Beeb offers smart version of mobile site

THE BEEB has introduced a new version of its mobile web site which is specifically targetted at PDA and smartphone users. It will concentrate almost exclusively on sport and news.

There are now actually four different versions of the Beeb's mobile site. The original three were a standard WAP version; an XHTML (or WAP 2.0) version; plus the option to view the Beeb site as if you have a desktop PC.

The new 'PDA' version is accessed by going to the bottom of the initial page and selecting 'prefences'. Mobile surfers will also need to use the correct URL which is www.bbc.co.uk/mobile.

There's going to be a very big push on sport including footie, Wimbledon and the Beijing Olympics. Footie fans are urged to send the word 'football' as a text message to 81010. They'll then receive the correct URL for the enhanced sports section.

Rumours are that there will also be a special Bluetooth service at selected soccer stadiums which will send the correct URL to people's phones, too.

Just to make sure that you don't think such a service is a waste of the national TV licence fee, the Beeb will be mounting a massive four week campaign to promote the PDA version.

The BBC does have good form in this area, though. According to Nielsen Mobile, the BBC's mobile service attracts 2.7 million unique users per month - making it the top mobile site in the UK. µ