News Goes Mobile
Hot Mobile News
A new no-buttons handset by Pilotfish and Synaptics signals that mobiles as we know them may soon be a thing of the past.
The software combines predictive text input with six large buttons that contain all the letters of the alphabet. You just press the button with the letter you want once and the predictive text does the rest. Speeds of over 70 words per minute are apparently possible.
The Guardian reports that Yahoo is close to a deal with Orange to provide search services to the mobile operator?s subscribers. This would be a boost for the portal in its battle for mobile search users against Google. This increases Yahoo’s visibility to Orange?s mobile users and its attractiveness to search advertisers.
The headlines proclaim that newspapers are cutting jobs as people look online for the news. What is perhaps not so obvious is that people are not necessarily looking at their news on their desktop computers. News is a very temporary phenomenon. It doesn’t continue to be News. You’ve got to get it while it’s hot. Since most of us spend a great deal of time moving from one place to another, it’s a no-brainer to suggest that news must be available where you are. That means accessible on your mobile device.
This week the BBC trumpets that it is meeting that demand. The BBC News is now available on your Mobile Phone. The BBC News mobile version should work on all UK networks and most popular handsets including Nokia, Motorola, Sony Ericsson, LG, Samsung, Siemens, NEC, Sharp, etc. Mobile network providers like O2, T-Mobile, Orange, 3 and Vodafone have links to the BBC from their own portals.
Even more impressive, the BBC will also serve up video headlines on your mobile. The BBC News 24 headlines summary, which is recorded for interactive TV and carried on the BBC News website, is also available to watch whenever you want on your connected handheld device.
Newspapers too are rushing in to offer content for mobile phones and other portable devices. It’s often a matter of acting first and working out the business model later. The hope is that if it draws users, in time it will draw revenue. Only time will determine what sort of revenue and how much. Needless to say, it’s producing a motley assortment of news formats and ad models.
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