http://www.Microsoft.com/tag This is the coolest thing I have seen so far. You can add these color tags to things and any phone can read them. They released an iPhone app today! Free! - Robert Scoble

Cool, if people will use it. Kind of like web slices, it has to be implemented. We'll see. - Eric @ CS Techcast

is that like those QR codes? - David

I like this idea. It's the same principle as scanning a supermarket barcode. We need more of this; Japan has it, after all! Thx for the post. - Allen S.

Interesting but do we really need another one? I have three of these apps on my phone already. Barcorama seems to be the most versatile but I doubt it will have MS's new stuff. These "Smart pox" systems have been around for years in Asia, do we really need to reinvent the system? - Kalidor

after looking at the site, it is like the QR codes, except colorful and by proxy hip - David

yeah, QR Code is already well established in Japan. - Toni @ NavinoT

Oh, neat! Just wish there was support for crappy old WinMobile devices like mine. (Mine runs 2003SE, and I can't afford to upgrade to something modern at this time.) - Chris Charabaruk ￣ω￣

This was actually one of my startup ideas from a while back. Seemed inevitable. Print Biz card with QR (or QRcode like) and use the cameraphone to scan. Additionally you would never be without a business card if you had your phone since you could use the screen to display the code, the other phone takes a pic of your screen presto. - mikepk

also, you use the geo data in the phone to assign a location to when / where you "met" the person - mikepk

meta data gets attached by the very act of scanning - mikepk

chris, that was one of the things I thought was cool about this startup idea, you don't need a fancy phone (although it helps). Just snap a photo with cameraphone and email it to an online service to process. (or upload after the fact) makes it much more accesible. - mikepk

very cool spin to something that is already in wide use in Japan. Kudos to Microsoft for seeing the applications of this. I'm going to have to try this on my phone. - Bryan

the zune tattoo guy is going to need some more ink :-D - Karim

++ Karim LOL - Mona Nomura

Would this not be just like 2d bar codes that nokia has been doing for some time? http://mobilecodes.nokia.com/ Cool but not new for the masses just new for Microsoft possibly. - Sloan Bowman

I thought this failed years ago... - Bwana

Hey, I was the second follower of their abandoned-looking @microsofttag account. This program looks cool but appears to be a typical MSFT rush job on all ends. Program launched a blank website, and when I tried to report the bug the form said "Special characters (< and >) are not allowed in full name." (Of course there are none in my name) - Carl Black

Another iPhone app from Microsoft. I grabbed it, but oh yeah - I don't have any of these brand new proprietary tag images around to try it out... - Josh Bancroft

Worked the very first time on a BB 8330 with what I thought would be an inferior photo. Very interesting. I think I'll try making a tag. - Dave Holle II

David: yes, these are like QR codes but that work much more accurately and can be far smaller than QR codes. - Robert Scoble

Here's a video demoing it: http://www.kyte.tv/ch... - Robert Scoble

I'd like quantification of accurate and smaller. QR codes can work with over 50% of it damaged, and I have once working that are 3/4'" on each side? I wouldn't mind seeing smaller if it becomes a standard. I notice MS's website doesn't have this info? What do they say? - Kalidor

What is the name of the iphone app? - Amani

Kalidor: the microsoft tags are smaller in size and can be read without special lenses on your cell phone. They seem to work a lot more accurately here. - Robert Scoble

Not sure what you mean by special lenses, the Moto V220 I got from Rogers for free (so you can imagine the quality) had no problem with those squares on salty posters in TO streets? Do some phones need wide angle lenses or something then? - Kalidor

Amani ... it's TagReader (you can also find via search on 'Microsoft') - David HC Soul

Absolutely cool, this thing rocks. Tried it on multiple tags and it is able to recognize most of the tags easily. With even 2 MP camera phone it works great. Now the question, how do I make my own tags?? - Deepak Sharma

Isn't this what ShotCode has been doing for at least the last two years? http://www.shotcode.com/home - Christopher Harley

