SPH to launch an interactive bilingual portal Omy

Singapore - Singapore Press Holdings (SPH) will be launching Omy, a bilingual news and interactive portal targeting online users between 18 to 35 years old.

More than 5000 registered users have played an online teaser game loaded onto its website. Ten winners will be selected to receive Sony Ericsson mobile phones. It aims to generate news content by getting users to take on roles as citizen journalists by sending leads and photos via sms though its hotline.

Chua Chim Kang, editor of Omy, says, "We hope users will like this new space that we have created. Omy will report the news from different angles, and look at issues from different perspectives. Users will find that there are many ways to package information. We will strengthen our bonds with our users by constantly interacting , understanding, and becoming one of them. With users' participation, Omy will continue to grow and evolve."

There will be 12 sub-sections including news, vod-casts and even geo-blogging that is powered by Google Earth. With a feedback function allowing interaction, it allows users to input useful information on locations they want to share such as food and shopping. It also has free-to-play online flash games and celebrity blogs.

It aims to be a navigation-friendly environment even for users who are not familiar with surfing the Internet in Chinese and will adopt the use of new media channels such as MMS, podcast, forums and blogs for users to share their views and opinions.