Microsoft Tag - Mobile Tagging

Microsoft launched it's Mobile Tag.

"... Microsoft Tag. What is Mobile Tagging?: "Microsoft Tag creates unlimited possibilities for making interactive communications an instant, entertaining part of life. They tranform physical media (print advertising, billboards,product packages, information signs, in-store merchandising, or even video images)—into live links for accessing information and entertainment online..."

It's like a barcode meant for cellphone. You create one on the MS website by filling in a form and associating it with a URL. Cellphones can download a small application (from here) that reads these barcode using the cellphone's camera.

One can print these barcodes on poster, business-cards, letter heads whatever you like. The consumer/end-user may 'read' this barcode via the cellphone camera. The cellphone can then quickly connects to the internet (via the MS site) to get further information (the URL linked to the barcode)

I created one for this blog:










I remember a newspaper in the early days of Dot Com used to publish stories with barcodes and then used to send scanners to it's subscriber to help them read further on the internet :) - similar concept, but the technology has come further... camera have replaced barcode reader and 3G has replaced the dial-up line.