Skycore LLC, developer of Cellyspace.com, has launched what it claims to be the first RSS-to-MMS publishing tool for content providers to automatically convert and deliver syndicated RSS feeds directly to mobile subscribers' messaging inboxes.

The RSS content will make mobile syndication easier and more readily available, Skycore said. By delivering multimedia feeds rather than short, text-only feeds subscribers are expected to be more fully engaged in the content.

"To my knowledge, we are the first and currently the only RSS-to-MMS service to launch," said Rich Eicher, president of Skycore. "Any content provider can mobilize their feed. It is the ultimate off-deck tool because there are already thousands of feeds on the Web that can be instantly made mobile through Cellyspace.

"These MMS RSS feeds will contain links back to the main content source and drive additional traffic to that WAP and Web site on an ongoing basis," he said.

With this Skycore technology, the feed can be viewed without a subscriber first logging onto a WAP site or launching a feed reader application.

Subscribers are alerted when they receive the feed and can see it right away or whenever most convenient since it's stored in their messaging inbox.

The content is presented in a slide-show format with up to eight slides, each with an image, 300 characters of text and an optional URL link for additional content, information or promotions.

"We will offer a premium service and, in the future, an ad-supported service," Mr. Eicher said. "We revenue-share with the feed owners and for premium feeds, with the carriers.

"We already have the connectivity and billing relationships with the carriers through our SMS and MMS short code and an extensive handset database to ensure delivery and formatting," he said.

Cellyspace publishing tools are also available for use by content providers to simplify the subscription opt-in process, including an HTML widget and link generator for the provider's site.

Feed owners don't always want to make separate SMS and MMS messages for their news or feed and have to send or schedule them separately. Skycore automates the whole process.

From a customer standpoint, SMS RSS feeds are usually just a few words of the title, which is not really compelling and have no easy click-through mechanism, Mr. Eicher said.

"Mobile Web feed readers-based feeds require the user to login to the mobile Web and surf to their online feed reader," he said. "Application-based feed readers must be opened in the phone's tools section and then it checks the feeds.

"Finding and downloading these applications are not easy for the average mobile subscriber," he said. "MMS RSS is the most user-friendly, compelling, clickable, can contain information and advertisements in the same message."