AP Launches Mobile News Feed

The Associated Press is going mobile, launching a Mobile News Network for wireless phone users...and especially iPhone users.

The Associated Press has launched its own Mobile News Network, a Web-based applications specifically designed to bring news and information from the AP’s collection of over 100 new organizations to mobile phone users everywhere. But the AP especially wants iPhone users: they’ve optimized the service for the iPhone, and are very proud to have the service selected as a “Staff Pick” in Apple’s iPhone Web applications directory.

“With a new generation of mobile devices on the market, like the iPhone, the time is right for AP to introduce a product that brings together our members’ local news brands with AP’s unrivaled coverage of international and national events,” said AP’s senior VP of global product development Jane Seagrave, in a statement.

The new service offers photo galleries and spot video coverage of major stories and news events, including sports and the current U.S. presidential campaign, as well as national and local news. AP plans to expand the mobile offering to include additional content from more papers and broadcasters, and massage it especially for distribution via mobile phone.

In an age of blogs and RSS feeds, the AP can seem a little stodgy, but it’s important to remember that it is the largest independent news and information source in the world: the AP has been around since 1846, and isn’t controlled by the so-called “content cartel” of major media organizations. And as they’re happy to remind folks, on any particular day about half the world’s population sees news from AP.