Let us welcome the world of "moblogs." A blog, by definition, is a diary of ones personal life but maintained on the Web. It has been around for the last decade but has gained prominence only in the last few years with the introduction of automated publishing systems which simplify the posting process of pictures. A moblog is an offshoot of that, but is a blog posted on the Internet but directly from a mobile phone. Moblogs are gaining popularity as more people use their cellphones to create personal online photo journals. This not only satisfies a subscribers need to clear images from his cam-phone, but is a convenient way to store and showcase ones album to anyone anywhere in the world.
The process of posting a moblog on the Web is so simple to resist. Just snap an image via your cam-phone, input a text message summarizing the image, attach the photo as an e-mail and directly send it from your mobile handset via GPRS to a special type of Web called a moblog. There are a lot of these sites, but the most popular are Moblog.com, Ploggle.com and TextAmerica.com. Upon the receipt of your e-mail by the website, it will then be automatically formatted by the moblog sites underlying technology and your image will be posted as a new entry on the website where it is instantly available for public viewing, comment and download.
Cellphone manufacturers and carriers have been paying close attention to this trend, looking for ways on how they can cash in. The carriers hope this will help offset the millions of dollars theyve spent on upgrading their data networks. Considering the type of MMS traffic currently going through their networks and their handset subsidy costs, carriers will never see their investment back. Cellphone manufacturers are also eyeing the new trend. Last month, Nokia said it would launch a site called Lifeblog that will let subscribers archive cellphone photos in chronological order, along with other data, including text, video and audio. While Nokias service wont actually publish the archived messages and pictures on the Web when it is launched this summer, the company says thats the next natural step though.
The idea is that moblogs will both keep the novelty from wearing off cam-phone photography and get subscribers like me to keep racking up online minutes on their monthly bills to the benefit of the carriers. The industry is just that desperate to find applications that people will use. So like many people I know, snap away with your cam-phone and give it a try. From the feedback I have been getting, you will end up making lots of new friends just like at Friendster.com.