Oneupweb's "Straight Up Search" blog just wrote a post about the supposed upcoming world domination of QR codes... or not. It's going to be a crazy world plastered all over with those little tags, except Lawrence concurs with the benefits of digital watermarking.

True, true, nobody wants to get a digital watermarked tattoo applied to their clavicle, but otherwise there's a compelling argument for the fresh persepective and advantage of imperceptibility (brand preservation, multiple links, etc...).

Yes, I'm one of the print diehards that continues to enjoy spending a Sunday afternoon thumbing through my favorite magazines. I have an iPad and Kindle, too, but the experience isn't the same. I like lightly pinching the upper right corner and gently flipping the page. I enjoy the feel of the paper on my fingertips — especially the higher-end magazines that understand the pleasure of a silky white paper stock that makes images pop and is so smooth to the touch. As a marketer who dabbles in graphic design, I appreciate the typography, design and layout that enhances my experience and increases my enjoyment of the stories and even the ads. As much as I love technology, alternative reading options just don't satisfy like the printed page.

This is one of the reasons I'm so excited about the new, interactive experiences that are now accessible from print using our mobile phones. Who hasn't seen a 2D barcode, QR code or tag in a magazine or newspaper? They're cropping up everywhere, but still somewhat sparingly. We see a dozen or so here and there in the New York Times, USA Today and Sports Illustrated — to name a few. They've been used on signage, product packaging and at events. For those of us with capable smartphones, we're able to instantly experience an entirely new dimension of rich media and interactive content, and take immediate action when we see something we're interested in. Very cool and exciting stuff! If you haven't tried it yet, what are you waiting for?

Our very own Craig Brandis (Senior Manager of Product Marketing) took time for a little Q&A about Digimarc Discover with RCR Wireless News:

They’ve taken over signs, advertisements and publications in Japan – even used on tombstones (no kidding). We’ve seen more and more trials, pilots and rollouts in many regions, and they are slowly creeping into our favorite newspapers and magazines in the U.S. Yes, I’m talking about barcodes and tags. In recent months I have spoken to many publishers who are clearly desperate to reinvigorate their businesses and are looking for ways to bring together print, web and mobile initiatives. They see the promise of connecting print to the digital world so they can deliver the same interactive, multi-sensory experiences that consumers flock to the web for from magazines and newspapers. And, right now, they see barcodes and tags as the means to this end.

The problem is, every single publisher I’ve spoken with hates the appearance of barcodes as they take up precious real estate on the page. Hence the “love/hate” relationship. When presented with alternatives, like digital watermarking, they light up and want to know more...

I know it’s not polite to brag, but I’m going to anyway. Recently, Digimarc was selected as one of the top companies to work for in Oregon. We ranked third in the mid-sized company category. That was pretty exciting, but yesterday we found out that we have been selected by Oregon Tech Awards as one of the top three software companies of the year.

This recognition is particularly satisfying as it is for the great work completed on Digimarc Discover.  If you’ve been following our blog, you’ve heard about Digimarc Discover; and hopefully you’ve checked out the new Online Services Portal. As a reminder, you can use the basic functions for FREE (and that’s a very good price) through the end of May. The portal lets you embed a digital watermark into content destined for print. Once printed, you can download one of our mobile apps to detect the embedded watermark, which will then link to the URL you entered. It just takes a few minutes.

We experienced a steady stream of new accounts to date with quite a few new links now in service.  Ben, our product manager, tracks where the new accounts are coming from on a global map.

In just a few short weeks, we have portal users from Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, South Africa, Norway, India, Russia, Australia, South Korea, Japan, and all across Europe...

I've been thinking about this a lot lately. With the growing popularity of eBooks, eTablets, and getting information via the Web and now our mobile phones, many question, "Why do we even need print?"

We know that teens and "twenty-somethings" never look at the printed edition of the newspaper. While I'm definitely not "twenty-something," I have always embraced technology and am an early adopter of all of the latest digital devices and toys. I love my Kindle for travel, can't wait to own an iPad (when it has a camera in the next version), and I spend countless hours online. I love all of these things, but nothing replaces the experience of flipping through the pages of a book or scanning through my favorite magazines and the morning newspaper.

Here's what I find irreplaceable...

This past week we exhibited at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain. For four days we saw a steady stream of publishers, mobile marketing companies, agencies and major brands come through the booth in search of the perfect mobile solution for print. Our stand was just across the aisle from Blackberry – who had a significantly larger presence this year over 2010, and was covered in large QR Codes.

Without a doubt we saw more and more uses of barcodes as the quest for engaging consumers through interactive print continues. Interestingly, however, is that every single person we spoke with commented how barcodes are ugly and they really don’t want to use them...

Readers of the Winter issue of Beer West magazine were able to interact with the articles and ads, and do things like: Play Beer Trivia, download recipes, view videos, design their own beer coasters to share on Flicker and much more. Beer West is one of the first U.S. magazines to embed digital watermarks into its images to create rich media experiences from the printed page. If you’re in the business of creating images (and enjoy a nice pint), you really should check it out. In fact, go to www.digimarc.com/beerme if you’d like us to send you a copy to try out on your own.

Now here's how to detect the digital watermarks and access the enhanced content...

I had the chance to wander the floors of CES last week and attended a number of sessions. For the most part, I felt the show was a bit disappointing. Really not much new from last year, including many of the same discussions with regards to digital images. I attended the panel "Beyond Point and Shoot" moderated by someone from the Wall Street Journal. Here's a quick summary...

Are you an iPhone owner who enjoys image manipulation, is interested in fun apps, and has some time to kill? Then you may want to download ColorSplash. I recently downloaded the application and started to play around with it at a recent conference – which is what I do when the speaker is incredibly boring...