Designed as a high-tech marketing resource, QR (quick response) codes have many useful applications. These (usually) black-and-white algorithmic codes are gateways to a potential multimedia nirvana.

Apple Inc., whose Apple Pay is the leading mobile-payment service based on near field communication technology, reportedly is testing Quick Response codes as an alternative technology with Apple Pay.

Google has quietly tested a new login mechanism for users on public computers -- authentication via QR codes scanned by mobile devices. The phone-based authentication, spotted by the folks at Hacker ...