Microsoft Tag
I was unaware of Microsoft Tag until I saw a post the other day that a Tag application had been released for the iPhone. I read a little bit and was rather impressed, but disappointed because I don't have an iPhone. I did a little more reading, however, and found that there were already apps for Blackberry and Windows Mobile (I have both). I've download the Blackberry app and tested on the demo image. I'm really impressed. It was easy enough to snap (even with the crappy camera on the Pearl) and get the page to load. I don't know if these tags are very wide spread or in use, but I'm excited to see them get a foot hold and become popular.
Tags are free to create on the Microsoft website and you can create them for URLs, vCards or Free Text.
If you want the Microsoft explanation of why, it's here — http://www.microsoft.com/tag/content/overview/.They do seem to have some points that make sense. Other sites make similar points or list other reasons why these codes excel over QR codes.
http://www.bannerblog.com.au/news/2009/01/microso...
http://www.burningthebacon.com/2009/01/09/microso...
Yes, it is cool. But at the same time it is an example for a big company suffering from the NIH syndrome. QR Codes were around for ages. Why haven't they used it? Just because theirs is colored?
I wrote something last year about QR codes and whether or not they'd be an avenue that scammers might use to lure unsuspecting people to malicious content. The more ubiquitous these codes become the more I believe this will be the case. Similar to tinyurl I think.