Today, the Associated Press announced that they will be offering a paid subscription to their content for their readers with iPads, though the service may start out as a free app. We’re not quite sure how this will differentiate itself from the free AP feeds that are already available on the Internet and wonder what the incentive would be to pay for a special AP app. This will be one of the first moves for the news agency’s new AP Gateway division. “AP Gateway will serve as the launching pad for new products and services from AP and other interested news publishers.” The new applications for delivering content immediately will be available throughout the ecosystem of recently announced mobile reading devices such as the iPad. It has not been said yet how much this service would cost or if Apple will be taking its standard 30% cut of the profits. Currently the Associated Press offers a free push notification-based application on the iPhone App Store. via MacObserver.
