Microsoft Tag, which launched its Android reader not long ago, has exited beta and included some new features to manage campaigns. Folks can now track which devices are reading their Tags, use a new .tag file format for printing and sharing Tag images, and can view which Tags are getting the most use with a new heat map in the Campaign Manager. Oh, there’s also some fresh localizations for French, Spanish, Turkish, Simplified Chinese, and Italian.
For those who have yet to check out Microsoft Tag, it’s essentially a fancier quick response (QR) code: one party creates images and puts them whereever, and anyone with a smartphone and the right app can take a picture of it and access information like text, websites, start phone calls, or save business cards in .vcd format right on their handset. Microsoft’s calling it “making the world clickable” which seems like an apt analogy. There isn’t much that separates Microsoft Tag from standard QR codes in terms of function, but there’s a couple of things that make them distinct.
The use of three base colours in Tags enables more information to be stored in a relatively smaller space when compared to older, blocky-looking QR codes. On the other hand, Tags work strictly online, so anyone outside of coverage would be out of luck. Relying on a connection isn’t terrible, though; I’ve got a QR code on the back my business card, but since printing them I’ve moved, and the address information baked into the code is out of date. If it was a Microsoft Tag, I would have been able to change that info.
The biggest challenge for all QR codes right now is cranking up adoption. Companies like ScanLife are doing their damnedest with manufacturer and carrier deals, but global smartphone penetration is still going to be a big bottleneck for the technology. There are a lot of people who still find the idea of a browser on their phone crazy, let alone the possibility of translating cryptic images into usable information with the help of their phone’s camera and some sort of black magic. Good luck to Microsoft in trying to get people excited about this – the existing QR format has been trying to do it since 1997, and it still hasn’t taken off.
If you want to get a reader on your phone, go to gettag.mobi on your mobile browser, and test it out on the graphic above. Currently, there’s support for Windows Mobile, Android, BlackBerry, Symbian, J2ME, and iPhone.
[via Tag]