Disqus
Following on from my post about the iPlayer arriving on Blackberry devices (see here), here’s some info that has come in about more BBC apps coming to mobile devices. Actually this news is a hangover from Mobile World Congress, but hey, you can’t cover everything all the time, right?!
At a keynote speech at Mobile World Congress, BBC Director of Future Media & Technology Erik Huggers said that the BBC is planning to release mobile applications for BBC News and BBC Sport on a wide range of smartphones, starting with a BBC News application for iPhone in April 2010. The app will focus on providing quick access to the BBC’s existing journalistic content, which will be repurposed for the devices. All applications will be available free of charge.
Erik Huggers said: “It’s been 12 years since the launch of BBC Online, but as media converges and technology accelerates, licence fee payers are increasingly using sophisticated handheld devices to access information. They tell us that they want to access the digital services that they have paid for at a time and place that suits them.
Frankly speaking, this is fantastic news – the BBC, along with Sky in the UK, put out a LOT of content via broadcast mediums, so it’s good to see that both have strong online offerings, and increasingly the same with Mobile now too. Give it 12 months, and we’ll be spoiled for content on most portable devices!
[Story and image via: BBC Press Office]
About The Author
Ben Robinson
Ben is a 10+ year veteran of the Mobile industry – starting his career when SMS was a still a relatively new concept for most people (!), he has now consulted on everything from bleeding-edge Mobile content, to the next-gen accessories you might view it on. As a result he has a broad and deep knowledge in numerous areas of Mobile – from network operators to device vendors, to infrastructure and middleware vendors (not to mention content delivery) – and has worked for companies in all of these areas! He is based in the UK, a hotbed of activity for mobile, and recently became a father for the second time – as oppose to in his younger years when he was happy spend time tweaking all manner of mobile devices to 'nth' degree, he now looks for services and hardware that provide the most efficient, compact, and reliable improvements to his already manic life! It’s his opinion that Mobile solutions should be there to help to make your life better – if a particular solution (be it service or device) isn’t doing this, he believes you need to ask the very important question of why you continue to use it... His focus at IntoMobile is mainly on Mobile content, services, and infrastructure, particularly as regards the UK market – and with the occasional look at devices. Additionally, using his extensive experience in the industry, he will provide commentary on the industry at large, with regular (and hopefully thought-provoking) articles.
