SAN FRANCISCO-Content provider Mobileplay launched an advertising-driven service that delivers free games, news, weather and other offerings to personal digital assistants and smart phones.
Microsoft Office and Volvo Cars of North America are among the brands behind the service, which includes stock updates, sports scores, travel information and movie listings. Users of Palm OS, Windows Mobile and BlackBerry devices can download content to their desktop computers for synching; Treo users can access the service with direct, over-the-air downloads.
The offering also allows consumers to exchange content with other smart-phone users-regardless of device type, Mobileplay said.
“Consumers want free content and services in the digital age,” said James Ryan, Mobileplay’s founder and chief executive officer. “That has been proven by the phenomenal success of the Internet. We wanted to take advantage of the growing interest in mobile advertising to bring free content to BlackBerry and smart phone users.”