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Microsoft Finds a Home For Barcode
MicroBarcode writes in about the color barcode technology that Microsoft developed but shelved two years back because nobody adopted it. The technology promised a way to link packaging to Web sites — and once cell phone cameras get good enough, Microsoft hoped lots of people would use it. It seems the technology has finally found a home: the ISAN International Agency has inked a deal with Microsoft. The color barcodes, consisting of red, green, yellow, and black triangles, will appear on XBox 360 games and other products beginning later this year.
They could probably encode a URL in a small enough 2D barcode, or failing that a 1D barcode with used as an index into a table.
Or failing that, just put the URL on the damn box.
Of course this is MSFT so using sensible existing methods is directly out of the question.
Tom
Someday, I'll have a real sig.
A better implementation exists, one that is not controlled by a convicted illegal monopolist: Semacode.
It uses Datamatrix 2-D (monochrome) barcodes to encode URLs on paper billboards and flyers, and has scanner implementations for many cellphones w/ built-in cameras.
In a prototypical application, a typical college student sees an advertisement attached to a bulletin board, for a local concert of Local Rock Band XYZ. There is a semacode symbol on the poster. He or she, uses cell phone to take a picture of the link, which automatically launches the cell's built in web browser to that URL (saving much tedious thumb-typing), and purchases concert tickets instantaneously.
http://semacode.org/
I can throw as many stones as I wish; my house is made of transparent aluminum.
The tech for em in Japan is widely accepted and used enough that during Tokyo Game Show, my G/F spotted temporary tattoo versions of them that the booth babes were allowing people to take pics of. Sure enough lead to a website geared for phone use and was all in all pretty spiffy
meep!
Too bad your criticism (as usual) is totally unwarranted. The colors can vary based on the packaging.
Monochrome looks better? Idiot, go back to watching B&W television.
There's also an article about this over on BBC News with more information: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6570871.stm It appears it's not an attempt to replace the traditional UPC barcode.
/. we should all assume that the new barcode is just another phase of Microsoft's Plan of World Domination, right?
From the article:
Gavin Jancke, the Microsoft Research engineering director who developed the so-called High Capacity Color Barcode (HCCB), said the aim was not to replace the current barcode system, called UPC. "It's more of a 'partner' barcode," he said. "The UPC barcodes will always be there. Ours is more of a niche barcode where you want to put a lot of information in a small space."
Of course, since this is