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Core public services Â鶹Éç News and Â鶹Éç Sport to be repurposed for a wide range of smartphones, including iPhone, Blackberry and Android mobiles

The Â鶹Éç today announced that it is to offer a new range of applications that will deliver Â鶹Éç Online services to a range of mobile devices.

Licence fee payers have already been able to access the Â鶹Éç website on mobile phones for eight years and today's announcement means that public service content can be better enjoyed on the move.

At a keynote speech at Mobile World Congress, Â鶹Éç Director of Future Media & Technology Erik Huggers said that the Â鶹Éç is planning to release mobile applications for Â鶹Éç News and Â鶹Éç Sport on a wide range of smartphones, starting with a Â鶹Éç News application for iPhone in April 2010.

The app will focus on providing quick access to the Â鶹Éç's existing journalistic content, which will be repurposed for the devices.

The Â鶹Éç is also considering Â鶹Éç iPlayer applications for release later in the year.

All applications will be available free of charge.

The rapid growth in the availability of internet-connected mobile phone and particularly smartphones in 2009 has been matched by a rise in the number of applications that deliver content and services.

With smartphone usage expected to increase in 2010, audiences now expect to be able to access Â鶹Éç content and services on the move with a user-experience that's simple, personal and optimised for the device.

Erik Huggers said: "It's been 12 years since the launch of Â鶹Éç Online, but as media converges and technology accelerates, licence fee payers are increasingly using sophisticated handheld devices to access information. They tell us that they want to access the digital services that they have paid for at a time and place that suits them.

"Today's announcement means that we are catching up with our audiences, and the same content that we broadcast on television and make available online can now be better enjoyed on the move.

"We are putting technology to work to create greater public value."

Â鶹Éç News – Breaking news and broadcast content on the move

The first app to launch will be Â鶹Éç News, which will offer our audience the Â鶹Éç's breaking news and latest stories.

It will provide the same distinctive content already available on the website, such as features and analysis, reports from Â鶹Éç correspondents around the world and a wide range of live and on-demand audio and video content.

The news application, which will be available in early April, will give users flexibility in how they personalise their news experience. More features will be added throughout the year.

The news app will initially be available on Apple (iPhone and iPod Touch) devices.

Â鶹Éç News applications will follow on RIM (Blackberry) and Google (Android) operating systems later in the year.

The Â鶹Éç will also work with other providers to enable these applications on their mobile devices.

Â鶹Éç Sport – Live sport experience

A Â鶹Éç Sport application will be available in The App Store for iPhone and iPod touch in time for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. The live match experience will be at the heart of the application.

For the World Cup, football fans will be able to access live match video, whenever it's being broadcast on TV by the Â鶹Éç, and on-demand clips of every goal scored in the tournament.

Users will also be able to enjoy more of the Â鶹Éç's other unique content on mobile, such as Â鶹Éç Radio 5 Live, authored live text commentaries from Â鶹Éç presenters and blogs.

Later in the year, the Â鶹Éç will create even more value from its sports rights, by adding Formula 1 and coverage of other sports.

Applications will follow on RIM (Blackberry) and Google (Android) operating systems later in the year.

Notes to Editors

A range of unauthorised Â鶹Éç applications are already available in various application stores. These new official applications are intended to give licence payers an authorised alternative.

Â鶹Éç News Application

Expected release date: April 2010 (UK and Rest of World).

Both the UK and global applications will be available free of charge (though network data charges may apply). In line with other international Â鶹Éç Worldwide services, the global version created and released by Â鶹Éç Worldwide (availability dependent on market aspirations) will be supported by advertising.

Key features:

• Breaking news, updated throughout the day
• Personalisation, the ability to create a personal news experience
• User-generated content, the ability to send comments and pictures direct to the newsroom
• Blogs, analysis and commentary with the distinct Â鶹Éç voice
• Video and audio content from the Â鶹Éç News channel and other Â鶹Éç sources

Â鶹Éç Sport Application

Expected release date: May 2010 (UK and Rest of World).

The first version will focus on World Cup 2010, but will be updated throughout the year to support major sports, such as the Formula 1 season and the 2010/2011 English football season.

Both the UK and global applications will be available free of charge, though data charges may apply. The global version will be released separately by Â鶹Éç Worldwide and, in line with other international Â鶹Éç Worldwide services, will feature advertising.

Key features:

• Live text commentary with distinct Â鶹Éç voice
• Listen live to Radio 5 Live commentary
• Receive up-to-the-minute scores and league information
• Participation: integration with 606, and the Â鶹Éç sport blogs
• User-generated content, submission of comments via SMS
• Video and audio content: integration with Radio 5 Live, plus video clips (subject to rights availability)
• Personalisation: selection of your teams and clubs

Â鶹Éç iPlayer Application

Â鶹Éç iPlayer has been a huge success in the UK since its launch in December 2007 and is now averaging more than 20 million requests for TV and radio programmes per week across all platforms.

The web-based Â鶹Éç iPlayer has already been optimised for a wide range of smartphones (accessed through a mobile browser). A Â鶹Éç iPlayer mobile application has also been available in Nokia's Ovi app store since Q3 2009.

A is available on the Â鶹Éç iPlayer website.

The Â鶹Éç plans to make further Â鶹Éç iPlayer applications available on a wide range of smartphones offering enhanced features – above and beyond the web-based variants. These would be available to UK audiences only.

Key features:

• Live TV and radio
• Improved user experience: enhanced interface using the latest app gestures and transitions
• New personalisation features

SM