UK-based GoSpoken has partnered with Random House to make 50 audiobook titles available for purchase through the GoSpoken mobile download service. GoSpoken is currently aimed at early adopter UK residents who have broadband-capable cellphones (specifically, HSDPA-enabled) and mobile data plans.
Managing director Tony Lynch describes the genesis of GoSpoken on the company’s blog:
As I travel round London, I am staggered by the amount of people traveling with earphones attached and because I have a vested interest and never stop wondering what they are actually listening to. Now those people who have seen me staring at them through buses, trains and their daily commuter work will be able to download the audio version of best-selling fiction and non-fiction anywhere where their network gives them broadband coverage.
(Via Peter Brantley’s read20 listserv.)