Timesonline allows users to blog by phone

Posted 07 November 2007 16:28pm by Graham Charlton with 0 comments

The Times is to make it easier for readers to contribute to its website by allowing them to blog by phone using voice to text services provided by SpinVox.

The service is initially aimed at travel bloggers as part of the site's YourWorld promotion with BMW. TimesOnline users will be able to give accounts of their travels from anywhere in the world, and read those posted by other readers.

SpinVox launched its voice to blog service earlier this year, and already provides a voice to text voicemail service, which it claims is 97% accurate.

The service is potentially very useful to bloggers, as it allows instant blogging from any location via mobile phone, and could open up blogging to technophobic readers.

Times readers can leave a two minute message which, after being translated into text will be moderated and published online, with the best entries to be considered for the newspaper's print edition.

It is unclear whether the use of SpinVox will be extended to the rest of the newspaper's website, but it may be one method of increasing user participation on the site.

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