October 14, 2009
With traditional newspapers failing to find smart ways to deliver news online and on mobile phones, other nimbler new media are stepping into the vacuum. One such example is Fluent Mobile, which recently launched Fluent News, an iPhone application to get news instantaneously on the mobile phone. Fluent News aggregates mobile-optimized news content from nearly 40 major media brands, giving you an up-to-the-minute mobile newspaper, according to Bnet.
The application collects only articles that have been optimized for mobile platforms. This way the user experience viewing news on mobile is more user friendly. This is exactly the feature that makes Fluent News a better option for mobile news than Google’s Fast Flip which offers the same service but takes a long time to load. Bnet snidely remarked: “You’d probably want to rename it Slow Flip.”
Fluent News also uses a mobile content delivery system that works around mobile migration between high and low bandwidth. When there is high bandwidth apps pre-fetch content and get it ready for you to view whenever you’re ready, even if you’ve lost your connection by then, says Bnet. Fluent News can also share news articles on facebook and twitter.
Industry analysts see this innovative application getting even better quickly, and there are reportedly plans to release a premium version with customization features and a subscription model.