.mobi The Sun (UK news) goes mobile

[cac14850]

Article below. I like the downloading sales pitch they have with this.

The Sun launches website for mobiles
http://media.guardian.co.uk/presspublishing/story/0,,2196788,00.html?gusrc=rss&feed=4

Stephen Brook, press correspondent
Monday October 22, 2007
MediaGuardian.co.uk


The Sun has boosted its mobile phone offering to readers today, becoming the first national newspaper to launch a ".mobi" domain name with content tailored to mobile users.
The new site - www.thesun.mobi - contains a simplified version of the Sun's webpage, allowing readers to access it over mobile phones or portable devices.

Many Sun readers are not office-bound and so less able to access Sun Online, the paper's website, from desktop computers.

The website allows readers to access the top 10 stories in news, sport, showbiz and Sun woman, as well as Mystic Meg horoscopes and Page 3 girls.

They can also download Page 3 girls and videos, ringtones and virals. Downloading videos and wallpaper costs between 25p and £3. Page 3 wallpapers cost £1 and Page 3 videos between £2 and £3.

Text alert services include news, sports, showbiz, football, Mystic Meg, lottery results and racing tips, with each alert priced at 25p. A text from dating service The Love Match costs 50p and racing tips cost £1 per text.

"There are more than eight million consumers of mobile news and information services in the UK in any given month, and the Sun is keen to get a head start in extending its brand into the mobile space and reaching new audiences," said Andrew Bagguley, head of mobile strategy at the Sun's owner, News Group Newspapers.

"Thesun.mobi gives readers access to the paper wherever they happen to be - on a bus, at the beach, at a football game - the Sun is always there, in their pockets, on their mobile," said David Ryder, the chief marketing officer of dotMobi, the company that controls the rights to the .mobi domain name.

 

[hedgefund]

great find, thanks.

 

[webecri]

Great Find & great news!

I will post it on dotMobiz of course!

 

[Pred]

yep, great news. 8 million buy the sun.

so lot of pairs of eyeballs visiting thesun.mobi potentially, albeit eyeballs very close together :hehe:

 

[allnicksgone]

Wow! I wish the newspapers around here had a page 3 like that.

Anyways, besides page 3, this is another good day for .mobi. I could see this as a catalyst to a few more .mobi websites.

*edit*
I just seen that The Sun is owned by Rupert Murdoch. It would be nice to see the .mobi love spread to all of his other business interests.

 

[PolarBear]

8 million readers... Wow, this is BIG news! :lala:

 

[-REECE-]

Great

 

[bricio]

great news :tu:

 

[GeoOwners]

great find...thanks for the heads up...I have been doing alot of reading on my itouch every morning...much better than fighting with a news paper while at the restaurant table!

 

[Jeff]

Again.

>> Thesun.mobi

:hi:

This was posted here originally in April '07, and then again rehashed as new & "newsworthy" in August '07 ... in which discussed at length here, IMHO. :talk:
Thread:
http://www.namepros.com/dot-mobi/357151-mobi-news-item-from-mtld.html?highlight=thesun.mobi

Posting NEW actual "news" regarding fresh unique and compelling .MOBI developments for those that are "on the go" would be encouraged, though! :music:
Thank you, and see you then.
-Jeff

 

[cac14850]

Posting NEW actual "news" regarding fresh unique and compelling .MOBI developments for those that are "on the go" would be encouraged, though! :music:
Thank you, and see you then.
-Jeff [/QUOTE]


Thanks jeff for your, as always, spot on comments. What is newsworthy about this is that the company is actually promoting it. I also would like to point out that I did not just say the sun has a website. I posted A LINK TO AN ACTUAL NEWS ARTICLE OF WHICH THERE WERE SEVERAL related to this development.

While you may not find it newsworthy several news orgainzations did. They posted their own articles or rehashed the release, which was by the way put out by the sun who found their own release newsworthy YESTERDAY. FYI several different links to the sun NEWS put out by several different sources are posted below. Enjoy. In the future please do not lecture me on what is and what is not news. Thanks as always for your cool, polite and professional presence on this board.

Guardian uk news article Oct 22
http://media.guardian.co.uk/presspublishing/story/0,,2196788,00.html?gusrc=rss&feed=4

Brand Republic 10-22
http://www.brandrepublic.com/login/News/753691/

Tech Digest 10-22
http://techdigest.tv/2007/10/the_sun_launche.html

Web Service Journal 10-22 (pr)
http://www.sys-con.com/read/446798.htm

Moconews net 10-22
http://www.moconews.net/entry/419-r...-lawsuit-more-hutch-sale-rumors-the-sun-on-m/

 

[PVFARKAS]

http://home.businesswire.com/portal...d=news_view&newsId=20071023005543&newsLang=en

October 23, 2007 07:10 AM Eastern Daylight Time

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--To highlight the value and enjoyment of easy access to the internet from a mobile phone, Bango today launched the “ilovemobileweb” campaign to increase awareness of the mobile web with consumers around the world. The campaign is additionally a “call to action” for those companies who are destined to play a key role in making the mobile web easy to use through their products and services. dotMobi, the company behind the .mobi domain for mobile phones, is the first organization to announce support for the campaign.

