AP targeting smart phone users with distribution network launching this summer

By Marcelo Duran
Associate Editor

WASHINGTON — The Associated Press said it would launch a news service targeted at smart phone users as the cooperative further diversifies its stable of offerings.

The Mobile News Network, developed by the AP Digital Cooperative, will launch this summer, said Tom Curley, The AP’s president and chief executive officer.

“The Mobile News Network will provide a national platform for smart phone users to access local content from brands they trust,” he said. “Members can participate by providing local news that will appear alongside their logos.”

The network will give mobile users a single point of access through which they can gather news from hundreds of local publishers, Curley said.

MNN is currently being tested.

Additionally, AP is working with mobile phone manufacturers and carriers to develop a user interface to support the news, photos and video segments MNN will distribute.

Meantime, The AP released information about updated versions of its AP WebFeeds and WebFeeds Manager applications.

WebFeeds, formerly known as AP Internet Syndication Feeds, allows members to pull their satellite text, pictures and graphics across the Web.

Editors can create customized news and multimedia feeds based on specific search criteria in AP Exchange. The content is supplied as XML in the AP ATOM format along with additional proprietary metadata.

WebFeeds Manager is a free program provided by the AP to manage and route AP Web Feeds to content management systems. It supports text, photos, audio, graphics and video.

AP said that it is working with 17 software vendors to make it easier for member papers to mesh WebFeeds Manager with their content management systems.

In other developments:

•AP unveiled the Member Marketplace, a free service that lets members share text, photos and graphics with each other. The program was launched in six states last month and will be available nationwide by the end of summer.

•AP said it will use copyright licensing from iCopyright, giving online users of AP content a Web-based method to license and share AP stories.

•AP said the more than 1,900 media affiliates participating in its Online Video Network will now be able to share their local video content with other members within the network.

Finally, AP said it would slash further its newspaper members’ basic service assessments in 2009, totaling up to $21 million or 10 percent of their total AP service fees.