The Associated Press is an international news agency famous for their wire stories. Now, they are one of the forerunners in bringing native news applications to the iPhone with their app, AP Mobile.

One of the coolest aspects to AP Mobile is that it allows you to customize the news that you see on the front page. You can choose which sections are visible and the order that they are displayed. Of course, other sections are visible by going to the ‘Categories’ tab and drilling down to the specified content.

The Associated Press also pulls in local news stories and weather. You can either input your zip code or have it use the iPhone’s location services. In fact, you can even add multiple zip codes for even more information.

AP Mobile also comes feature-rich for sharing stories and information. For instance, you can share a story by text message, e-mail, Twitter, Facebook, or Evernote. If you want, AP Mobile also allows you to save and rate stories on a 5-star scale. Introduced with the new 3.0 software update, Push Notifications can now be activated to send you breaking news when not accessing AP Mobile directly.

As a news application, AP Mobile is great. It’s a fully customizable experience that will suit the needs of most. Plus, it’s free and worth the download. See it now in the app store.

Here’s a look at this week’s top Apple-related headlines:

• Check iPhone 3GS availability online
• Apple responds to controversy over porn in app store
• White iPhone 3GS overheats, turns colors?
• Javascript benchmarks: iPhone vs.T-Mo G1 vs. Pre
• AppleTV update allows for gestures on Remote app
• iPhone 3GS costs $178.96 in parts?
• Apple updates Time Capsule, Airport firmware, Final Cut Pro
• Steve Jobs had liver transplant, back at Apple?
• New iPod Touch referenced in 3.0
• Macbook Pro and iMac firmware updates released, fixes slower SATA speeds
• Apple sells 1m+ iPhone 3GS in first weekend
• Apple gives $30 iTunes credit for faulty iPhone 3GS activations

This week’s iBAM posts:

• iPhone App Spotlight: Ambiance
• Pilot Episode

Do you wish that you could fall asleep to the sounds of ocean waves, or relax to the soothing tunes of trickling water? Well, with the iPhone and Ambiance Classic, this wish can easily be granted.

There are numerous sounds that can be played, some of which include ‘Coast’, ;City’, ‘Birds – Forest’, ‘Rain – Wind’, and ‘Waterfall’. These noises can be selected and played, or combined for a custom experience.

Timers and Alarms are an additional aspect to Ambiance Classic that allow one to select how long to play the sounds for and when to stop, and even what to do once the effects have stopped. Custom volume controls can also be added for after and during timers.

Ambiance Classic is one of a series of three applications. Ambiance is the second revision that replaced Ambiance Classic, that comes with a new interface, hundreds of new sounds, and many other features. The third version is known as ‘Ambiance Lite’ that is restricted to five sounds.

All three versions of Ambiance are available in the AppStore, for $2.99, $0.99, and free, respectively.