Microsoft has developed a new color barcode system that can hold up to two-pages of data, double the amount of B&W, striped barcodes, the BBC reports. The so-called High Capacity Color Barcode (HCCB), consisting of four and eight-color geometric patterns, is set to show on DVDs and Xbox 360 videogames later this year.

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In addition to the wealth of data they contain, these new barcodes also present consumers with new possibilities to interact with the products using their cameraphones. Information such as a website address or email address could be stored inside the barcode, and users who scan the barcodes could be directed to a promotional page or website offering downloads or extra content. However, Microsoft isn’t the only company aiming to carve out a niche in interactive packaging; Japan’s Fujitsu is working on a competing system.

James: Yet another mobile barcode…there’s already a plethora of these on the market, including color codes that store a large amount of information… the concept really needs ubiquity to be successful. This HCCB system has the benefit of Redmond behind it, which should give a bonus in terms of putting the software in handsets and putting the barcode out there, but the industry would probably have been better served if MS had focused on building a reader that could read multiple codes—although there’s already one of those as well. With the “3,500 alphabetical characters of data” data it’s possible to include a small amount of content (text) without the need to connect to a server, which could allow some good, creative applications. Just using it to link to a WAP page is a bit of a waste.