iPhone App #2 from Microsoft Research: Tag

The Microsoft Tag application comes to iPhone today.

from: http://www.techflash.com/microsoft/Microsofts_second_iPhone_app37275064.html

Microsoft has introduced its second iPhone application in the past month, a free service called Tag Reader that allows users to snap photos of interactive 2D bar codes and immediately be transported to more information. (Maps, videos, music, promotions, etc.) That means mobile phone users don't have to type in long URLs from a mobile browser.

One can imagine a number of real world uses of the technology. For example, a museum could place one of the interactive tags next to a painting. An iPhone user with Tag Reader installed could then take a photo of the bar code and be transported to a video of how the artist created the work.

The introduction of Tag Reader follows the debut of Seadragon Mobile, a photo zoom and browsing technology that was Microsoft's first iPhone application. At the time of the release of that app, TechFlash reported that the iPhone presented some interesting business issues for Microsoft since the popular device competes directly with its Windows Mobile operating system.

More information on Tag Reader on  this informational site, which describes how publishers and other businesses can incorporate the mobile tags into billboards, print ads and other media.

Seadragon (App #1)               Tag (App #2)

New Palm Smartphone WebOS looks interesting…

You can see some nice screen and video review shots in this article…

Memo To RIM, Windows Mobile: Palm Just Kicked Your Butt

Dan Frommer | January 8, 2009 7:40 PM

Perhaps the most impressive part of Palm's (PALM) new WebOS smartphone platform: It has a gorgeous user interface. (At least from what we can tell from the photos and videos we've seen.)

The Palm Pre's UI design gives even Apple's (AAPL) iPhone a run for its money, and destroys Microsoft's (MSFT) Windows Mobile and RIM's (RIMM) BlackBerry OS -- especially the ugly graphics RIM and Verizon threw together for the hairball BlackBerry Storm. (We again point you to the fact that "VZ Naviga..." doesn't even fit on one line.)

Here's a side-by-side comparison using the stock UI design Palm included on the new Pre Web site. It's not even as pretty as some of the stuff we've seen in Gizmodo's photos and videos, some of which we've embedded below.