Oh, please. QR code are exactly the same, they work perfectly well. No news here. And more: it seems that after a period of free beta, creating tag will cost you money. Oh, dear, QR codes are free, instead. Nice try. - Federico Fasce

Federico: they are not the same. Look into it. And not everything Microsoft does is evil. - Robert Scoble

I'm not saying that this is evil. Just I don't get how this is different from QR codes (except for the fancy colours). But, don't get me wrong, Robert, I'm happy for this idea. QR rocks in Japan, but never really made their way in the rest of the world. Maybe Microsoft will be able to get this technology to spread. I think it's great for games. - Federico Fasce

The Adobe TV demo of Flash doing this in a browser with a regular web cam is very cool. http://tv.adobe.com/#vi+f15... Long video but worth it. Jump to 41:00 min and 49:00min - Andrew Smith

Created my first tag, posted to blog, took unbelievably blurry photo with my iPhone from the blog page on notebook (hand shaking, balanced on lap & low light) it took me successfully in the Safari browser right to the page. Wonderful. I'm looking at incorporating this for a Sports Hall of Fame to link exhibits to a virtual archive with supplemental information.... this will integrate a Second Place of Learning" with a virtual "Third Place of Learning" so that the two can be combined into one experience! - David HC Soul

This is at least 7 or 8 years old technology. I have early versions of such cards laying in the bottom of boxes in my office somewhere. 2009 off to a rockin' start. - michael silverton

michael: old cue cat scans weren't designed to be used by blurry cell phone cameras. - Robert Scoble

I was thinking of printing bar code info on business cards that could be scanned by the G1 code reader. If this works, way cool! - Greg Birch

I'm impressed, I work in the sign industry and this could have some interesting applications if enough people start to use it. The dialer tag worked quickly even when blurry and slightly crooked. - Patrick Looney

mkay. but i'm sure you'd agree there's a fairly bright distinction between 'breakthrough' and 'refinement' right? why are we still awake? tomorrow will be a huge day! goodnight! ;-) - michael silverton

Robert: QRcode worked as a charm with my E61 camera, which is not the best around (2 megapixel, more blurry than the iPhone one). - Federico Fasce

QR Code already works. It is clear Scoble has not ever used QR code in any quantity. Don't believe the MS hype. It's at most evolutionary not revolutionary. BTW Google has a service that generates QR Code with any url that you pass to it. - ld

I personally am a MS fan but have to say that in my opinion adding some colors doesn't really mean anything related to innovation. I think the size and ability to be read are depending on the resolution of the consumer device more than the underlying technologies and do you really think that changing the items from squares to triangles and adding some color could increase quality? Is there any academic paper about this issue? - Kivanc Toker

And why to market a total new product from scratch rather than working together with Nokia? Theye are already embedding 2d barcode readers to their new products supporting the 2 widespread 2d barcode technologies which are QR and Datamatrix. - Kivanc Toker

QR codes can be scanned, recognized, and stored while working offline. Microsoft tags require Internet connectivity, and they have to go through Microsoft server to be useful. It makes them only marginally better than cool, easy to type domain name. - andrei_c

QR Codes are also in many products in Asia. Here in Hong Kong almost all products from Nokia, Sony Ericsson and Japanese cosmetic brands have QR Codes on them. BTW: @Leather the Google project is called ZXing http://tr.im/36xc - Vinko

It's not what I was talking about. It's the Chart API http://chart.apis.google.com/chart... - ld

Can't get it to install on my non-fancy phone ;-) Guess I'll have to stick with QR codes for now! - Nick Jones

it requires an internet connection meaning the data in the tag isn't really stored in the tag itself whereas QR codes hold all the data in their respective code. it's color also so forget about kids using this to advertise their band's party on campus using their cheap black and white printers. - Stefan Constantinescu

@andrei_c, @Stefan The tags *could* hold all the data in the code; but less data is necessary if everything's routed through what's essentially a "tinyurl" service. I think that's what's going on here. I'm sure using tinyurl or another shortening service w/ QR yields a more legible QR code. A tag of any kind, QR or otherwise, is no good if it can't be read. - Wade Dorrell

