GP-Qrir mixes mobile news and IM

Posted by Jean Yves Chainon on September 3, 2007 at 10:49 AM

The Swedish Gothenburg Post and Geodesic have launched GP-Qrir, an Instant messenger service and mobile platform. Q-Rir users will be able to receive constant news updates.

“The youth today prefer ‘news push’ to ‘news pull’. Today, the value of ‘news’ is vastly enhanced by the speed at which it reaches the users and the ability to act or react upon it,” said Ricard Robbstål, Head Sales and Marketing, Göteborgs-Posten, in Geodesic’s press release.

“The member can discuss the news and its repercussions with his/her group at that very instant. This is more than live news. This is interactive news.”

The Qrir works across all major instant messenging services. Users have access to features such as conference chats and file sharing. They can also customize their news updates by categories, such as sports, music and films, which could be attractive for the younger audience.

With innovations of this type, newspapers could soon harness the mobile news market, which still lacks a generalized audience.

The Göteborgs-Posten is part of the Stampen Group, Sweden’s second largest publishing house.

Source: Geodesic.com