TAG – New and Useful From Microsoft Labs

Every so often something really interesting comes out of Microsoft’s R&D (please, save the snide remarks for another time…) and I just want to shout about it!  Microsoft TAG is one of those very interesting ideas that just might stick. 

It works like a bar code on steroids. You can embed a tag with just about anything you want – straight text, a web site, even a customized set of instructions or a personalized map.  Your cell phone camera is the TAG reader.  Just activate the app, point it at a tag (no need to press a button) and the TAG does the rest! 

The large TAG in this post directs you to this blog site.  As a matter of fact, so does the small tag. Resolution does not seem to be an issue.  Please check out the video at HTTP://www.microsoft.com/tag It walks through some neat scenarios both indoors and outdoors.  To me, that is one of the most compelling areas for TAGS.  They can be put on anything to point the user to something interesting or that augments an experience.  It’s FAST and it WORKS.

To get the reader directly on your mobile, point your mobile browser to http://gettag.mobi