But QR codes *can* be read. - Federico Fasce

@Federico These can be read too. But at what angles? In what lighting? On which camera, at which quality setting? What URL, a long one or a short one? All I'm saying is using a shorter URL probably increases the odds that the code can be read, and I should say, read quickly & easily, both for QR & this tech. - Wade Dorrell

CueCat, anyone? Still, it seems like an interesting take on QR Codes, and the 2D barcode "data pointer" concept in general. - Tyson Key

Very cool! - Matthew Bishop

Never had a single problem with the E61i camera (which is a pretty standard 2mpixel) in every lighting condition. The scan is fast and reliable. I really don't see the need to use a third party server just for a small increase in the reliability. Japanese are using QR for a long time now, it is an open and affordable technology. Microsoft is proprietary and less economic, with few appreciable advantages. - Federico Fasce

I like it, set up a few myself. Will put on my blog that i never seem to update. Showed a friend and he set his twitter picture to it which sends the user to his blog. Be interesting to see it around. - Simon Wicks

WARNING: PISSING & MOANING - Why must Microsoft pull this crap. There areW codes like QR which are used all over the world. Just because it hasn't caught on in America, Microsoft has to go and create their own tag that they can license for profit. This is why America is behind in tech coolness. Standards exist. Look at Japan, Finland, etc.. I'm envious of what they have and I'm pissed because it's the Microsofts of America that are preventing us from having this kind of tech. - Pete Barry

Pete, how does Microsoft Neapolitan ice cream "prevent" us from having somebody else's vanilla? :-) if Google was on top of things, they would have rolled out QR and *integrated it with AdWords.* Print ads that drive to website = $$$$. - Karim

[light bulb goes on over head] now if you'll excuse me, I have to go file a patent. lol - Karim

wow -- very cool. I wonder what's going on with Google's QR - Mike

I just wrote up my thoughts here - http://www.centernetworks.com/microso... - this is very disappointing -r eminds me of facebook connect - i really like where qr codes are going and now we get this new microsoft tag? - Allen Stern

@waded I agree and understand, however, as long as there are places like airplanes, trains, rural areas, foreign countries with expensive roaming, etc, routing through server is a deal breaker. We aren't going to have truly ubiquitous Internet access for at least a decade. And I don't even want to start on how this limits range of devices that can support tags. Basically, it rules out everything except smartphones and laptops with attached cameras. - andrei_c

I just tried it. It launches the IE browser on my phone (HTC Fuze) instead of the much better Opera browser. Make sure to uncheck the "Always launch IE" in settings to get it working with your default mobile browser. They should have made this the default, at least until they improve the mobile browser. - Jim Cahill

@yesthatkarim You are absolutely right. There are choices. My fear is that the general public will go with the one that is publicized and that will be MSFT Tag. There are a handful of QR code readers for the iPhone which I've tried out and they work great. I just tried to create a MSFT Tag to try their iPhone app and they required a login. That's a big FAIL. It's just sad to see some tech companies embracing openness while others keep their doors locked. - Pete Barry

http://www.microsoft.com/tag... for some discussion of QR vs. this tech. - Wade Dorrell

Benefits for end-users here: http://www.microsoft.com/tag... and publishers here: http://www.microsoft.com/tag... - Wade Dorrell

@andrei_c supposedly the application can store the scanned tag for later use in a disconnected situation; I read that somewhere on microsoft.com. - Wade Dorrell

There are some benefits to what Microsoft is doing; less space used for the same amount of data compared to QR/DataMatrix codes., tracking, lots of $ to push the effort. But the BIG problem I see is that Microsoft will be able to track all of these codes. QR and DataMatrix codes embed the ACTUAL data in the image. The Tag just embeds a code that the MS site uses to redirect the browser. Come on MS, just get behind a proven, public domain standard like DataMatrix. - Mark Simonds