Dominic Duffy, managing director of Ceros, said: "Now you can own someone's desktop and choose the frequency that you update them."

The first customer for the FMG division's new tool is Reed Business International (RBI), which is using Yodl on a range of aviation titles including Flightglobal. Ceros is also in discussion with a number of business-to-consumer publishers about using the platform.

Yodl was devised by Ceros after RBI commissioned research into the effectiveness of desktop widgets for informing readers of new content.

Like Ceros, the Yodl application is built using Adobe Air and is compatible with Linux, Mac and PC systems. It also supports text, audio, video and animation.

"The Yodl application has a mechanism to know who the user is, which paves the way for an elegant payment platform, including one-click payment and one-click subscription," Duffy said.

He added that, as such, it was similar to Apple's iTunes, and would pave the way for a next-generation Ceros reader.

In addition, the user data and tracking means that the application is auditable and is compatible with business publication audits. Users can sign up to Yodl on the Yodlme website, and for publishers there is a content management system, Yodlit.

Duffy added that, in addition to professional publishing uses, Yodl had potential as an internal communication tool for corporates.