Philately could be the next buzz in a classroom near you – the 21st century version that is - thanks to a range of “intelligent” stamps that can connect to special online content, including video, on a Royal Mail channel via an iPhone or Android smartphone.
The stamps, understood to be first of their kind in the world, work with image recognition technology via the free Junaio app available through the iPhone store and Android Market. They will “mark key events and anniversaries in the UK's heritage through a programme which aims to be both educational and informative,” says Phillip Parker, head of stamp strategy at Royal Mail.
The first tranche are part of the Royal Mail’s latest Great British Railways edition of stamps. Placing a compatible phone camera over the stamp automatically launches a “new world of information, interest and fun to collectors and the millions of people who will receive them on letters in the coming months," says Phillip Parker.
Included is footage of actor Bernard Cribbins – who starred as Mr Perks in the classic 1970 film version of The Railway Children – reading WH Auden's poem "Night Mail" for the launch, first made famous in the 1936 documentary film of the same name about the London-to-Glasgow postal train.
Phillip Parker confirms there are plans to make the technology available on selected future special stamps and says that the current stamps "mark the next step in the evolution of our stamps, bringing them firmly into the 21st Century".
He concludes: "This is the first time a national postal service has used this kind of technology on their stamps and we're very excited to be bringing intelligent stamps to the nation's post."
More information
The Intelligent Stamp works on iPhone 3GS and 4 and Android phones.
