Acquia and Lullabot, a Drupal strategy, training and development company, announced that Lullabot’s Drupalize.Me training is now available through Acquia Network. The Acquia Network provides developers and site builders with answers, tools, and support for creating, extending, and maintaining extraordinary web experiences on Drupal. It will now offer access to Drupalize.Me video tutorials and training presentations as part of the Acquia Professional and Enterprise subscriptions. Basic and Developer level subscribers can try Drupalize.Me for one month for US $1.00. Drupalize.Me is a convenient way to learn Drupal, providing instant access to an unrivaled library of Drupal training from top-tier experts, streamed to your computer, tablet, or smart phone. More than 335 high-quality, in-depth videos are currently available, with over 140 hours of training — and new videos are being added every month. Drupalize.Me offers practical information that both beginner and experienced developers can understand and apply immediately. Acquia also announced the addition of four other new services for Acquia Network: Insight, which provides enhanced Drupal monitoring capabilities; SEO Grader, an SEO analysis tool; Blitz, which tests websites’ abilities to handle high traffic loads; and Acquia Apps Market – an API and store for third-party applications for Drupal available in Q4 2011. http://acquia.com
Category: Publishing & media (Page 17 of 52)
Microsoft is discontinuing Microsoft Reader effective August 30, 2012, which includes download access of the Microsoft Reader application from the Microsoft Reader website. However, customers may continue to use and access the Microsoft Reader application and any .lit materials on their PCs or devices after the discontinuation on August 30, 2012. New content for purchase from retailers in the .lit format will be discontinued on November 8, 2011. http://www.microsoft.com/reader/
Google announced that they made a new feature for users to share the books they are reading on the new Google+ social network. Any book on Google books, whether it is a free or paid book, can be shared with your Circles. This feature allows one to share books, passages and details, such as cover art and the description, with friends. To share a book, visit the “About the Book” page on the Google Book listing and click “Share.” While sharing books, one can also “+1” them, and the titles will appear in on the Google+ profile under the +1 tab. http://books.google.com/
Platinum Equity announced that it has acquired Quark, a provider of publishing software for professional designers and enterprise organizations. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Based in Denver, Colo., Quark provides a set of software applications targeted at creative professionals and the enterprise dynamic publishing market. These tools are components in a value chain of software products that enable the creation, management, publication, and delivery of content across a variety of media including print, email, web, social media, and the next generation of e-reader, tablet and mobile devices such as the iPad. http://www.quark.com/ http://www.platinumequity.com/
Ixxus announced the launch of its Social Content Platform for users of the Alfresco Enterprise Content Management (ECM) system. The Ixxus Social Content Platform features out-of-the-box integration with existing social media services such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and LinkedIn, meaning that users can create a central repository based on Alfresco for managing both their traditional and now social content. Through being able to disseminate and access information quickly and in a consistent manner via a single platform, organisations can improve both brand awareness and customer loyalty, as well as create revenue opportunities. The Ixxus Social Content Platform offers users a number of features including— Integrated social content publishing; Central management of feedback; Review and publish workflow; Integrated Reporting; as well as a full history of published content across networks. http://www.ixxus.com/
Amazon plans to release a tablet computer by October, people familiar with the matter said according to the Wall Street Journal. While Amazon has long offered digital content on its website, it’s hardware focus has been content-limited Kindle eReaders. As Amazon attempts to enter streaming video and other “richer” media markets, it sounds logical that they start selling their own hardware which can support and tie-in with these services (as they had done with the Kindle). The details of the Amazon tablet still remain vague before it’s official announcement, but it is expected to run on the Android OS and is not expected to have features such as a camera. http://www.amazon.com/
Fry Communications, which offers print production solutions, and Godengo, provider of an online platform for magazine publishers, have announced a new strategic partnership. As part of the agreement, the two companies will cross promote each other’s services and work together on innovative, multichannel solutions to help publishers reach their readers in print and online. This partnership reflects Fry’s continuing commitment to provide its customers readily deployable and scalable digital publishing and workflow options, which now include mobile offerings through the ThumbMedia Group, rich media solutions through Trifecta Interactive Productions, workflow solutions through Aysling Digital Media Solutions, and Fry’s own Web-based buyer’s guides. http://www.frycomm.com/ http://www.godengo.com/
PW Daily, in an article “Montlake Romance Marks Tip of Amazon’s Expansion Into Publishing,” by Rachel Deahl (May 04, 2011), reports that Amazon is establishing an imprint—actually, a series of imprints—that pushes Amazon further along the path of becoming a publisher itself. In fact, Amazon is far enough along this path to declare them a publisher, fait accompli.
The recent Amazon activity at least suggests a disintermediation of traditional publishers. I’ve addressed this topic in more depth in the blog entry, The Amazon Publisher.
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