Already tested in Asia as QR (“Quick Response”) codes, similar technology allows users to snap a photo of a two-dimensional barcode and immediately access corresponding Internet or multimedia content such as movie times and online shopping sites.  The barcodes appear on movie posters, in supermarkets, and even on personal business cards, in short, all areas where the average person might want more information at the touch of a button. 

According to Cédric Mangaud, CEO of Abaxia, the French provider of MobileTag, the application “was developed by Abaxia to allow simple and easy access to external content—drawn from places like newspapers, billboards, television, advertisements, catalogues, and so on.”  By adding a smart barcode to their layouts, newspapers could provide readers with immediate access to their corresponding websites and expanded multimedia content, thus bridging the print-online gap even more quickly.

For more information on MobileTag and Flashcode, check out Abaxia and Orange on the Web.

The Mobile Tag application will be offered by different telecom services in France and will be compatible with a variety of smart camera phones, including the Nokia N70.  The arrival of the barcodes in some French publications will allow the Association française du multimedia mobile (AFFM) and the Association pour la promotion de la presse magazine (APPM) to test the new technology and determine a code standard for the official debut in 2008.

Source: SDA Asia and CBNews