Metro Mobile will use the print edition’s national news and showbiz content for web-capable mobile phones. Users can access free content through mobile URLs m.metro.co.uk and www.metro.mobi.  Metro is aiming for 50,000 mobile users a month.

Metro head of digital Jamie Walters said: “We are on the cusp of an explosion of mobile content. It is not yet a huge revenue generator, but we need to be in that space.”

Walters said the Metro service would stand out from other papers who have gone mobile recently by allowing users to access user- generated content.

Along with the mobile launch, Metro is to debut two online portals around user-generated content and music content. There will be a video clip site MEview and a music site MEmusic.

Users registering for MEview can upload their video clips for free, with the option of choosing a 10 to 15-second pre-roll ad to run around their clip. The user then collects a share of the cost-per-thousand views rate that Metro charges advertisers. The pay-out is £1 per thousand views as of now, but Walters said this rate could increase to £3.

The newspaper is now also exploring opportunities for advertising around its MEmusic talent showcase site.

On this site users can upload their own music, listen to tracks for free or download MP3 music files for 79p, of which the content owner gets a 70% share.

In other mobile news, the teen social networking site Piczo has agreed to a deal with mobile media company Intercasting Corp to allow users to produce and share personal content by mobile.

The service will use Intercasting Corp's Anthem mobile platform to enable subscribers to upload pictures directly from camera phones, send and receive messages, and post comments.

The service aims to develop user-friendly tools which allow members to use "creative self expression" in a safe and secure environment, considering most users are teenage girls.

Piczo has also made a deal with record label RCA to host exclusive professional video content via the online weekly TV program 'Everybody Loves Chris'.

Last month, the website partnered with pop culture content provider Spleak Media Network to launch a celebrity gossip forum, CelebSpleak, featuring short form celebrity news.

Source: Brand Republic (here and here)