Abstract: Systems, methods and computer program products for storing, securing, identifying, authenticating and retrieving multimedia messages using low-cost barcode or RFID tags are disclosed. Additionally, a set of software features facilitate the easy and intuitive storage and retrieval of multimedia information using a mobile telephone acting on the media tags. Such tags can be attached or affixed to physical, real-world objects thus allowing multimedia messages associated with the tags to be retrieved with the real-world objects in a time-shifted and space-shifted manner from when and where they were recorded. The present invention uses low-cost (metal, paper or plastic) tags—encoded using barcodes or RFID—as virtual message storage units and commercially-available terminals equipped with appropriate software and sensors, such as mobile telephones, as recording and reading devices.