UK tabloid The Sun has rolled out a quick response (QR) mobile barcode service that it hopes will enrich print ads by giving readers a quick way to access mobile web sites and their content. The service will allow readers to send a photo of the QR code found in its paper in a print ad to launch them directly into its mobile sites where readers can download content such as videos, film trailers, and music.

SEE ALSO: Carriers Prefer QR Codes To Bluetooth; Paris In Bluetooth Maps, Guides Trial

Readers must first download the QR reader from software firm i-nigma on to their phones, though some of the latest Nokia (NYSE: NOK) handsets have it pre-installed. NMA.co.uk reports that News International, the Sun’s owner, is watching the take-up of the service closely, and may roll it out across all of its titles if it proves successful. For its launch yesterday, the tabloid, which has a circulation figure of 3 million readers, splashed the service across an eight-page pull-out supplement. The Sun’s ad sales team have been told to offer advertisers opportunities around the new technology and have already signed up Ladbrokes, Sky and Twentieth Century Fox to the service. Ian Samuel, group head of mobile advertising for News International, told NMA, “Advertisers have been enthused by QR codes as they offer a point of difference.” QR codes are highly popular in Japan, where they have allowed people to download content as dense as mobile novels, and have even been printed on prawn crackers.