The Daily App: Winq for iPhone

You knew that QR codes were becoming a big deal when you began to see them on city bus billboards and on suburban “For Sale” signs posted by realtors everywhere.

And while there is a growing number of QR-creation and QR reading apps, we’ve begun to really like Winq for iPhone, a 99-cent download that is simple and integrates sharply with iPhone apps, including Contacts, Maps and email.

QR – which stands for “quick response,” is essentially a 2-D barcode creator and decoder. To turn your contact information into a QR Code, download Winqs, enter your information into the template, hit the “done” button, and it creates your bar code. Scan someone else’s contact information into Winq, and with the touch of a button you can import their details into your contact list, their address into your Maps, and their Web site into Safari.

As Apple readies the market for its iCloud offering, which would allow for contact data to be automatically synchronized across iPhone, iPad, Mac and PC platforms, a simple snap of someone’s QR code contact information will allow that information to be immediately available across all of your devices.

With apps like Winq and the expanded use of QR codes, the days of carrying business cards may be dwindling.