The BBC has launched a new beta of its mobile service, allowing punters to set up the kind of news coverage they are interested in displaying on the limited space available on a mobile phone.

The BBC has always had a pretty good mobile version, but the latest beta (accessible at http://www.bbc.co.uk/mobile/betahome) adds the capability to customise the information displayed. Realistically most visitors to the BBC are interested in news and television programmes, and increasingly iPlayer content, so it's now trivial to remove everything else and create a thumb- or stick-friendly BBC site.

The new site is aimed at the higher-end handsets, including Nokia's N series and anything running Opera, not to mention the ubiquitous iPhone.

Radio and TV channels can also be customised, though unaccountably there's no quick link to the Now Show podcast, despite the fact that fans of Thought For The Day get one. ®

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