Nov. 5, 2009 (Business Wire) -- Verve Wireless, the leading provider of mobile publishing technologies to local media companies, and The Associated Press today announced that they are delivering mobile solutions that allow publishers to easily and efficiently launch their own customized, branded mobile applications based on the award-winning AP Mobile platform.
Verve will offer white label app solutions for Android, BlackBerry, iPhone, Nokia, Palm Pre and Windows Mobile.
The Verve/AP White Label App Solution offers publishers “best of breed” technology to accelerate their mobile strategies. Studies show that mobile apps drive 4-X-10X greater usage because they are fast and easier to use. They also allow publishers to build a powerful bond with users because the apps are stored on cell phone screens – in effect, “owned.”
“When we launched the AP Mobile news network, the main objective was to deliver new revenue opportunities for our AP members at the local level. This new solution further supports that mission,” said Jeff Litvack, AP’s general manager of mobile and emerging products. “Building an app from scratch is time consuming and costly, there are numerous things to consider, and we want AP member news outlets to leverage what we’ve learned from our experiences with AP Mobile, freeing them to focus on creating compelling editorial content as well as developing new means for advertisers to reach readers.”
The cohesive mobile App Solution is the latest product emerging from Verve Wireless to address the economic challenges facing today’s news media with a means to monetize content in the mobile channel. Under the service, Verve will handle the set up and launch of a publishers’ branded app, providing opportunities for media companies to deliver relevant local news to mobile users through a highly customizable interface supported by existing and in-network advertisers.
“Publishers need a simple, inexpensive solution to develop their mobile applications,” said Art Howe, chief executive officer of Verve Wireless. “These white label solutions offer them a way to use the industry’s best mobile technology for their own customized apps.”
The new white label service is based off the award winning AP Mobile news network application developed for the iPhone, BlackBerry, Android, Palm Pre, Windows Mobile, and Nokia N series devices. To date, it has been downloaded by more than 2.4 million people and has more than 55 million page views a month. The application provides readers with features such as rich graphics, audio and video as well as breaking news alerts.
The new service was built to directly address expense and time constraints that publishers would face in building, hosting, maintaining and upgrading their own cross-platform mobile application. This allows publishers to streamline operations under one vendor and standardize content presentation, usage metrics and advertising delivery.
“Developing and maintaining a single mobile application that works great across a publishers’ entire content spectrum isn’t easy,” Howe added. “Developing six applications across all the major mobile platforms is not only very hard but it is cost prohibitive given current media trends and time and staffing constraints. We decided we were in the best position to package all these solutions together and make them available to everyone. Publishers can focus on customizing the look and feel of their apps and generating great content and advertising.”
The Verve Dashboard
Verve Dashboard provides publishers with a means to manage mobile executions in one place. It offers controls for use by editors, advertising, marketing, sales, and content creators. Publishing options include mobile Web, and client applications (all platforms), as well as video. Advertising options include display, messages, interstitial, video, and national geo-targeting, with the ability to manage one campaign across all properties utilizing the national network. Reporting and analytics are also provided through the dashboard.
White Label Application Features
- Application registration
- Secured content delivery
- Headline display
- Story display
- Display advertising
- Search
- E-mail/ text content
- Share content via social networks
- Offline Usage
- Photo gallery, video gallery
- News delivery customization
- Application localization
About AP Mobile
Developed by The Associated Press, a leader in the mobile news market, AP Mobile is an award-winning multimedia news portal. AP Mobile gives users news they can choose, offering the most apps optimized for today's latest and most popular devices and platforms. Initially launched in May 2008 as a mobile WAP site, www.apnews.com, AP Mobile news leads the market in offering consumers anytime access to AP's own worldwide coverage of international and local breaking news, sports, entertainment, politics and business as well as content from more than 1,000 AP members and third-party sources.
About The Associated Press
The Associated Press is the essential global news network, delivering fast, unbiased news from every corner of the world to all media platforms and formats. Founded in 1846, AP today is the largest and most trusted source of independent news and information. On any given day, more than half the world's population sees news from AP.
About Verve Wireless
Based in Encinitas, CA; Verve Wireless, Inc., and their proprietary Verve Local Content Gateway(TM) allow local media companies and advertisers to seamlessly extend their reach into mobile devices across all the major carriers. Verve Wireless currently works with over 600 leading media companies from the US, Canada, and Europe including dailies, radio, and local broadcast stations. For more information visit http://www.vervewireless.com.
