In an unprecedented turn of events, the BBC’s new venture into iPhone apps stands suspended. News industry bigwigs who believe that the time is not right for the proposition have forced BBC to put on hold its plans for an iPhone application.

In its announcement, the BBC cited complaints about procedural reasons including service licenses and “nascent” period for new apps as the cause for the standstill. The plan to bring in news, sports and media content to iPhone users and other mobile devices such as the Blackberry phone will have to wait till differences are ironed out and a smooth go ahead is obtained.

The Newspaper Publishers Association (NPA) has opined that the earlier move to launch an iPhone app could damage new market opportunities and hence adversely affect the entire industry. The parental governing body of BBC, the BBC Trust has shelved its plans until an investigation into the public appeal is complete.

However, the BBC spokesperson expressed disappointment and maintained that the mobile iPhone apps are actually a strong value addition to core public services such as those offered by the BBC. Live news updates and sports information uploaded from BBC Sport website and 5 Live radio would have given instant access to the global traveller. It would have heralded the true sense of global outreach.

BBC’s mobile iPhone apps were aimed to broadcast news and events that would not help the user in case of limited connectivity or lack of access to other communication devices. The news industry too would be geared up to fulfil new demands of real time access to its consumers.

Media and communication acquire a new level of digital sophistication with responsible reporting. This is an indication of what the next level of technology will be and for a generation hooked on to gadgets, this will not only be exciting but also open up endless opportunities.

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