You’ll notice that every search result on AppsVu has a link to the right labelled “[QR Code]”. On clicking it, you’ll find a small new browser window popup with a squigly picture on it, like this:

“QR Code” stands for “Quick Response Code” and was developed by a Japanese company called Denso-Wave back in 1994. A QR Code is a type of barcode, except that it uses two-dimensions instead of just one in a standard barcode.

QR Codes can contain arbitrary types of information, including physical and email addresses, prices, and URLs.

So what does all this have to do with your shiny new Android phone? Well, a QR Code can also contain a link to specific apps or categories on the Android Market. So when you point your Android device’s camera at a QR Code, special software can “read” the QR Code and execute specific actions. There are many Android apps out there that can read QR Codes.

The QR Code pictured above has instructions to tell your Android phone to open the Android Market application and go to the Pandora Radio app. Other codes can perform a search on the Market, or pull up a specific category, and so on.

To read QR Codes with your Android phone, you will need:

1. An Android phone with a camera
2. A QR Code scanning app. A good app to start with is Barcode Scanner.
3. A QR Code!

That’s it. When you see a QR Code, just do the following:

1. Launch the Barcode Scanner app (or equivalent)
2. Point your camera at the QR Code (even if the code is on your computer’s screen)
3. Wait

The Barcode Scanner app will automatically detect the QR Code and execute the relevant action. If you do this with the QR Code pictured above, you’ll see that the Market app is launched and the Pandora Radio app is pulled up.

Happy Scanning!