On top of all the avenues that Microsoft is trying penetrate with marginal effort (come on, the Zune? Ewe!), the ubiquitous barcode is the newest project they're out to "streamline". Basically it's a box with a bunch of different colored triangles slapped in it that they claim can hold up to two pages of data (3,500 of alphabetical characters) and can become interactive with webcams or mobile phones with cameras. Why anyone would want to interact with a barcode is beyond me, but I think if you squint at it long enough, you might see a pony.

This new barcode will start popping up on Xbox 360 games and DVDs later this year. Microsoft swears up and down they don't intend for it to replace the regular UPC bar codes:

It's more of a 'partner' barcode. The UPC barcodes will always be there. Ours is more of a niche barcode where you want to put a lot of information in a small space.

But of course, they're going to damn well prove that it's better, it's bigger, and upgrading is just so totally awesome. You think barcodes have the ability to "crash"? Kim Phu

Colour Barcode System to Hit DVDs [BBC News]