Moblogging 2.0?
by Tarek Abu-Esber
Everything seems to be getting the 2.0 treatment these days. First it was Web 2.0, then Mobile 2.0 followed by the inevitable Mobile Web 2.0. The trend has continued now with the emergence of what could be called Moblogging 2.0.
Moblog, one of the original moblogging platforms and communities, has recently launched V2 of their moblogging platform and the list of updates boasts features that wouldn’t be out of place in a new Web 2.0 service.
First of all lets look at the new Mobile services, starting with my current favourite topic: LBS (Location Based Services). Moblog will now allow you to post geo-tagged images to your moblog which can then be displayed on a Google Map as a visual representation of where you’ve been and what photos you have taken there. This information can be used and displayed in a variety of creative ways such laying out a recent trip you’ve made for others to follow along.
Moblog, by definition, have always supported posting via Mobile. Historically this has been done via MMS and Email. However it has never had a Mobile Web version of the site for users to browse the moblogs on their phones until this update. The mobile version of the site is automatically generated and re-drawn specifically for the device you are using (as any good Mobile Web site should) and will even allow you to directly upload images using the Mobile Web service.
Moblog have also decided to take advantage of voice and have partnered with Spinvox to enable a couple of innovative voice-driven features. You can now post text directly to you moblog by calling up a pre-registered number and leaving a message. Spinvoxs speech-to-text software will then convert the message into text and that will be displayed on your blog as a new entry.
Moblog have also made use of Spinvox technology to make the sign-up process as simple and painless as possible. You can either text in to sign up or simply call Moblog and leave a voice message and the software will do it all for you. This is especially important to Group moblogs which can allow anyone to post to a group blog based around a specific topic.
Other 2.0 features include the ability to syndicate your content to other sites including the ability to post to Twitter (which can be used cleverly) and many other options. A great way to check out a lot of the new Moblog features is to take a look at the recently launched “We Love Your Accent” site. It does a great job of showing off the new Group and voice-driven features and if you take part you could win a Nokia N82.
So, if Moblogs new features are anything to go by then moblogging is starting to evolve and become a far more useful service. You can set-up your own moblog for free (mine is here) so why not give it a go and see if you don’t get hooked.
