AP invests in mobile technology company
Cory Bergman July 25th, 2008
AP has participated in a $3 million round of financing in Verve, a mobile news services company that’s powering AP’s recently announced Mobile News Network. “Verve Wireless’s mission is to save the local paper by making it mobile,” writes Claire Cain Miller in the New York Times. As Rafat points out on PaidContent, this is a rare strategic investment for the Associated Press.
Correction: I updated the post to reflect that AP participated in a $3 million round of financing instead of investing $3 million.
4 Comments Add your own
1. Anonymous | July 26th, 2008 at 2:41 pm
Save the paper by making it mobile? I think you’d be hard pressed to find ANYONE other than phone companies and Apple making appreciable amounts of money from “mobile”.
Perhaps instead of going after loss-leaders like mobile, the papers should focus on things that will actually generate a profit.
2. jim wilson | July 27th, 2008 at 6:43 am
Yes. THIS is the obvious solution to everything!
Put the newspaper on phones….
As if no newspaper site has thought of doing that during the last 10 years…
Further, what really ought to BURN up AP members (even more than the Google deal — wait, nothing should burn them up more than that, but anyway)….
What should make them mad is that the AP is now distributing their content on ANOTHER platform that they get NOTHING for….
When will the newspapers wake up and understand the AP is selling them out — all the while they overpay for the “service” they provide.
Why wouldn’t I just read the newspaper website on my iPhone? Or, on the great smartphone I already have that shows it just fine…
And, doesnt the AP realize that the Kindle from Amazon is really going to save the newspaper universe???? (I kid, of course…)
3. John | July 27th, 2008 at 4:37 pm
does anyone know what AP is offering for their mobile deal?
thanks
4. Anonymous | July 28th, 2008 at 1:52 am
Newspapers were mobile from issue 1.
Feed somebody less sugar.
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