Google has introduced a new service for Blogger.com that enables users to create new blogs and post images and text via mobile devices. A consumer using Verizon, AT&T, Cingular, Sprint or T-Mobile can send an e-mail or MMS to [email protected], which instantly creates a new Weblog containing the information sent to Blogger. Google will then email the URL and a claim code back to the user, allowing him or her to view and manage the new blog.
The initial page will be a generic-looking site and users will be required to enter the claim codes, which will then allow them to change the templates, blog names, and colors, edit previous posts and activate other features. One such feature will apply to users who want to add mobile posts to an existing blog.
The Blogger Mobile site offers a word of warning to users who have a blog address which does not contain blogspot.com—any mobile posts made before making the switch will not be moved over automatically.
“So, if you plan on publishing mobile posts to your non-blogspot.com hosted blog, we recommend you to claim and switch early, thus avoiding a potential nuisance,” the site says.
The service will be available free of charge, other than the cost accrued from sending messages and emails from a cell phone, PDA, etc.
Mobile blogging, or the “moblog,” is not a new concept. Last year, Philip Kaplan, founder of dot-com-era watchdog F**ckedCompany.com, created Mobog, one of the first sites that allows cell phone-camera users to take photos and e-mail them for instant publishing on mobog.com.
More professional photo-sharing sites like Webshot and Flickr also allow users to email pictures from their phones for instant sharing.