BBC Trials QR Codes Online

Visitors to the BBC’s online shop will soon be able to access mobile clips via QR codes.

NMA.co.uk reports that the corporation will be trialling the use of the barcode technology from the end of this month in a bid to boost DVD sales.

The codes can be scanned by mobile phones with QR scanners, which read the code and download the relevant material.

Mobile users who scan the codes will then receive free download clips from selected BBC TV programmes.

And a spokesman for the project revealed that the Beeb could extend the use of QR codes as a marketing tool across other channels, such as print, if this trial proves successful.

One media title already offering QR codes in print is The Sun, which launched them at the end of last year.

Developed in Japan in 1994, Quick Response codes can store internet addresses and URLs.

MoFuse currently offers free QR code conversions for mobile versions of blogs and websites.

Thanks to Martin Stabe for flagging up the BBC trial.

[Picture of the QR code for The Next Web blog.]