The BBC is to offer a new range of applications that will deliver BBC Online services to a range of mobile devices. Licence fee payers have already been able to access the BBC website on mobile phones for eight years and todays announcement means that public service content can be better enjoyed on the move.
At a keynote speech at Mobile World Congress, BBC Director of Future Media & Technology Erik Huggers said that the BBC is planning to release mobile applications for BBC News and BBC Sport on a wide range of Smartphones, starting with a BBC News application for the  iPhone in April 2010. The app will focus on providing quick access to the BBCs existing journalistic content, which will be repurposed for the devices. The BBC is also considering BBC 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 BBC content and services on the move with a user-experience thats simple, personal and optimised for the device.
Its been 12 years since the launch of BBC Online, but as media converges and technology accelerates, licence fee payers are increasingly using sophisticated handheld devices to access information, says Huggers. They tell us that they want to access the digital services that they have paid for at a time and place that suits them. Todays 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.
The first app to launch will be BBC News. It will provide the same distinctive content already available on the BBC website, such as features and analysis, reports from BBC 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 the iPhone and iPod touch, with Blackberry and Android versions to follow.
A BBC Sport application will be available in the Apple App Store for iPhone and iPod touch in time for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, with Blackberry and Android versions to follow.
For the World Cup, football fans will be able to access live match video, whenever it's being broadcast on TV by the BBC, and on-demand clips of every goal scored in the tournament.
Users will also be able to enjoy more of the BBC's other unique content on mobile, such as 5 Live, authored live text commentaries from BBC presenters and blogs. Later in the year, the BBC will create even more value from its sports rights, by adding Formula 1 and coverage of other sports.