Hello Little Printer, available 2012 from BERG on Vimeo.

Little Printer is a brand new very clever and very, very cute looking device which “lives in your front room and scours the Web on your behalf, assembling the content you care about into designed deliveries“.

Connecting wirelessly to your network and controlled via your smart phone you set what content the little lad prints out. News headlines, To-Do lists, meetings, puzzles and a host of other info can be sent to print to create a beautiful custom designed mini-newspaper.

Unfortunately it won’t be available under the tree this Christmas but it’s manufacturer, Bergcloud will be taking pre-orders for Little Printer in 2012, when it launches as a ‘beta’ product.

You’ve probably already heard about facebook’s Timeline app. It’s a new app from Facebook, a kind of digital scrapbooking that pulls images into a Timeline, leverages images in building deep connections

Facebook’s new range of apps will help Advertisers target users, Ad Age cites sources reporting that Facebook will generate $3.8 billion from advertising this year. Yet the app which is most likely to generate a more intense attachment to the brand, and keep them ‘Liking’, is the new image-based Timeline app.

With cheaper image technology, the last decade has seen digital scrapbooking take off. According to one industry survey, retail sales in the scrapbooking industry was $2.55 billion in 2004. Projected sales for 2011 were $1.45 billion, and its digital that has filled that gap.

Facebook’s Timeline wants a part of this, and thankfully, unlike some previous improvements gives you the choice as to what appears in your scrapbook (so no, “Aww, there’s the first time I drank too much and photocopied my cheeks at the Christmas office party.”)

Apparently the Facebook app enables you to fill in any ‘gaps’ to your Timeline, and the ‘Polaroid’ nostalgia-fest of the promo is certainly inspiring. When your children throw skeptical glances when you recount your college sporting prowess, ‘lost’ photos of that ‘winning’ hoop in the college finals can easily be recreated on your Instagram app with a wig and some creative Photoshop.

How can you make your QR Codes ideas stand out?

Missing details

One way to make your Business Card QR Code stand out is to make it the only thing on there! Without any other printed details, new clients & contacts will have no choice but to scan the code, which then leads to far more contact details & online social media than one Business Card could possibly display.

Centre of attention

Even if you still include all your contact details on your Business Card, they’ll stand out if your QR Code is a central feature in the design, rather than squashed into a corner. It shows you’re serious about connecting new contacts to your business.

Lost property

Make a book of QR Code stickers to stick to your favourite things – laptops, camera, filming equipment, phone, or anything you’d really want returned if you lost it. All an honest citizen needs to do is scan the code, & be linked to the “Contact me” page of your website. (Make sure you give them a nice reward!)

Watch and learn

If you’re putting a QR Code on your Business Card, remember that wherever it leads has to be easy to look at on a Smartphone. So why not be a bit different & direct new contacts to a video? It could be anything from you introducing yourself & what you do, to a product marketing video, or, if you’re a crafter or makeup artist, a short “How To” tutorial.

Make it beautiful

Secret prizes for the curious few

Why not make the QR Code on your Business Card lead somewhere fun, like a competition web page to win tickets to your next event? Or you can send curious scanners to a page with a secret promo code for discounted goods or services – as their reward for playing!

Analyse this

Optimise your website for mobile devices, & set up Google analytics tracking for your QR Code – so you can see in real figures exactly how useful it is for your web traffic.

Help with the shopping

Tesco’s billboard adverts in Korea have a QR Code that sends people directly to their online shopping site, & even more precisely, to the very item they’re looking at when they scan the code. If you sell your goods online, why not try the same approach?

Want to learn more about QR Codes?

So what are QR Codes?

QR Codes are two dimensional barcodes which can quickly and easily be scanned by most camera phones. They’re free to create and really easy to use. You can find out what’s available for your phone at GetReader.

How can having QR Codes help my business?

QR Codes can contain many different types of data – URL, phone number, SMS, and vCard.
You can make your QR code work in a variety of ways, including pointing people directly to your blog or website, allowing them to send you an instant SMS, call your phone or upload their details to your address book. So if you meet a potential client, employer or employee, you’ve got a really quick and easy way to direct them to all your information without having to make them type anything into their phone.

I used one for indexD’s business card:

How can I make one?

There are several free sites you can use to create your QR Codes. I like QRStuff, but you can also use Google Charts for QR Codes if you want dynamic, highly customised codes.

Finally, if you want to generate QR codes on your own site, there are several free resources. I use qrcode.kaywa

Great! What else do I need to know?

• Here are some tips to make sure you get the most out of your QR codes.
• Use black ink on a white background to ensure the code is readable.
• Ensure there is some whitespace around the code.
• If you resize the QR codes, don’t use any interpolation.
• QR Codes can have variable error-correction. Unless your codes are likely to get dirty, you can set this to “low”.
• If you’re pointing people to a URL, make sure it’s mobile friendly.
• Make sure your phone numbers are in International Format (e.g. +353 for Ireland, +44 for the UK or +1 for the US).
• Be creative! QR Codes are appearing on everything from advertising posters to urban graffiti – make sure yours stand out.