Google Play has expanded into nine more European countries, including Denmark, Czech Republic, Finland, Greece, Hungary, Netherlands, Poland, Romania, and Sweden, bringing the total to 26. The NYT’s Bits Blog writes up its impressions of BookVibe, a book recommendation service created by fledgling startup Parakweet that “basically analyzes the tweets of accounts that you follow on Twitter and compiles a list of book recommendations based on which titles those people are talking about.” (BookVibe emerged out of BEA’s Publishing Hackathon earlier this summer.) Parakweet recently raised $2 million in seed funding for this and other services (including TrendFinder, for movie […]
Apps/iOS
People, Etc.
Editor-in-chief at School Library Journal Rebecca Miller has been promoted to editorial director of Library Journals, with added responsibility of LJ as well. Current editor-in-chief of LJ Michael Kelley is leaving the company. At Morrow/Avon, Emily Krump has been promoted to editor. At the Gernert Company, Anna Worrall has been promoted to the newly created position of Marketing & Social Media Manager. Israeli author Yoram Kaniuk, 83, died Saturday in Tel Aviv. Kaniuk wrote more than 30 books, including THE ACROPHILE (1960), ADAM RESURRECTED (1968), adapted into the 2008 movie of the same name, and 1948 (2010), published in the […]
Nook Adds Google Apps; Has Sold 10 Million Devices
After more disappointing device sales over the 2012 holidays, Barnes & Noble ceo William Lynch promised investors “we’re not going to continue doing what we’re doing; we’re doing to adjust quickly.” At the time, Lynch also noted the company had concluded that “larger technology brands have more resonance in that multifunction tablet world than we do.” So the company has announced a linkage with another big technology brand — Google — which lets the Nook HD tablets serve as Google tablets, too. Through apps they are adding the Google Play media experience, as well as “popular Google services like the […]
Perseus and WME Sponsor Book Discovery App “Hackathon”
Perseus and William Morris Endeavor are organizing a content to help motivate programmers to develop some kind of digital innovation–a web site, app or widget–to help expose booklovers to new book titles online. A 36-hour Publishing Hacka-thon will begin May 18 at co-working space The Alley NYC. The finalists will move on to a presentation at BEA, judgd by Perseus ceo David Steinberger, William Morris Endeavor’s Jennifer Rudolph Walsh, and Stephen Evans at private equity firm Silver Lake (which owns a stake in WME). The prize is $10,000, and a pitch meeting with WME’s ceo Ari Emanuel. Crains
Corporate: HMH Buys Tribal Nova; Penguin Partners with Mind Candy; Amazon Defends “Heavy Investments”
Two new acquisitions highlight publishers’ increasing interest in game development. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt announced they acquired Montreal-based educational technology company Tribal Nova, which develops digital games, products and services for pre-school children. The Tribal Nova team will continue to operate out of Montreal, though they will be absorbed into HMH’s Content and Product Innovation group, dedicated to the incubation and development of next-generation content for both K-12 and consumer markets. “The combination of Tribal Nova’s game development expertise with HMH’s proven educational content and learning design capabilities will enable HMH to bring a more holistic and personalized gaming experience to market,” […]
eNews: Bug in Amazon’s Latest iOS App Update Erases Users’ Libraries; Free Kindle Book Affiliate Sites Get Crackdown
Amazon has warned users not to download the latest version of its iOS Kindle app because of a bug that deletes existing libraries from your device and can “deregister” the user. The iTunes page now includes a note that says, “There is a known issue with this update. If you are an existing Kindle for iOS user, we recommend you do not install this update at this time.” An Amazon spokesperson told Mashable, “To register, enter your Amazon account e-mail address and password and all your Amazon content will be available in the cloud. We have submitted an update fix […]