Oprah moving into mobile media

As the world knows, Oprah Gail Winfrey will soon be departing from daytime television. The reason this has received so much notice is that she is more than a host. The show became the highest rated program of its kind in history and Oprah has formed it into a media empire for which she oversees and runs production. As a result of its success, she has been ranked as the wealthiest African American of the 20th Century and considered by many to be one of the more influential women in the world. One recent example of her influence is when Kitty Kelley, who wrote, “Oprah: A Biography,” discovered road blocks to promoting her book. In other words, shows would not interview Kelley because her research challenges some of Oprah’s talking points. Whether in agreement with Kelley or not, there is no denying the power of Oprah.

With the traditional media talk show winding down, Oprah’s devoted fans will be able to connect with her whenever and wherever they want with the launch of Oprah Mobile. The application features a weekly calendar of what is airing on the show, alerts and notifications about the availability of reservations for the show, and exclusive updates regarding what is in the works. The application also gives fans access to the latest articles and photo galleries from Oprah.com as well as her magazine.

Angelela DePaul, a spokeswoman at Harpo Productions recently stated, “The strategy behind the launch of the smartphone app is to expand into digital media and to make our content accessible on all platforms. Devoted fans will be able to connect with her whenever and wherever they want with the launch of Oprah Mobile from Hands-On Mobile.” In essence, viewers will have access to content 24/7 from their mobile screen. The application allows users search capability of their favorite experts, guests and contributors such as Suze Orman, Deepak Chopra and Peter Walsh. Consumers can even check out Oprah’s latest polls and view how other people are voting in their area. Users are also able to share their favorite application items via email Facebook and Twitter. Fans can also keep up with Oprah’s tweets via the application. Oprah Mobile is available to download for iPhone, BlackBerry, Palm Pre and Google’s Android.

As mobile continues to emerge and go more main steam, it will be interesting to see how and when other media outlets follow suit. To stay on top of this media evolution, feel free to stay in touch.

Email: stevelevine@msn.com

Avoiding break up on Valentine’s Day

It is Valentine’s Day and you want to avoid a break up so what can you do? One solution might be to avoid all of your text messages from the other half. As reported in their press release, Mobile social network MocoSpace found in a recent survey that around 50 percent of break ups are now occurring over text messages from one partner to the other. In the words of Austin Powers, “Ouch baby.”

The MocoSpace survey included 20,000 member responses chosen from the MocoSpace’s pool of 10.3 million members. The survey also found that 57% of respondents said they have broken up with someone over cell phone, with 48% saying text messages were their break up form of choice. Can you spell coward?

In addition, the study found that 60% of those surveyed did not have Valentine’s Day dates. Thus, an encouraging sign is that for more than half of the population checking messages on Valentine’s Day will not lead to a break up.

Recently it was publicized that an executive at Sun Microsystems announced resignation over the social media website Twitter. Could announcing one’s divorce be next?