The New York Times has launched an ad-supported mobile site, with Microsoft as the first sponsor.

The mobile.nytimes.com mobile site makes available NYTimes.com top-level sections, articles and photos, as well as the seven-day news archive, without requiring that users register, reports paidContent. The site is sponsored by Microsoft, which is running a banner ad for Windows Mobile. NYTimes.com worked with Starcut USA to develop the mobile site, the company said.

Microsoft Windows Mobile is the debut advertiser. All pages on the mobile site (except the login page) will have a banner ad at the top and sponsorship of article tools. New tools are planned, including allowing access to weather, stock prices, sports scores and movie show times; each tool will provide a new sponsorship opportunity.

Users of web-enabled mobile devices, including phones and PDAs, can gain access to the site; they can email articles, but must first register to do so. To use the News Tracker alert and Times File tools, users must purchase the TimesSelect premium-content offering.

"The NYTimes.com mobile site reinforces our commitment to offer readers the high-quality journalism of The New York Times across all platforms," Vivian Schiller, SVP and general manager of NYTimes.com said in a statement. "We will continue to take advantage of all digital technology to provide our readers with Times journalism where, when and how they want it," she said.