The Wall Street Journal has launched a branded mobile application that automatically downloads optimized content to consumers' BlackBerry devices.

FreeRange Communications Inc. is powering the application using the FreeRange Mobile Publishing Platform that lets online publishers extend their content to mobile consumers. In addition to The Wall Street Journal, its customers include Fierce Markets, PaidContent.org, NewsGator, Travelocity and the NBA's Portland Trailblazers.

"Our mobile publishing platform is a way for content owners to extend what they have on their Web site to mobile in a way that users really respond to," said Jon Maroney, CEO of FreeRange, Portland, OR.

"Our server takes our clients' Web site content and provides the equivalent type of user experience on mobile phones," he said. "Our engine makes all that content appear in a way that's easy to consume."

FreeRange provides complete mobile coverage for publishers, delivering branded content to a wide range of mobile devices and platforms such as BlackBerry, Windows Mobile, Symbian, Palm and iPhone.

"We provide a way for you to get your content on all the different phones that are out there without any changes to the content on the Web site," Mr. Maroney said. "We can provide you with a great user experience for your readers, and not just content, but advertising too.

"Web site content owners have been coming to us saying, 'Put our name on it, put our content on it and put our ads on it,' and this is the culmination of that," he said.

The branded channels sit on consumers' devices and update on a regular interval in the background, with an icon right on their phones for easy access.

The Wall Street Journal's BlackBerry application gives consumers immediate access to business, finance and technology news and analysis from WSJ.com, as well as MarketWatch.com, Barrons.com and AllThingsD.com.

Headlines, article summaries and previously downloaded stories are always accessible even if the handset does not have wireless coverage, such as in the subway or on a plane.

"When you click the Wall Street Journal icon on your BlackBerry, it's been updated," Mr. Maroney said. "You don't sit around and wait for a browser to load, then search. It's an instant-access experience that you wouldn't get from a Web site."

FreeRange has launched a mobile application for Travelocity Business that will help the online travel agency to connect with its corporate travel partners, many of which are Fortune 500 companies.

"Another use of our platform we're seeing a lot of interest in is enabling one-to-one conversations with consumers via the platform they use most frequently - mobile," Mr. Maroney said.

FreeRange runs a mobile fan connection application for the NBA's Portland Trailblazers.

The dedicated application for Trailblazer fans aggregates all the write-ups about the team in one place. It includes player blogs, live blogging from analysts during games, scouting reports, injury reports and other NBA news.

"That's been really well-received, and there's a core group of people using it frequently, a lot of the time when they're riding home on the bus or train," Mr. Maroney said.

No need to get chicken
FreeRange claims that its mobile publishing platform removes the barriers typically present for effectively pushing Web content out to the mobile device marketplace.

The platform leverages existing Web content, eliminates mobile content management system requirements and operates in a software-as-a-service model to create zero impact on customer IT resources.

FreeRange claims that there is no IT involvement required and no re-configuration of Internet content needed in order to conform to wireless industry standards.

Content and advertisements are automatically delivered and stored on readers' mobile phones, ready to be easily consumed on demand.

FreeRange offers the opportunity to create new revenue streams through mobile advertising and marketing.

"There are a couple of different spots where ad-insertions can be made," Mr. Maroney said. "Brands sell their own ads via the mobile landing page, and we try to keep them inside of the experience to fulfill the ads with click-to-call, click-to-email or click-to-another-site and then bring them back to the content."

FreeRange touts its mobile applications as being more user-friendly than the browser-based model.

"People will interact with our content much more," Mr. Maroney said. "We're getting 20 times more page views than they will on the Web. It's so easy to scroll through lots of content and interact with it, read it, email it to yourself, forward it to friends, post it to Facebook.

"It's all built in to the application, and it's all easy, so people actually do it," he said. "People aren't just browsing over the top 5 things, they're digging into more content and interacting with it more."

Brands are increasingly looking for ways to reach their consumer base via mobile. Applications are an attractive option.

"Mobile is something that's on everyone's list, and we're seeing an enormous interest in trying to engage users via mobile, but the mobile Web is not giving users what they want," Mr. Maroney said.

"Advertisers are not getting the kinds of engagement they do on Web sites, whether because of screen size or the slapped-together look of the transcoding process," he said.

"Consumers have an insatiable demand for content, and the key is to deliver it in a way that makes sense for mobile."