The Associated Press announced plans today to launch a news registry in July, as well as a new college football hub and the ability for members to create locally branded iPhone applications, according to a wide-ranging relaase.

“The Board directed AP to promptly undertake work on a range of shared opportunities on behalf of its members, including working with content distributors, search engines and social networks,” the release stated. “It also directed The Associated Press to begin developing shared services and capabilities that benefit the entire news industry, such as product design, user registration, advertising, and billing and e-commerce.”

The entire announcement is below:

NEW YORK -- The Associated Press Board of Directors voted unanimously today to immediately pursue an expanded range of digital initiatives for news providers to create new consumer experiences for the growing array of digital news outlets.

The Board directed AP to promptly undertake work on a range of shared opportunities on behalf of its members, including working with content distributors, search engines and social networks. It also directed The Associated Press to begin developing shared services and capabilities that benefit the entire news industry, such as product design, user registration, advertising, and billing and e-commerce.

The Board's action empowers AP to negotiate with device manufacturers, platform providers and other content distributors concerning business models, products and financial arrangements as well as to speak for the news industry as it works with search engines and others to improve the discovering of breaking news.

“We are focused, united and determined in our effort to assert the value of our news content in the new digital landscape,” said AP Board Chairman Dean Singleton, chairman and CEO of MediaNews Group Inc., said at AP's annual meeting, held at its headquarters. “Within a year, we will be in a position, as an industry, to play on any device and build audiences with our own tools and products. That's the new day we've been working toward.”

AP also announced it will launch its News Registry in July and introduce a destination microsite for college football fans, anchored by AP's popular Top 25 poll, in August.

In addition, the Cooperative said it would begin to offer members the ability to create locally branded applications for multiple platforms, including emerging devices like e-readers, tablets and desktops.

“The digital content marketplace is moving beyond websites to a multiplatform experience of the news that can engage consumers in a much more personal way,” AP President and CEO Tom Curley said at the annual meeting. “These initiatives are all aimed at helping AP and our member companies participate more fully in the opportunities created by the ongoing digital shift.”

Development of the Registry was announced last April in San Diego, at AP's 2009 annual meeting. Since then, more than 200 member newspapers have become part of the Registry's beta test. That number is expected to reach 600 by the Registry's July 14 production launch, when the platform will be opened to additional members and publishers. AP expects to accommodate all members and publishers who want to enroll by year's end. The Registry allows publishers to tag and track digital news content, beyond their own websites, to provide a new level of visibility on what content is being used and where.

“Beyond analytics, the Registry also will set the stage for a new way of doing business as a Cooperative,” Curley said. “Every content creator who uses the Registry will be able to set the rights for the use of that content, so that it can be copied legally or used in new products that the industry or others create with proper permission and compensation.”

Said Curley: “We can't rely on website metrics alone. And we can't sit by and just wait for search engines to send traffic. We have to deliver. ”

The AP Top 25 poll, the nation's most respected ranking of college football programs, will serve as the anchor for the college football microsite. It will provide a wealth of AP stories, statistics, photos and social networking features, as well as the best curated gridiron content from college football reporters and editors at AP member news organizations. The football site builds on the recent success of AP's Winter Games platform.

The football hub will be the second product developed by AP Gateway, the business unit designed as a launch pad for new services from AP and other interested news publishers. AP Gateway, announced in February, first delivered the AP news application for the Apple iPad earlier this month.

“We'll be following up soon with applications that incorporate a paid subscription model and offer AP members the opportunity to participate in joint applications or separate, white-label versions,” Curley said.

AP already is developing white label applications for smart phones. The initiative reflects the Cooperative's broader strategy of leveraging its expertise in technology to help member publishers and broadcasters take their content to new digital audiences and grow their revenue on new devices without a significant investment.