14 DAY TRIAL // Mobile phone users owning a device powered by Google's Android operating system have now yet another application to enjoy on their handsets, namely the Microsoft Tag Reader. The application enables phone owners to scan various barcodes with their devices, and it is already available for download from the Android Market.
“My morning coffee tastes a little sweeter today because we continue to expand the availability of Microsoft Tag and added our Tag Reader for Google Android - it is now available for download directly from the Android Market on your Android phone by searching for ‘Microsoft Tag’. I’d like to welcome all new users to the Microsoft Tag community,” Benjamin Gauthey, Microsoft Tag, states in a recent blog post.
According to him, Microsoft is working on providing as many users as possible with access to Microsoft Tag. A wide range of mobile phone owners can already enjoy the capabilities of the Tag Reader, including those with Windows Mobile, J2ME, iPhone, Blackberry and Symbian S60 phones, and now the software solution is available on Android devices too.
Microsoft’s Tag technology enables users to transform their mobile phones in barcode readers. All that one has to do is to point the camera on the phone at a tag, take a picture, and the application will interpret it. This is not the first software of the kind, as other companies are also working on similar solutions, most of you might already know.
For what it's worth, this is the first application Microsoft launches for Google's Android operating system. This move is a rather interesting one, based on the fact that Microsoft's Windows Mobile OS and Google's Android platform are rivals on the market, yet the same would apply to other mobile clients too, one should agree. Moreover, we should also take into consideration the fact that Google also offers applications for Windows Mobile-based handsets.