Bereaved Japanese will be able to keep in touch with their loved ones beyond the grave by using mobile phones to scan bar-coded tombstones and view photos and other information about the deceased.

In tech-savvy Japan, the square black-and-white codes are already widely used to load maps on to mobile phones, and are usually printed on business cards or restaurant brochures.

Ishinokoe, a Japanese tombstone maker, will place the codes behind lockable stone doors on the tomb so only relatives with a key can scan them.

The idea was to create a tomb that would not just be a site for storing the remains of a person, but a place to honor the deceased, the company said in a press release.

Using their mobile phone displays, relatives can post and view different items that reflect on the life of their departed loved one, such as holiday snapshots.

A sample Web site displayed one photo showing a man posing with his family on a boat, and another showing the same man and a woman in front of a cluster of skyscrapers (http://ishinokoe.co.jp/mobile/user/UupTH4sPIW/).

The stones will go on sale next month and cost around 1 million yen ($10,010).

But those who neglect their filial obligations should be warned -- the code will also allow other relatives to see a list of people who have recently visited the grave.

The French and the English once settled their bloody differences on the battlefield. That evolved into a love-hate relationship based on mutual mistrust with the French mocking "les rosbifs" and the English lampooning "the frogs".

But now, with interdependence reigning supreme in an ever shrinking global village, the entente could not be more cordiale as Queen Elizabeth prepares to welcome France's flamboyant new President Nicolas Sarkozy to Windsor Castle on Wednesday.

Sarkozy's predecessor Jacques Chirac was renowned for his testy clashes with former British leader Tony Blair.

He said scornfully of the British "you can never trust people with such terrible food" and called Anglo-French relations "a turbulent love affair."

In sharp contrast, Sarkozy has been an open admirer of Britain, praising its buoyant economy and flexible workforce.

And after his turbulent love affair with supermodel Carla Bruni, all eyes will be on France's newly-wed First Lady.

Celebrity-obsessed British tabloids are bound to have a field day covering the woman who counts pop icons Mick Jagger and Eric Clapton among her former lovers.

Sarkozy, nicknamed "President Bling-Bling" for his flashy life style, could not be more different from Blair's successor Gordon Brown, the austere son of a preacher who would not be seen dead in Sarkozy-style ray-ban sunglasses and Rolex watch.