Touchatag (previously TikiTag) was an

RFID Radio-frequency identification (RFID) uses electromagnetic fields to automatically identify and track tags attached to objects. An RFID system consists of a tiny radio transponder, a radio receiver and transmitter. When triggered by an electromag ...

service for consumers, application developers and operators/enterprises created by

Alcatel-Lucent Alcatel–Lucent S.A. () was a French–American global telecommunications equipment company, headquartered in Boulogne-Billancourt, France. It was formed in 2006 by the merger of France-based Alcatel and U.S.-based Lucent, the latter being a su ...

. Consumers could use RFID tags to trigger what touchatag called ''Applications'', which could include opening a webpage, sending a text message, shutting down the computer, or running a custom application created through the software's API, via the application developer network. Touchatag applications were also compatible with

NFC NFC may refer to: Psychology * Need for cognition, in psychology * Need for closure, social psychological term Sports * NFC Championship Game, the National Football Conference Championship Game * NCAA Football Championship (Philippines) * Nati ...

enabled phones like the Nokia 6212. TikiTag was launched as an

open beta A software release life cycle is the sum of the stages of development and maturity for a piece of computer software ranging from its initial development to its eventual release, and including updated versions of the released version to help impro ...

on October 1, 2008. And it was rebranded to touchatag on February 15, 2009. Touchatag also sold RFID hardware, like a starter package with 1 USB RFID reader and 10 RFID tags (stickers), for which the client software was compatible with Windows XP and Vista, along with Mac OS X 10.4 and up. Touchatag was carried by Amazon.com, ThinkGeek, Firebox.com and getDigital.de along with Touchatag's own Online Store. Touchatag also marketed their products' underlying technology for enterprise and operator solutions. Touchatag announced an agreement with Belgacom PingPing on jointly developing the contactless market and announced a commercial pilot with Accor Services. On June 27, 2012, the Touchatag team has announced the shutdown of the project. inviting users to us
IOTOPE
"''a similar open source Internet Of Things service''" which itself has no apparent activity since November 2012.

Service

Touchatag's core offering was the touchatag service, based on the "application correlation service" and allowed tag, reader and application management. For consumers, the web interface allowed to link RFID tags (and

2D barcode A barcode or bar code is a method of representing data in a visual, machine-readable form. Initially, barcodes represented data by varying the widths, spacings and sizes of parallel lines. These barcodes, now commonly referred to as linear or o ...

tags, more precisely

QR Code A QR code (an initialism for quick response code) is a type of matrix barcode (or two-dimensional barcode) invented in 1994 by the Japanese company Denso Wave. A barcode is a machine-readable optical label that can contain information about th ...

) to applications. Application developers could use the correlation API to use the ACS functionalities to create contactless applications. For businesses, this ACS was extended with an RFID/NFC tag and reader catalogue, and applications like loyalty, interactive advertising and couponing.

Hardware

The reader provided was an ACR122U Tag Reader, from

Advanced Card Systems HNA Technology Investments Holdings Limited formerly known as Advanced Card Systems Holdings Limited is a Cayman Islands-incorporated offshore holding company. Its subsidiary, Advanced Card Systems Limited, was incorporated in British Hong Kong ...

. The tags shipped with the reader were MiFare Ultralight tags.

Software support

Official clients

Touchatag hardware was supported by its makers on Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X platforms, and required registration on the website to work. An unsupported application was also available for Linux platforms.http://groups.google.com/group/touchatag/web/linux-client-setup Like the Mac OS X application, the Linux application used PCSC-Lite for hardware access.

Unofficial clients

TagEventor
(no apparent activity since 2011) is an open-source client from th
Educational Facts
association that works on Linux platforms, and does not use the web service from touchatag. It uses the PCSC-Lite daemon and can be run in foreground or daemon mode to make ''tag events'' available to user-space applications.

Programming libraries

touchatag-processing
is
Processing
library fro
Augusto Esteves
that allows users to connect and read from multiple touchatag readers on the Windows platform. This library works with simply the reader's drivers, so there's no need to install any official or unofficial clients.

References

Many dead links since Touchatag ended its services {{Reflist

External links

Touchatag vendor website

The Internet Of Things

The Internet Of Things Events

Touchatag developer forum

Software Streets

News Articles

Review: Touchatag RFID System

Consumer Electronics 2.0: MIT's Henry Holtzman on The Internet of Things

Alcatel-Lucent outlines carriers’ role in contactless future

Touchatag's aim: RFID apps development made easier

AlcaLu Gets Interesting

Alcatel-Lucent démocratise l’utilisation des puces RFID auprès du grand public.

Touchatag Adds Business Apps

Tikitag renamed Touchatag, adds QR codes to repertoire

Touchatag from Alcatel Lucent stood out.

Geeky Toys That Will Make You a Christmas Hero (Wired.com)

Tikitag promises to bring RFID tags to everything (Engadget)

DEMO: Meet Alcatel-Lucent’s Services Play (Gigaom)

Tikitag RFID Tagging System Makes an Internet Out of Your Stuff (Gizmodo)
Radio-frequency identification Computing input devices Near-field communication