Microsoft, thank you thank you for getting with the program here and supporting internationally standardized QR codes in with your proprietary tags. QR codes are just beginning to take hold here in the United States, and at the same time are being made obsolete by technologies like NFC, and location based payments like Square Wallet. The only way for high res 2d barcodes to carve out a sustainable niche here in the American market is for there to be an agreement and unified drive to present one simple solution to consumers. QR is already the international standard, and should be the American standard. With the launch of Microsoft’s Tag format, despite arguable technically better functionality, the market was fragmented, and customers confused. Rather than consumers getting benefits from a technically better technology, they were given a confusing, fragmented market where multiple apps were required to read multiple barcode formats.

Now that Microsoft has gotten on board with QR, and chosen to support both Tag and QR in their app, the industry can once again rest easy that QR can be reliably deployed for high end campaigns, without the fear of near future obselecense or competition from other 2d barcode technologies. I believe that now the decision will shift over to barcode vs nfc vs gps vs ultrasonic vs rfid.

Thanks for getting with it, MSFT. You can dominate, as long as you let QR dominate.

Microsoft Tag adds support for QR codes and NFC, seeks barcode dominance — Engadget.