This edition of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette is the first to include a mobile barcode capable of directing smart phones to the Post-Gazette mobile reader and soon expected to store on-the-go supplements for the newspaper's readers.

Mobile barcodes like the one on the bottom of today's front page can be scanned by smart phones and hold information just like a traditional barcode. But these mobile barcodes are souped-up versions, able to direct phones to additional text, pictures or video with their greater data-storage capacity.

Here's how it works: Readers can download barcode-reading applications onto a smart phone and scan the codes using the phone's camera.

The phone then decodes the square and follows its direction, in this case opening the Post-Gazette's mobile reader page. The Post-Gazette is one of the pathfinders among American newspapers to employ this technology.

Post-Gazette director of interactive media Patrick Scanlon said the PG's uses of mobile barcodes will soon expand beyond access to the Post-Gazette mobile reader.

Mobile barcodes eventually could supplement concert reviews with links to YouTube footage, display driving directions next to event listings or provide transcripts from a news conference. "We believe this will enhance the experience the Post-Gazette offers to its readers on all platforms," said David M. Shribman, executive editor and vice president of the Post-Gazette.

The PG's mobile barcode is standard, meaning it can be decoded by smart phones with most code-reading software. It will appear at the bottom of the paper's front page each day.

Mr. Scanlon called the technology "bleeding edge, not cutting edge" because of the projected astronomical rise in mobile technology.

A forecast released Tuesday by network provider Cisco estimates mobile traffic will see a 39-fold increase in the next five years.

Mobile barcodes -- sometimes called QR codes for "quick response" -- have become so pervasive in Japan that family members can install them on tombstones with photos and information about the deceased.

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