News-in-Motion scans Tiger Woods video into cellphone: how?

taglines · 12-07-2009, 07:39 AM

A print and online newspaper in Taiwan called The Apple Daily, in Chinese-language
only, www.appledaily.com.tw, uses animated graphics it calls "news-in-motion" to reconstruct stories that appear in the
print edition and online editon of the daily tabloid newspaper and
these animated videos can be viewed by cellphone users who scan a bar
code printed in the newspaper.

The New York Times had a big story about this the other day by tech reporter Noam Cohen. The YouTube video of the Tiger Woods anime vid they did has now gotten over 2 million hits worldwide after news got out via 50 different news outlets. The Times called this the advent of Maybe Journalism, a new kind of e-journalism. It's very cool. (www.nytimes.com)

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/06/bu...?_r=1&emc=eta1

Can anyone here explain to me how this
works? Here is the icon they print in the newspaper to scan into your cellphone.

How does one scan a square bar code graphic (it's not the
traditional bar code we see on product labels, it is just a square,
half inch by half inch, that looks like a mosaic kind of image.

But
does one take a photo of the image in the print paper and then the
video appears on the phone screen? I believe their is a fee involved too. How do they *do* that?

How does one scan a square bar code graphic (it's not the
traditional bar code we see on product labels, it is just a square,
half inch by half inch, that looks like a mosaic kind of image). But
does one take a photo of the image in the print paper and then the
video appears on the phone screen? How do they do it, from the tech side. Are any newspapers in USA doing this yet?

http://i.d.com.com/i/dl/media/dlimag...865_large.jpeg

igorsk · 12-07-2009, 10:58 AM

It's just QR code, widely used in Japan. It basically encodes a string of characters, in this case it's probably a URL to the video.

taglines · 12-07-2009, 09:03 PM

Thanks, igorsk! So it began in Japan, shoulda thought that! QR code. Thanks for the heads up. Are any newspapers doing this in USA yet? Is this maybe the future of ''Maybe Journalism'', as the Times reporter asks?

And igorsk, what would one call that barcode that is used there, it's not a bar code exactly, there are no bars, so what term is used for that? Do you know what to call that thing a ma jingy? In Taiwan, they call it "er wei taio ma" which means "bar code" .....duh.

nomesque · 12-07-2009, 09:08 PM

'Encryption graphic'?

That's probably not the correctest term, but it gets the message across

It's a relatively popular concept in some fields - there's at least one data security company which offers a 'challenge/response' login system using animated gifs and optical readers in their hardware tokens. I don't like the animated ones - they're migraine-inducing, imho!

pholy · 12-07-2009, 09:14 PM

I think I've seen "2-D barcode" for such things. Yup, Wikipedia (and Google) is your friend.

taglines · 12-07-2009, 09:15 PM

Nomesque, that sounds like the perfect term: "encryption graphic", thanks. The Taiwanese call it a bar code, even though they know there are no bars in it, like a real bar code. There is no term yet in Chinese for "encryption graphic" I guess. In 5000 years of civilization, the Chinese never came up against such a thing! Thanks for the heads up!

and 2-D bar code, who knew? Thanks, pholy.

http://i.d.com.com/i/dl/media/dlimag...865_large.jpeg

Hellmark · 12-07-2009, 10:02 PM

Companies tried doing something like that a few times in the US, but it has failed. About 10 years ago, there was the CueCat, which ultimately flopped. I know about 5 years a back, Hearst had some magazines (notably Popular Mechanics) that had similar methods, but it was dropped too.

CleverClothe · 12-08-2009, 04:26 PM

Here are some links if you want to play around with QR Code. There are several programs for cellphones and the like that will read QR Code.

http://zxing.appspot.com/generator/
http://zxing.org/w/decode.jspx

You encode plain text. But the cool thing is that there are plain text formats for contacts, calendar events, etc. So if the reader software is smart, it could automatically act on the information contained in the QR Code (Like open a URL).

taglines · 12-09-2009, 08:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pholy

I think I've seen "2-D barcode" for such things. Yup, Wikipedia (and Google) is your friend.

I think you are right about 2-D bar code because the editors at the Apple Daily newspaper in Taipei who are experimenting with this "News in Motion" idea told me they call it in Mandarin "er wei tiao ma", which means 2-D Barcode". Case solved.

