Fujitsu has done QR Codes and ShotCodes one better by creating a two-dimensional, camera phone readable code that can be invisibly embedded in real pictures.

In what is the largest marketing implemenation of consumer oriented mobile phone camera scanning outside of Asia, Coca Cola Mexico has slapped ShotCodes on 40 million bottles of Sprite.

In a move that may bring a much needed jump start to Quick Response Code (QR Code) two-dimensional barcodes beyond Japan, Microsoft has launched Windows Live Barcode Beta.

Kaywa, a company that offers services for mobile bloggers, has posted a presentation that discusses the use of 2D barcodes in the consumer market. Here are some examples in pictures. The key point that they make is that the market in Japan took off when mobile phone operators began pre-installing barcode readers for cameras in mobile phones. Today there are more than 30 million handsets with QR Code readers in Japan. Sorry about the low quality photographs.