Using its patented voice SMS technology, Bubble Motion’s service, called BubbleBlog, lets users record audio notes directly into their mobile phones and share them with their followers. For every note shared, followers will receive an SMS notice to listen to the recording. The entire system works through SMS exchange which means it is much more accessible to mobile customers than having to rely on the internet.
BubbleBlog has taken off in India and Japan and the service has acquired more than five million users, two million of which are premium subscribers. While Indonesia has somewhere between 35 to 40 million internet users, XL Axiata alone has 38.5 million mobile phone subscribers.
Dubbed XL Cuaps for the Indonesian market, the service relies on celebrity power to help popularize its offering. It has signed up a number of musicians, bands, actors and actresses. Customers and fans can subscribe by sending a particular SMS short code for the celebrity of their choice.
While peer-to-peer blogging and following is free, to follow celebrities and other ‘premium’ bubblers costs Rp 1000 (US$0.11) per week which includes free access to listen to all recorded updates that are posted by each blogger every week. Peer-to-peer subscription works by entering the person’s actual phone number, whereas celebrity and other premium subscription is done through a four digit proxy number.
Although the service has only been available quietly in Indonesia for a little more than two weeks, Bubble Motion CEO Tom Clayton is more than excited with how well it has been received in the country.
In an interview to be posted shortly on e27, he reveals in more details how BubbleBlog came to be, how it works, the service’s popularity, future integration with Twitter, and expansion plans for the region.
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