Is there such a concept left in the lexicon as mobile blogging, or “moblogging”? Devices like the iPhone, services like Twitter and mobile photo blogging apps like Shozu blur the lines between “presence” updates, micro-blogging and mobile blogging. What is left to be done in this space that’s new?
The UK-based Moblog.net thinks that a platform play might be it and plans to tackle it in few different ways. They are launching (deep breath) an API, a hosted solution for anyone to create a mobile blogging community, integration with Shozu and Spinvox (you can create a blog just by calling into the site), groups and domain mapping. A key aspect will be geotagging incoming SMS and MMS – something the average Web-only startup would find hard to do. They are also focusing on the ease of account creation, with set-up via SMS or voice call in the UK, USA, France, Germany, and Spain. You may wonder why all the emphasis on SMS, but although the mobile Web is poised to take off, text messaging remains by far the most popular non-voice mobile service, and makes the largest single contribution to the data revenues of mobile operators. But can they pull it off, with existing online social networks extending deeply into mobile, especially with native iPhone apps?