Microsoft

Microsoft Tag Reader for Android

What is Microsoft Tag? In simple words, Microsoft Tag allows you to store information in images (Tags). More on Microsoft Tag can be found here. My excitement about Microsoft Tag is, the Tag Reader app is now available for Android phones.  

I own an Android Dev Phone 1 (a.k.a. ADP1). It was just today that Microsoft Tag Reader app for Android was announced. The Tag Reader app allows to scan, extract and store information in Microsoft Tags using the phone’s camera.

I wasted no time in firing up Android Market on my ADP1 and searched for “microsoft”. And voila Microsoft Tag Reader showed up on the top, in the list of apps. Installed it. Alternatively, one can browse to the URL  http://gettag.mobi using the Android’s web browser. This will automatically launch the Android Markert app, prompting to install Microsoft Tag Reader.

To see the app in action, you will need to have a Microsoft Tag handy. One of the quickest way is to create your own at http://www.microsoft.com/tag/. The different types of information that one can store in a Tag are URL, Free Text, vCard and Dialer. The Microsoft Tag Reader is well integrated with Android and invokes the appropriate actions for each of these types like - launching the web browser with the URL, displaying the text, storing the vCard into Android’s Contacts and launching the Dialer with the number.

Pros

• Instant and fast scanning
• Integrated with Android apps like Web browser, Contacts and Dialer

Whilst there are some cons too

Cons

• VCard: Does not store IM Address in Contact’s Chat addresses.
• VCard: This seems to be a bug. In case of commas (,) in the address or any other fields, the Tag Reader prefixes a backslash (\) to each comma. For example: an address like “124-A, New Delhi” is stored as “124-A\, New Delhi” in the Android’s Contacts 
• The app displays the text for Free Text but does not allow to copy (for copy-n-paste) – a good to have feature.

Cons aside (its likely that these will be fixed in the next version), the noteworthy point is Micrsoft Tag Reader is the first ever Android app from Microsoft!

Microsoft Tag Reader for Android, 5.5 out of 10 based on 2 ratings
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