Farcast offers business services in the area of mobile content distribution - getting the right content in the right format from and to mobile telephones and other devices.

By utilising our unique content repurposing platform, Farcast can roll out customised solutions quickly and effectively.

Our primary business propositions are listed below:

Farcast Reporter
Farcast NewsFacts
Farcast AudioLink
Farcast ScreenCast
Farcast FeedMe!

 

Farcast Reporter - Direct from the mobile reporter to the newsdesk.

The Service:
Farcast Reporter was developed for mobile multimedia reporting and is currently being used by professional journalists in the Netherlands and Belgium. The service enables repoters to publish news in text, videos, images and audio directly from their mobiles - no other equipment needed. Once the story materials are ready the reporter simply presses 'send' and the location-tagged newsitem is available at the newsdesk for editing or release.

How it works:
Farcast Reporter consists of a software application running on a mobile phone, supported by the Farcast Platform. The compact and simple user interface enables quick and easy text entry and capturing or inserting of multimedia (photo’s/video/audio) on the mobile phone. GPS location coordinates are automatically inserted and the assembled post is uploaded at the press of a button.

Screenshot of the Windows Mobile
version of the Farcast Reporter

The Farcast Platform receives the content and repurposes it to make it suitable for delivery to the required channel(s). A channel can be the newsdesk, a weblog, SMS, e-mail, or any other of the many supported media.  Items are automatically processed and published to the desired channel(s) within a matter of seconds. The content is always delivered in the required format. Almost all text and multimedia formats are supported, including XML and NewsML. Farcast Reporter integrates easily with editing desks, content management systems (CMS) or live websites.

Benefits:
• Shorter lead times - directly linking the reporter to the newsdesk or the website
• Richer content – photos, video, text, audio and location all in one package
• Maximised reporting capacity – more “multimedia-enabled” reporters in more places
• Always at hand - installed on the mobile phone, no extra devices needed
• Integrates directly into existing Content Management Systems
• No incompatibility issues - a single consistent content stream in required formats

Reference Cases:
Customised versions of Farcast Reporter are being used by reporters of leading newspapers the Netherlands and Belgium. Farcast is also being used for Coprorate Dialogue and internal communication by a number of corporate customers and for event coverage.

Supporting Documents:

    > A one-page overview of Farcast Reporter can be found here. (PDF)

    > A video of a Farcast Reporter demonstration can be found here.

    > A video tutorial on using the Farcast reporter can be found here. 

    > More detailed information on the Farcast Reporter can be found here (PDF).

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Farcast NewsFacts - Direct from the content creator to the mobile reader.

The Farcast NewsFacts application distributes content with the latest news in text, images and audio files to subscribers via a mobile client. Content that was intended for the Internet, e-mail or RSS will be repurposed by the Farcast platform and adapted automatically to the mobile device used. The content provider can create an unlimited number of news channels which can be changed dynamically by the provider.

    > More detailed information on Farcast NewsFacts can be found here (PDF).

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Farcast AudioLink - Audio News On Demand.

Mobile phone owners can always listen to the latest traffic or weather information or to their favorite radioshow or podcast. For Netherlands national news agency ANP an application was developed for their radio-targeted hourly news. This application enables mobile phone owners to listen to the latest 'ANP newsbulletin' any time a day. Audio is streamed to the mobile phone taking into account the limited bandwith available to the phone.

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Farcast ScreenCast - Your 15 seconds of fame!

With ScreenCast anyone can send images and videos to a videowall at a party, on a square, in the pub, in the stadium,... The ScreenCast service consists of a box that can be plugged into every screen, the screen will display the content of received MMS messages. Moderation of content is possible. The Museum of Communication in The Hague uses ScreenCast for an educational trip in the museum.

Screencast videowall as displayed at the 3GSM conference 2007 in Barcelona

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Farcast FeedMe! - Feeds weblogs into your mobile.

FeedMe! offers webloggers the possibility to make their blogs mobile. Visitors of the weblog can fill in their mobile number and will receive an alert each time a new post appears on the blog. It is even possible to immediately view the text and images of the blog post on mobile phones. In order to enable a weblog with FeedMe! all you have to do is copy and paste a short piece of html code into the blogsite. Dutch users can use FeedMe! to receive RSS or Atom feeds on their mobiles via http://feedme.farcast.nl

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