“We are starting a parade,” said Bango CEO, Ray Anderson. “We want more people to love the mobile web because it’s fun, it’s sociable and it provides the ultimate in convenience and choice for consumers world-wide.”

http://www.ilovemobileweb.com/

http://bango.com/

Who uses Bango?
Bango has thousands of customers
case study #1

http://bango.com/casestudies/thesun.aspx

Sell a wide choice of Sun branded content from a mobile portal that's under the newspaper's control. Develop a direct, interactive relationship with its readers on mobile across all networks. Build awareness of The Sun brand in the youth market who feel more comfortable with mobile. Expand reach and capitalize on traffic from the US and Canada visiting The Sun online website
Innovate by taking content from magazine and re-purpose for mobile
Determine the success of campaigns with detailed analysis tools

http://thesun.mobi/serv/SOPHome

{oh, it's the sun mobile } thesun.mobi !
{and they even have a naked girl and poker on there - }

The solution
News International, publishers of The Sun newspaper, signed up to the Bango Pro package to gain all the advanced features of the Bango Service. Bango provides the services to ensure easy access to Sun branded content, collection of micro-payments, detailed tracking of user spending patterns and the tools for peer-to-peer viral marketing.

Although the Sun brand has a presence in operator portals Vodafone live! and Orange World, News International wanted to have its own mobile site with which it can build brand loyalty and develop new forms of interactivity to delight their users.

News International is marketing the mobile site, developed by Blue Star Mobile, to its 9 million Sun newspaper readers and to the 3 million people who access the Sun Online website. Fast, easy access to the mobile service was provided by Bango via two different methods – Bango Web Trigger and Bango Txt Trigger.

Bango Txt Trigger is used to drive readers to the Sun Mobile site from the newspaper, all the user has to do is send a text message to a shortcode and they receive back a link to the mobile site. The Sun promotes access into various areas of the site, such as games and ringtones. As you can see from this ad, The Sun is promoting individual items of content. When the user goes to the download page, there is a link into the main part of the site so people can browse and buy further content.

The results
Sun Mobile is accessible to users anywhere in the world who can choose to pay for content on their phone bill, using their credit or debit card or by other methods using Bango technology. Bango enables users in over 130 countries to experience the smooth, browse and buy easy payment experience that they get from their operator portal.

The Sun highlights that their mobile service is not a subscription service so consumers don't need to worry about any hidden charges. Using the Bango Free Txt Trigger, people can text to receive a link to the mobile site, without any charge. They only pay for content once they have browsed and selected an item they want to buy.

"It is vitally important that The Sun has a strong presence in all media whether it be print, web or mobile," said Simon Ashley, Commercial Manager, News Group Digital at News International. "Sun Mobile gives us a direct, interactive relationship with our customers on mobile. It’s an important step as it allows us to develop a totally new revenue stream as well as develop the Sun’s brand awareness within the youth market who are comfortable with accessing us via new media."

50% of traffic for Sun Online comes from the US and Canada. “Bango's ability to provide easy access from these countries and collect payment from them, whatever network they choose, will enable us to capitalize on the cross-fertilization between the web and mobile channels,” added Ashley.

 

[GeoOwners]

Now in other OLD news, Jeff posts daily in "his" thread that he will be posting again soon...




.

 

[newsiness]

http://www.newsiness.com/googleyahoonews/?p=thesun.mobi

 

[acc]

Nice news coverage about "thesun.mobi" - thanks.

European businesses out front in mobile adoption and usage, doing their part in building out the mobile web.

 

[Pred]

Doesnt Open For Me?

 

[PVFARKAS]

• Bango introduced its Boosted Web services API that helps mobile site builders to deliver Bango features to their customers' sites. The services also will be available to users of site.mobi, the dotMobi site-building tool powered by mobiSiteGalore. In related news, Bango launched its "ilovemobileweb" campaign aimed at raising awareness of the mobile Web with consumers. The campaign's charter supports the goals of providing open access to the mobile Web for every user, choice of content and services for consumers, easy pathways for fixed Internet publishers to move to mobile and more standardization of devices and development platforms.

http://www.wirelessweek.com/wireless_news_briefs102307.aspx

 

[VizNet]

Everyone seems to has missed the fact the site is not mobile compliant, does even get a 3 on the ready checker, and worse, will not display at all on most mobile phones. Good PR - doubt it, the average punter will type this into his phone, find nothing happens, and then never bother again, after all if THE SUN can't get it work on a mobile phone, then who will be able to. If the public don't trust a .mobi to work on a mobile phone, the point of .mobi gets lost. Pity MTLD can't see or understand this.

 

[PVFARKAS]

which one? there are a couple up there.. from the tone of your post, thesun.mobi??

 

[VizNet]

thesun.mobi (or not)