U.K. Unveils World’s First ‘Intelligent’ Postage Stamp

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If stamps could talk … they’d probably read you a nice little poem, or so says the U.K’s postal service.

The Royal Mail has developed the world’s first “intelligent” stamp that works with your smartphone to bring you hidden messages. The Great British Railway stamps launch a video of British actor Bernard Cribbins reading W.H. Auden’s 1936 poem “The Night Mail” when scanned. Interested users can download the free augmented reality app Junaio (available in the iTunes store and Android market) to open the video.

“Royal Mail’s special stamps mark key events and anniversaries in the UK’s heritage through a program which aims to be both educational and informative,” Royal Mail Stamps spokesperson Philip Parker said in statement. “Through Intelligent Stamp technology, our stamps will open up to a whole new world of information, interest and fun to collectors and the millions of people who will receive them on letters in the coming months alike.”

Though we admit it’s a great idea (though a bit of a novelty), a poem may not be the right thing to cause a craze. Hey Royal Mail, call us when The Beatles stamp is out.  (via BBC, CNET UK)

– with reporting by Claire McCormack