Author Solutions to Distribute Self-Published Titles on Scribd

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

Bloomington,
Ind. – Author Solutions, the
provider of a self-publishing service for authors, announced on Friday that it
has partnered with online publishing service Scribd for distribution. Under the
deal, all new Author Solutions titles published through its AuthorHouse,
iUniverse, Trafford Publishing and Xlibris imprints — as well as a portion of
the company’s backlist of more than 120,000 titles — will be made available for
purchase through Scribd. While authors may set their own prices, a default
price of $9.99 will be set and authors will receive 50% of net sales through
Scribd.


 

Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/ufh3h

http://www.authorsolutions.com

http://www.scribd.com

Winners of 13th Interactive Achievement Awards Announced

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

Las Vegas – The Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences
this week named winners of its 13th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards, with
Sony’s "Uncharted 2: Among Thieves" taking the title of Game of the Year,
along with nine other awards. The AIAS also honored Activision co-founder David
Crane with its first Pioneer Award, and Entertainment Software Association
founder Doug Lowenstein with the Lifetime Achievement Award. A full list of
winners is available at the link below.


 

Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/ufh60

http://www.interactive.org

TuneCore Adds Ringtone Distribution to iTunes Store

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

Brooklyn,
N.Y. – TuneCore, the provider of
a service that distributes independent artists’ tracks to digital retailers
like iTunes, on Friday launched a new service that will create and distribute
ringtones for sale on the iTunes iPhone ringtone store. TuneCore customers can
edit their own music into 5 to 30-second .wav clips and upload the clips to
TuneCore, which in turn will distribute the clips as ringtones across iTunes
stores in the U.S., Canada, Japan,
EU, Australia, New Zealand, Mexico
and the U.K.


 

Related Links:
http://www.tunecore.com

Zune Taps Music Reports for Music Rights Administration

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

Woodland Hills, Calif. – Music Reports, a provider of music rights
administration services, said this week that it has partnered with Microsoft,
and will administer the music publishing licensing and royalty accounting for
the Zune Pass
subscription service in the U.S.


 

Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/ufhc7

http://www.musicreports.com

Aspiro Launches Streaming Music Service in Norway

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

Oslo – Mobile
entertainment publisher Aspiro announced on Friday that it has launched its
streaming music service, in partnership with local media retail chain
Platekompaniet and Scandinavian telco Telenor. The WiMP service launches with
over 6.5 million songs, licensed from all four major labels and a number of
independents.


 

Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/ufgzk

http://www.aspiro.com

Fluent Mobile Raises $1.2 Million for Mobile News App

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

Boston – Fluent Mobile, a developer of
mobile applications, has raised about $1.2 million in venture capital, according
to a new filing by the company with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The
company’s Fluent News application delivers stories to mobile devices from
various news sources, including The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, USA
Today, The Washington Post, CNN, FOX News, BBC, ESPN, TMZ, and others.

The
newest version of Fluent News, released last December, is available free of
charge for iPhone and iPod touch users.

Boston-based Fluent Mobile was founded
in 2008.

 

Related Links:
http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1484301

http://www.fluentmobile.com

Report: Apple Pulling "Overtly Sexual" Content From App Store

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
1

Cupertino,
Calif. – Apple (NASD: AAPL) has begun removing
applications from the App Store for its iPhone and iPod touch that contain
"overtly sexual content," citing "numerous complaints from our
customers," TechCrunch reported.

Jon Atherton, developer of an application
called "Wobble iBoobs," received an email stating that the software
was being removed from the App Store as the result of a change in policy.

"We
have recently received numerous complaints from our customers about this type
of content, and have changed our guidelines appropriately," reads the
email sent by Apple to Atherton.

"We have decided to remove any overtly
sexual content from the App Store, which includes your application."

Both
TechCrunch and CNET found instances of other applications featuring adult
content that have been removed from the App Store.

"Whenever we receive
customer complaints about objectionable content we review them," an Apple
representative told CNET.

"If we find these apps contain inappropriate
material we remove them and request the developer make any necessary changes in
order to be distributed by Apple."

 

Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/ufgsm
(TechCrunch)

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13506_3-10456436-17.html

Yahoo Sees Spikes in Olympics-related Searches

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

Sunnyvale, Calif.
– Excitement about the ongoing Winter Olympics in Vancouver has caused major spikes in related
Internet searches this week, according to Yahoo (NASD: YHOO).

Among the most popular terms,
searches for "ice skating rinks" are up 607% — particularly among
teens — "red Olympic mittens" are up 182% and the "rules of
curling" are up more than 2,800%.

Individual athletes also have gotten a
lot of buzz, with gold medal skier Lindsey Vonn becoming the top searched athlete
on Yahoo.

Another popular athlete has been snowboarder Shaun White, with
searches for "Shaun White snowboarding" up more than 1,900%, and
related searches for "Flying Tomato" and "Carrot Top" also
seeing significant spikes.

Speedskater Apolo Ohno also has piqued the interest
of Internet users, who have driven searches for "Apolo Ohno
girlfriend" up 1,210%.

 

Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/ufgey

Report: Google Attacks Emanated From Schools in China

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
4

Mountain View, Calif. – A series of cyber attacks targeting Google (NASD:  GOOG) and
other U.S. companies
emanated from a pair of schools in China, The New York Times reported,
citing people involved in the investigation. The paper also reported that the
sophisticated attacks, revealed by Google last month, may have started several
months earlier than previously thought.

Investigators believe that the hacks originated
from Shanghai Jiaotong
University and the Lanxiang Vocational School,
and aimed to steal trade secrets and computer codes, as well as emails from
Chinese human rights activists.

Jiaotong is considered to have one of the
world’s foremost computer science programs, recently beating out schools such
as Stanford in IBM’s "Battle
of the Brains" programming competition.

Lanxiang, meanwhile, trains
computer scientists for the Chinese military.

 

Related Links:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/19/technology/19china.html

E-book Tools Developer Vook Lands $2.5 Million

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
1

Alameda,
Calif. – Vook, a developer of
e-book tools that allow publishers to integrate text, video, pictures, social
media and links, said on Friday that it has raised $2.5 million in a new round
of seed funding.

Investors included Ron Conway; Kenneth Lerer, chairman of the
Huffington Post; Maples Investments; Baseline Ventures and Founder Collective.

The company plans to use the proceeds to accelerate growth in all areas of its
business in 2010.

Since its formal launch last fall, Alameda, Calif.-based Vook
has formed publishing relationships with Simon & Schuster, HarperStudio and
Hachette Filipacchi Media U.S., and announced titles with bestselling writers
including Seth Godin and Anne Rice.

"We believe we’re bringing Vook to
market at the exact right time to help transform an industry, drive creativity
and create a whole new media experience for consumers," said Brad Inman,
the founder and CEO of Vook.

 

Related Links:
http://snipurl.com/uffy3

http://www.vook.com  

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