Mail website goes mobile (From Oxford Mail)

Mail website goes mobile

7:20am Tuesday 24th February 2009 in News By Thom Airs

You can now log on and get the latest news from Oxford and across the county wherever and whenever you like thanks to our mobile phone-dedicated website.

Mobile.oxfordmail.co.uk is a simplified version of the popular oxfordmail.co.uk site, and can be accessed on your Internet-enabled mobile phone.

The site offers constantly updated news, sport, traffic and weather information for the county.

Trudy Wilkes, Newsquest Oxfordshire’s regional digital media manager, said: “The beauty of it is it gives you instant access to, for instance, traffic and travel news.

“If you bookmark the site mobile.oxfordmail.co.uk in your phone you can check it when you’re stuck in traffic or you’re going to travel. The feed is updated every 14 minutes, so it’s fresh and up-to-date.

“The site also brings you all the news headlines and sport headlines. As long as you’ve got a phone capable of going on the Internet you can access the site.”

The latest news on Oxford United is also available – and fans can already register for goal alerts on their mobiles.

During a trial of the mobile website, group news editor Jason Collie used it to keep abreast of travel information during the recent cold snap.

He said: “Obviously, I only used it when it was safe and legal to do so, however, when driving long distances in Oxfordshire during the snow it did keep me up-to-date with what was happening on the roads. It proved how useful a tool it is.”

Another feature of the site is its ability to be accessed using a ‘QR code’, a type of barcode that can be scanned using your phone’s built-in camera.

All new Nokia phones have software capable of reading the codes, and a scanner can be downloaded for most other makes. Once the scanner has read the Oxford Mail’s unique QR, or Quick Response, code, printed below, it will automatically load the website.

All Newsquest Oxfordshire titles now have their own mobile websites, including the Herald series, Bicester Advertiser and Banbury Cake.

Find the new sites at: http://mobile.heraldseries.co.uk http://mobile.bicesteradvertiser.net http://mobile.banburycake.co.uk tairs@oxfordmail.co.uk