Arbitron previews a Mobile Version of Electronic Diary.

Arbitron unveiled a preview of a mobile electronic diary, a future “on-the-go” version of the current PC-based electronic radio diary at the Arbitron 2006 Consultant Fly-In, held at the Arbitron Research and Technology Center in Columbia, Maryland.

The mobile electronic diary will be tested on a wide array of mobile Internet-capable devices such the RIM BlackBerry, Palm TreoTM, Windows Mobile® and Symbian smartphones.

“The electronic diary, in its current PC-based form and in any future forms for mobile devices, is targeted for markets that are not being measured by the Arbitron Portable People Meter,” said Ed Cohen, Ph.D., vice president, Domestic Research, Arbitron Inc. “As we roll out the Portable People Meter in the Top 50 markets, the electronic diary is a parallel effort that will help keep the diary method more appealing to Internet-savvy younger adults, a population that currently tends to be underrepresented among paper-and-pencil diarykeepers.”

A PC-based version of the electronic diary is being introduced in Winter 2007. This current version gives radio survey participants in diary-based markets the option to use an Internet-based, electronic diary in place of the standard paper-and-pencil survey tool. The Winter 2007 version of the electronic diary is designed to be accessed via the Internet from conventional desktop and laptop computers.

“Once you have the infrastructure for an Internet-based diary, adapting it for Internet-enabled mobile devices is a logical next step,” said Dr. Cohen. “To test the mobile electronic diary concept, we’re working with UsableNet, a technology company that has developed Lift Mobile to create a dynamic, mobile-ready view specialized for any mobile device that accesses the Arbitron electronic diary.”

Nick Taylor, director of Enterprise Clients at UsableNet, explained, “Arbitron is being progressive and leading the field by recognizing the value of offering mobile-ready solutions for data collection from any mobile device.”