Gadgetory

it's the end of an era that you didn't know existed I'm Bridget Carey and this is your cnet update remember the microsoft tag that's okay not many people do and that's why Microsoft announced its going to stop supporting the tag in two years the tag is Microsoft's own version of a QR code and when it launched many top companies like Nike coca-cola and kraft foods were using these colorful two dimension barcodes on their packaging and in advertisements instead of using the common QR code the only way to scan the tag was to use Microsoft's special app and once scan the phone would open a website with more information about a product publications like USA Today also used it in print as a shortcut to quickly view a video about a story the home improvement store Lowe's put these codes on flowerpot tags to tell you how to take care of the plant the advantage with Microsoft System was that it was easier to program and collect data to see how many people were scanning the codes the problem was that even after a few years people still don't know what the code is and it just didn't stick next month a company called scan by will take over management of the tag Lincoln started its first day of school it just created University pages so students and alumni can get updates about campus news and connect with fellow students and it's a resource if you're hunting for colleges get a glimpse of successful alumni and what careers they have chosen you don't need a nuke tablet to watch videos from barnes & noble the bookseller is coming out with a free nook video app that works on iOS Android and Roku devices users of the app can buy or rent shows and movies from the nuke library Barnes & Noble seems to be leaning on digital content now that it's no longer making color tablets and the company also just dropped the price of its top ereader the nook simple touch with glowlight bringing the price to 100 dollars its twenty bucks cheaper than the Amazon Kindle paperwhite if you like your phones extra large then say hello to the galaxy mega this 6.3 inch phone is coming to the US and will be sold by 18 this Friday for one hundred and fifty dollars under contract and the megaphone will also come to sprint and US Cellular at a later date the phone has already been available in Europe Russia and South Korea but if you long for the days when smartphones were just four inches well there's an option for you as well the HTC one mini also comes out in the US this friday at AT&T and it will sell for one hundred dollars after contract the phone has a 4.3 inch screen and a 720p display and it's got the same camera and software features as its bigger brother that's your tech news update and you can read up on more details at cnet com / update from our studios in New York I'm Bridget Carey