NeoMedia Technologies, Inc (NEOM)

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Microsoft Tag Leaves Beta
By David Sims, TMCnet Contributing Editor
Mobile Barcode Innovations Featured Article
June 07, 2010




Two Januarys – Januaries? – ago, Microsoft (News - Alert) released the beta version of Microsoft Tag, their free mobile system letting users create, display and scan 2-D bar codes, “which when scanned by a Web-enabled mobile phone’s camera automatically sends the user to a mobile Web page populated by a variety of forms of content.”

Industry observer Bill Siwicki explains that 1-D bar codes present lines vertically and contain little information, while the 2-D bar codes “present a black-and-white or color image vertically and horizontally and can contain much more information than their 1-D counterparts.”


As PCMag says, “imagine touring a museum and scanning a symbol next to a painting to launch a related video. Or zapping a code at a bus stop and seeing when the next bus is coming.”


Tag is beta no longer. You can get it at Tag.Microsoft.com, and on mobile devices at GetTag.mobi and in smartphone app stores. The possibilities really are almost limitless. As Siwicki says, “a merchant could include a bar code on a print or Web display ad that when scanned leads the reader to a video demonstration or the ability to purchase the advertised product. Or it could include a bar code on merchandise tags in-store to lead a shopper to the relevant customer reviews page on its m-commerce site.”


It sounds, as PCMag says, “so very Philip K. Dick. I can't stop picturing a Tag tattoo; uploading whatever data I want -- a video of my band or a mobile resume -- into the cloud and keeping my personal media fresh. Tag technology stands to change advertising and marketing as we know it -- and get us even more glued to our smartphones than ever before.”


Since Tag launched in January 2009, “more than one billion tags have been created by people and businesses all over the world. In the month of April 2010 alone, more than 20 million magazines with tags were in the hands of U.S. consumers,” a Microsoft spokeswoman said.

David Sims is a contributing editor for TMCnet. To read more of David’s articles, please visit his columnist page. He also blogs for TMCnet here.

Edited by Marisa Torrieri


http://mobile-barcode.tmcnet.com/topics/mobile-barcode-innovations/articles/87500-microsoft-tag-leaves-beta.htm

Sounds like full steam ahead for MS TAG ... where's Google , where's everybody else ?

looks like MS tag a nd scanbuy are the only paving the way so far. You know what they say about first to Market...