BlackBerry ‘Super Apps’ tailor news and language to the user


29 Sep 2010

The Associated Press (AP) has announced the release of its smartphone mobile news app, which the organisation hopes will expand its audience by catering for individual markets.

The international news service launched the two new mobile “Super Apps” for BlackBerry smartphones – AP Mobile, world edition and AP Móvil América Latina – yesterday, which can run in the background and update content three times daily.

The AP Mobile world edition app for the BlackBerry allows users to set their locations to receive news and weather targeted to their regions in Europe, Africa, Asia and the Middle East, and users are able to access social media and email also.

20 countries

AP Móvil América Latina will deliver news to 20 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, the AP said.

Jeff Litvack, AP’s general manager of global product development, said: “With these two new apps, we are broadening our mobile audience and making our mobile presence more marketable to a network of users worldwide.”

The “Super Apps” combine high contextualisation, efficiency, and tight integration with native BlackBerry apps to offer the best possible user experience, according to the AP statement, leveraging the BlackBerry Push Service to keep users informed of breaking news.

“The latest apps from the AP are certainly compelling with their ability to help BlackBerry smartphone users stay connected to what’s happening in the region and around the world,” added Tyler Lessard, vice-president of global alliances and developer relations, Research In Motion (RIM), the company behind the BlackBerry brand.

Both apps are available for free on BlackBerry App World and will deliver global news in multiple languages to users around the world.