards expects there will be a lot more acceleration in the 2D barcode market toward the end of this year, getting to mass market in two or three years.
Barcode companies NeoMedia, 3GVision, Mobile Data Systems and Mobile Discovery already are using the Neustar clearinghouse, which is open to other industry players.
For the contest at MWC, attendees are instructed to download a free 2D barcode reader application, then use the reader to scan a 2D barcode on cards that are being distributed at the conference. Participants are asked to answer the question: Where would you like to go with your Visa card? The most creative answers win a Visa 50 Euro gift card. Those who don’t have a phone to support a barcode scanner are invited to enter the contest at Neustar’s booth.