Sun Rises With Mobile News

The Sun has become the first UK national newspaper to launch an online service dedicated to mobile phone users.

Fans of the ‘Currant Bun’ can now read bite-sized pieces of the paper’s top stories on customised web pages via their mobiles at www.thesun.mobi.

Each day the site includes headline links to the Sun’s main news, entertainment and sport items and also enables users to download pictures of its infamous Page 3 girls.

Visitors can also pay to download videos, ringtones and wallpapers as well as subscribe to text alert services.

Head of mobile strategy at News Group Newspapers, which owns the daily title, Andrew Bagguley told the Guardian: “There are more than eight million consumers of mobile news and information services in the UK in any given month and the Sun is keen to get a head start in extending its brand into the mobile space and reaching new audiences.”

The Sun is part of Rupert Murdoch’s news empire and this is the latest in a series of moves demonstrating the aging Aussie tycoon’s keenness to invest in new technologies.

Earlier this week, Murdoch revealed to News Corp shareholders that he plans to extend his newly acquired Wall Street Journal online and to launch a range of integrated websites.

He also stated that social networking site MySpace, which the group bought in 2005, turned a profit for the first time last year.

“We have a long way to go, but we’re starting to be rewarded for our efforts to transform ourselves into a company for the digital age,” asserted Murdoch.

The full text of Murdoch’s October speech to investors can be found at News Corp.