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News of the World launches mobile news site

The News of the World has launched a dedicated mobile WAP site offering exclusive news stories before they appear in print.

Its launch sees the completion of a three-pronged approach to mobile news by the paper, which echoes that of fellow News Group national title The Sun.

Both titles now allow content to be accessed through a dedicated mobile internet site, a downloadable Java application or through a text alert service.

The NoTW launched its subscription-based java application service in March, this year.

Like the Java site, the more accessible WAP site makes the paper's 'top five' news exclusives available on Saturday night - before they appear in the Sunday print edition.

Videos from the paper's website can also be downloaded from newsoftheworld.mobi for a 50p charge, though access to the rest of the site is free outside of standard network rates.

"This is not News of the World lite: these are our top news exclusives, whether it's news, showbiz or sport," Bill Akass, development director for News Group Newspapers told Journalism.co.uk.

"As with The Sun, our intention is to publish our content on whatever platform is most convenient to the user. We know that a large percentage of our readers consume content through their mobile and we haven't been able to serve it to them in this way."

Akass estimated that 90 per cent of the title's readers had mobiles capable of accessing the WAP site.

He added that News Group was in talks with mobile manufacturers and networks about 'optimising' more of The Sun and News of the World's content for mobile.

"The mobile web is changing all the time, but with this site we are positioning ourselves for a time when it becomes easier to publish mobile content," he added.

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