Associated Press to Launch Mobile News Platform

The development of a new product to deliver news to AppleÃ's iPhone and other smart phones has been shown off by the Associated Press. The Mobile News Network, which brings together top national and local news from members of The AP, is now in testing phase.

"The formation of the Mobile News Network positions members to capture opportunities on high-growth mobile platforms," Curley said in his report to the AP membership at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C.

"The Mobile News Network will provide a national platform for smart phone users to access local content from brands they trust," Curley said. "Members can participate by providing local news that will appear alongside their logos. Importantly, the network also offers a new outlet for members to sell local advertising to the mobile audience."

The network will be the first product to be released by the APÃ's Digital Cooperative, a program designed to find new digital outlets for the news and information produced by AP members. The network will provide the booming market of mobile users with a single point of access to news from hundreds of local publishers. It will also offer a national platform for local advertisers to reach a new generation of consumers.

The network is being tested with a limited number of Digital Cooperative members, and is expected to launch publicly by the summer with a broader participant base.

AP says that it is working with mobile phone manufacturers and carriers to develop the best user interface for this comprehensive collection of news stories, photos and video from the news industry. For AP television and radio members, work continues on the technical plan for video and audio participation in the Digital Cooperative program.

Posted to the site on 15th April 2008