Blogging software for mobile phones launched

By Ken Smith | Editor, SmartTravelNews.com

CANNES, France -- Text messaging and taking and sending small-file photos with a mobile phone are not yet popular in the United States, but much of the rest of the world is wildly enthusiastic. If the exhibits and talk in the aisles at the 3GSM World Congress this week are an indication of the next big thing, then we may soon see many new applications in handheld mobile communications. The mobile phone is not just for voice any longer.

Sample blog Excellent Spanish Grub. I could not finish all the finish but this was just a great feed. La Paloma in Dublin. Verdict: B+. Recommended.  Next week I'll be visiting Valparaiso in Monkstown to review their paella.

One product launched at 3GSM by a small Ireland-based company is designed to help mobile operators generate additional revenues by moving the concept of blogging "web logging" to wireless phones. NewBay Software, developers of what the company calls the world’s first mobile phone blogging system, launched Go FoneBlog a mobile operator trial system for its FoneBlog software. 

NewBay says there are already millions of camera phone users worldwide who could instantly publish their pictures and comments to their personal web site. Since its announcement in January, FoneBlog has generated interest from mobile operators and phone users around the world and a number of operators are planning launch commer cial services in the coming months.

NewBay says the trial system will make it easy for mobile operators to evaluate FoneBlog by having a private, online system that can be used by the operator’s employees. The trial system is provided and hosted by Newbay Software and requires no setup by the mobile operator.

"The best way to understand the addiction of FoneBlog is to actually use it." said David Sinnott, vice president of business development for NewBay Software. "There are numerous people involved with the decision to launch FoneBlog, so we created a simple, private trial system for each mobile operator who wishes to quickly move towards offering phone blogging for its customers."

FoneBlog enables phone users to maintain personal web sites from their mobile phone. Each phone user is provided with a unique web address to which they can post images, text and audio clips using MMS or SMS messaging.

Operators are interested

Sinnott said that since its launch in January 2003, FoneBlog has generated enormous interest from mobile operators. The trial system will enable operators learn about the technical and business elements to FoneBlog and let mobile operator personnel see the addictive nature of phone personal publishing and how this creates new revenue and marketing opportunities, he said.

The first commercial FoneBlog service is scheduled to be launched by a European mobile operator in March and further rollouts are planned for later in 2003.

NewBay markets its FoneBlog software system to mobile phone operators worldwide as a way o increase revenue, customer loyalty and internet data services. NewBay Software is based in Dublin, Ireland. NewBay was founded in 2002 and is privately held. 

"NewBay FoneBlog has struck a chord with both mobile operators and phone users," said Paddy Holahan, chief executive officer of NewBay Software. "Operators throughout the world see FoneBlog as the perfect application to drive MMS and data traffic and increase camera phone and PDA sales. FoneBlog offers consistent, long-term revenue for network operators and unmatched loyalty from consumers." 

Using FoneBlog, mobile network operators can provide unique web addresses for their customers who can then update their personal website by simply sending images, audio and text from their mobile phone using MMS or SMS messaging. The website can be viewed from any Internet browser, PDA or WAP browser.

Sharing photos

Holahan said FoneBlog appeals to the millions of camera phone users who want to share their pictures and experiences over the Internet, but who don't have the skill, time or desire to manually manage a website using complicated PC-based tools. FoneBlog gives people the power of personal publishing directly from their phone, including diaries for holidays, trips or family occasions, and reviews of restaurants, theatre, concerts. 

Blogs (or weblogs) are personal web sites that are updated regularly, like a public diary. Blogging has become a mainstream Internet activity in the past few years, with individuals creating websites on topics as diverse as politics, movies, religion, travel, family and technology.

Blogging has become a significant and highly addictive trend among computer users, with over 500,000 web blogs created in the past few years. Web blogs range from personal web diaries to professional and amateur publishing on sports, politics, events, reviews and thousands of other topics.

“FoneBlog is specifically designed for mobile network operators to provide a value added service to increase customer loyalty and revenues," Holahan said. "We have received strong interest from our initial sales activity with both phone users and mobile operators seeing this as a major accelerator of both camera phone and MMS usage.”

NewBay says its FoneBlog operates at the server side and works with all mobile phone systems using MMS (multimedia message systems), SMS (short messaging system), e-mail, WAP (wireless application protocol) and Instant Messaging. It provides all website creation, updating, formatting and management in a simple to use but powerful system. NewBay FoneBlog also supports a wide range of blogging capabilities such as RSS, XML RPC, skins support and BlogApps.