There are around two billion mobile devices in the world today with the majority (80% I think) of these having some kind of internet access. With data speeds increasing and data costs decreasing, is it any wonder that media companies are adding their content to the mobile web? I’m a mobile web user – quite a frequent user in fact, and over the last year and a half or so my phone has become a valuable tool to keep me up to date with what’s going on in the news.
Some people may think the practicality of using a mobile phone with its small screen for news consumption is somewhat limited but you’d be quite surprised. It comes in handy when in situations like waiting in the que at the dentists, lying in bed with a hangover or just chilling on the couch. Seriously, I tend to absorb the content better from my phone than when I’m reading from a screen.
This list might be a little overkill to some but perhaps you might find one or two that are of interest.
BBC
The Beeb offers just about every news item they write on their mobile platform including news from all UK regions. The sections I read via my phone are: top stories, London news, Tyne news, business, technology and Newcastle United news. I also get the weather too.
What is annoying about the BBC mobile site is you have to subscribe to each section individually which is a bit of a pain. However, they’ve recently partnered with Tiggdo which allows you to personalise which sections you want and lets you keep them in one place. Much better.
You can get the BBC mobile service here.
Sky News
Sky has a decent mobile news site too. Unlike the BBC its content is all in one place so no messing. But it’s not as comprehensive as the BBC’s mobile site either. The content contains Sky News headlines, Sky Sports headlines, football, cricket, showbiz and business. You can also read info on Sky One too.
Point your phone’s browser at http://mobile.sky.com/ to get it.
The Guardian
The Guardian’s mobile site isn’t bad either. Obviously not as comprehensive as the website but it’s got some good stuff in there. It has the Guardian’s top stories, UK news, world news, Business, Leaders, Comment, G2 and Diary. It also has a news quiz and the TV and radio listings too. Not that I ever use them.
It would be good to see the Media Guardian and Technology Guardian included in there too.
Point your phone’s browser at http://www.guardian.co.uk/pda to get it.
Google News
Google News’ mobile offering allows you to personalise your own account and add content that interests you most. For example, I’ve set it up so it only displays top stories, UK news, world news, entertainment, sport and sci-tech. In all honesty, I don’t really use this one that much. Not sure why – habitual I guess.
You can get it here.
The Telegraph
The Telegraph’s mobile version is a subscription based service – £50 for a 12 month subscription. Given that there are already a lot of media companies giving their content away for free I’d be surprised if this is profitable. Thus, I can’t comment on the content.
More info here.
The Sun
See Telegraph above. Although, The Sun only charge £2 per month. More info here.
Financial Times
The FT’s mobile site is fairly similar to Sky News’. Not as comprehensive as the BBC’s but enough in there to make you save it in your phone’s bookmarks. Content includes: top stories, world news (UK, US, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East & Africa and the Americas), companies news, Lex and markets. It also seems as though the FT is experimenting with mobile advertising; there’s a FedEx banner across my screen. They also have a Java download but the Java is broke on my phone so can’t comment on it.
Point your phone’s browser at www.ft.com/mobile.
Topix.net
Topix.net is a news aggregator which categorizes news stories by topic and geography which also has a good mobile offering. Topix.net’s most useful function is its ability to pull in news stories from any country in the world. This may not be of use to everyone but for those with a focus or an interest in another country it may come in handy. You can also read content from blogs as well as news sites.
Point your phone’s browser at www.topix.net and it’ll redirect you to its mobile site.
Digg
Digg has its own mobile site based on the ‘river of news’ style developed by Dave Winer. Digg being as popular as it is, it’s frequently updated – probably far too much to keep up with. My only issue is, because the Digg model enables users to link to sites means you don’t get the article on the mobile page itself – you have to browse to a regular webpage which is generally made for a web browser (as opposed to a mobile browser) and thus not good in terms of usability.
That said, I’m sure the hardcore geeks still love it. www.diggriver.com
Bloglines Mobile
Last but not least is Bloglines Mobile. Although it isn’t a media site as such, it’s still a great mobile site to keep up to date with your blog subscriptions and regular news sites (provided they have RSS feeds of course). Plus, because it syncs with your regular Bloglines account you won’t read the same post/article twice. I have around 150 RSS subscriptions and the fact that I can read them all from a device which fits easily in my pocket definitely makes it worthy of a mention.
That’s it. I have I missed any out?
technorati tags: news, media, mobile+web,
Stephen is a communications consultant based out of the UK. You can connect with him on Twitter or check out his LinkedIn profile. | Email Stephen
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Michael
Hi Stephen,
Gosh, I’ve been using Bloglines for several months, but never realized they offer a mobile site… :-/
Are there actually any usage figures around on mobile news services? Is it a big deal or is it more about keeping up with other media companies?
Stephen
Hey mate. How are you doing? Long time no see.
I don’t know of any figures but I imagine that it will only be the early adopter crowd using them at the moment.
Still, shows how the media are using a number of platforms to broadcast their news.
sam wilcox
Bloglines looks my favorite but I’ll definitely be checking out the other (free!) ones. Thanks for the links Stephen.
Toby Getsch
Here’s a good resource that has a good listing of links.
http://www.pocketpclinks.com/
And, when you need a good laugh, don’t forget about The Onion!
http://mobile.theonion.com/content/
Stephen
Thanks for that Toby. There are loads on the Pocket PC Links site you’ve listed. I didn’t know there were that many mobile news sites!
Some others to add to the old bookmarks – my network provider will be happy.
Antony Mayfield
Really useful list – cheers, mate.
Stephen Waddington
The problem with news on mobile phones is the amount of information it can communicate. I’ve tried a few news sites before and whilst the news is easily digestible and perfect for waiting in the queue I do find myself finished within a few minutes and rather unsatisfied.