The Associated Press has launched the 2009 AP Stylebook application for the iPhone and iPod touch targeting writers and college students.

The 2009 AP Stylebook application features searchable listings for the main, sports, business and punctuation sections, along with the ability to add custom entries and personalized notes on AP listings. Stylebook application users are able to mark any entry as a favorite for easy access.

?Looking at the generation most likely to use this iPhone app, it?s college students,? said Jeff Litvack, general manager of mobile and emerging products at the AP, New York. ?College professors use the Stylebook in their curriculum, and that?s a large base that could benefit immediately from installing the Stylebook on their iPhone.

?Smartphone users have a ferocious appetite for applications, so we wanted to become a part of that universe with Stylebook as much as with AP Mobile,? he said.

The Associated Press is United States-based news agency operated as a cooperative. It is owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the U.S., which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists.

The news collected by the AP is published and republished by more than 1,700 newspapers, in addition to more than 5,000 television and radio broadcasters.

The Associated Press operates 243 news bureaus, and it serves at least 120 countries. AP debuted a dedicated news application for iPhone and iPod touch in June 2008, offering AP?s own worldwide coverage of breaking news, sports, entertainment, politics and business, as well as content from more than 1,000 AP members and third-party sources.  

AP Mobile was originally for iPhone only, but has since spread out to most of the other major smartphone platforms. It features local ads (see story).

Now available in the App Store, the AP application lets writers and editors take the Stylebook with them on their iPhone or iPod touch wherever they go.

The AP has future plans to roll out the Stylebook application to other devices once it sees the demand it is expecting, according to Mr. Litvack.

Apple represents 56 percent of the AP?s registered user base on mobile, and it expects that by the end of the year it will be less than 50 percent.

Journalists never know when they will need to run out the door to chase a story, so as long as they have an iPhone in their pockets when they go, the Stylebook can go with them.

The new Stylebook application was developed by the same team that introduced the AP Mobile multimedia news portal.

?For apps, it?s all about the utility of the application, and people use the AP news app every day,? Mr. Litvack said. ?The AP Stylebook app provides similar utility and value to journalists.

?Mobile is growing quickly and every day more and more consumers are turning to the mobile device to be something more than just a phone,? he said. ?It?s a very personalized device, so our apps are customizable and can be personalized for particular needs.

?Your mobile device is with you all of the time, it is available within arm?s reach, and you can be more informed and have access to information within seconds rather than minutes.?

The Stylebook was first produced in 1953 as a stapled collection of rules totaling 60 pages and has grown to a publication of more than 400 pages today.

The book's creation was prompted in part by a technical change in the way the AP transmitted news as well as a need for consistency among a worldwide editorial staff that churned out stories for newspapers with a variety of style preferences

There have been major periodic revisions over the past few decades, the last in 2008, and the print edition is updated annually.

The 2009 AP Stylebook app is available for $28.99 from the App Store on iPhone and iPod touch or at http://www.itunes.com/appstore.

Annual releases for the application are set to coincide with the release dates for the Stylebook print edition.

Included in the original download price, 2009 AP Stylebook application users will automatically get an upgrade to the 2010 AP Stylebook app as soon as it becomes available.

This latest mobile offering complements the most recently updated Stylebook print edition released this spring and subscription-based AP Stylebook Online service.

The print edition and online service subscriptions can be ordered by credit card, check or AP assessment via the site at http://www.apstylebook.com/apbookstore.

The official Twitter account for the AP Stylebook, http://twitter.com/APStylebook, now has more than 18,000 followers, up from 6,000 just three months ago. The AP is reaching out to its Twitter followers to promote the application.

?Journalists are becoming more tech-savvy and tech folks are having to become writers, using blogs and such to promote their products,? said Colleen Newvine, manager of the Stylebook product group at the AP, New York. ?There?s an overlap between those two populations merging in the middle, which is a great place for Stylebook.

?The biggest group to which we sell the print Stylebook is college bookstores, with all of the journalism students buying it,? she said. ?This app is a great opportunity to reach out to college students who already get how to use apps and do so all day every day.?