12-07-2009, 07:39 AM	#1
taglines Banned Posts: 96 Karma: 334 Join Date: Nov 2009 Device: nook	News-in-Motion scans Tiger Woods video into cellphone: how? A print and online newspaper in Taiwan called The Apple Daily, in Chinese-language only, www.appledaily.com.tw, uses animated graphics it calls "news-in-motion" to reconstruct stories that appear in the print edition and online editon of the daily tabloid newspaper and these animated videos can be viewed by cellphone users who scan a bar code printed in the newspaper. The New York Times had a big story about this the other day by tech reporter Noam Cohen. The YouTube video of the Tiger Woods anime vid they did has now gotten over 2 million hits worldwide after news got out via 50 different news outlets. The Times called this the advent of Maybe Journalism, a new kind of e-journalism. It's very cool. (www.nytimes.com) http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/06/bu...?_r=1&emc=eta1 Can anyone here explain to me how this works? Here is the icon they print in the newspaper to scan into your cellphone. How does one scan a square bar code graphic (it's not the traditional bar code we see on product labels, it is just a square, half inch by half inch, that looks like a mosaic kind of image. But does one take a photo of the image in the print paper and then the video appears on the phone screen? I believe their is a fee involved too. How do they do that? How does one scan a square bar code graphic (it's not the traditional bar code we see on product labels, it is just a square, half inch by half inch, that looks like a mosaic kind of image). But does one take a photo of the image in the print paper and then the video appears on the phone screen? How do they do it, from the tech side. Are any newspapers in USA doing this yet? http://i.d.com.com/i/dl/media/dlimag...865_large.jpeg Last edited by taglines; 12-07-2009 at 07:48 AM. Reason: new link

12-07-2009, 09:15 PM	#6
taglines Banned Posts: 96 Karma: 334 Join Date: Nov 2009 Device: nook	Nomesque, that sounds like the perfect term: "encryption graphic", thanks. The Taiwanese call it a bar code, even though they know there are no bars in it, like a real bar code. There is no term yet in Chinese for "encryption graphic" I guess. In 5000 years of civilization, the Chinese never came up against such a thing! Thanks for the heads up! and 2-D bar code, who knew? Thanks, pholy. http://i.d.com.com/i/dl/media/dlimag...865_large.jpeg Last edited by taglines; 12-07-2009 at 09:17 PM. Reason: added peg

12-07-2009, 10:58 AM	#2
igorsk Wizard Posts: 3,442 Karma: 300001 Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Belgium Device: PRS-500/505/700, Kindle, Cybook Gen3, Words Gear	It's just QR code, widely used in Japan. It basically encodes a string of characters, in this case it's probably a URL to the video.

12-07-2009, 09:03 PM	#3
taglines Banned Posts: 96 Karma: 334 Join Date: Nov 2009 Device: nook	Thanks, igorsk! So it began in Japan, shoulda thought that! QR code. Thanks for the heads up. Are any newspapers doing this in USA yet? Is this maybe the future of ''Maybe Journalism'', as the Times reporter asks? And igorsk, what would one call that barcode that is used there, it's not a bar code exactly, there are no bars, so what term is used for that? Do you know what to call that thing a ma jingy? In Taiwan, they call it "er wei taio ma" which means "bar code" .....duh.

12-07-2009, 09:08 PM	#4
nomesque Snooty Bestselling Author Posts: 1,485 Karma: 1000000 Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Ipswich, QLD, Australia Device: PRS-650	'Encryption graphic'? That's probably not the correctest term, but it gets the message across It's a relatively popular concept in some fields - there's at least one data security company which offers a 'challenge/response' login system using animated gifs and optical readers in their hardware tokens. I don't like the animated ones - they're migraine-inducing, imho!

12-07-2009, 09:14 PM	#5
pholy Booklegger Posts: 1,801 Karma: 7999816 Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada Device: BeBook(1 & 2010), PEZ, PRS-505, Kobo BT, PRS-T1, Playbook, Kobo Touch	I think I've seen "2-D barcode" for such things. Yup, Wikipedia (and Google) is your friend.

12-07-2009, 10:02 PM	#7
Hellmark Wizard Posts: 2,592 Karma: 4290425 Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Foristell, Missouri, USA Device: Nokia N800, PRS-505, Nook STR Glowlight, Kindle 3, Kobo Libra 2	Companies tried doing something like that a few times in the US, but it has failed. About 10 years ago, there was the CueCat, which ultimately flopped. I know about 5 years a back, Hearst had some magazines (notably Popular Mechanics) that had similar methods, but it was dropped too.

12-08-2009, 04:26 PM	#8
CleverClothe Guru Posts: 618 Karma: 493394 Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Seattle, WA Device: iRex iLiad, Onyx Boox 60	Here are some links if you want to play around with QR Code. There are several programs for cellphones and the like that will read QR Code. http://zxing.appspot.com/generator/ http://zxing.org/w/decode.jspx You encode plain text. But the cool thing is that there are plain text formats for contacts, calendar events, etc. So if the reader software is smart, it could automatically act on the information contained in the QR Code (Like open a URL).

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