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This is one of those times when you see the news and think to yourself, Wait, they just got that? Comixology—the biggest digital comics distribution platform and the service that powers the official apps of Marvel, DC, Image, and other publishers—finally has subscriptions. It also got the digital version of graphic novels, finally, for good measure.
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Last month, Marvel attempted to give away over 700 digital comics for free within a short period of time, which the outcome didn’t exactly go as smooth as they had originally anticipated. It looks like the company doesn’t want to disappoint its fans and new, potential customers as they’re going to give it another try.
Those who are interested in taking Marvel up on their offer of over 700 #1 issues will have from now up until midnight ET tomorrow (4/9/13) to sign up to receive invites from the company. The invites will be used as a way to control just how many people are downloading their free comics so they don’t fumble the process of giving away their comics again. Once you completed the signup process, you’ll be able to start your download spree this Thursday. (more…)
By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Micromax A115 Canvas 3D Images Make Their Way Online, Samsung Galaxy S2 i9100P, Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus Start To Receive Android Jelly Bean, 
Marvel’s Digital Comics Unlimited finally made its way to iOS last week which makes it possible to read any of their comics that are at least 6 months old for a monthly subscription. Today, Marvel is announcing something we’re sure a number of both hardcore comic book fans and casual fans can take advantage of.
Marvel is giving away over 700 of its first-issue comics digitally through the company’s browser-based Marvel Digital Comics Shop as well as through its official mobile application, which is currently available on iOS and Android.
Considering comics tend to cost somewhere between $1.99 and $3.99, that’s quite the giveaway as the company is set to lose over $1400 just for one person downloading 700 of the issues. Since all of them will probably spark an interest in possibly buying additional copies of a particular series, Marvel could also easily recoup its losses with very little effort. (more…)
By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Google Improves Gmail Mobile Web To Adopt Gmail 2.0 for iOS UI, Google Field Trip Helps iOS Users Learn More About Their World,
Marvel’s new Project Gamma is the answer to a pretty simple question: What if comics had their own soundtracks? More »
For comic book readers, smartphones and tablets have introduced ways to interact with their favorite comic book series without having to go out and buy a new one every time an issue is released. Having all of your comics available to read on your smartphone or tablet devices is certainly a treat, although buying them individually doesn’t make it a cheap hobby.
Marvel is announcing today it’s subscription-based Marvel Unlimited, which offers access to the company’s catalog of over 13,000 published comics that span a period of over 70 years, is now available for iOS. The subscription costs $10 a month or $60 for a yearly subscription, although in order for newer comics to be included in the Marvel Unlimited subscription, it needs to be available for six months, which we know could put a damper on your weekly comic book discussions with your friends at your local Applebees.
Marvel’s original comic book app will continue doing what it does as its purpose is to deliver new comics in a digital format, although we hope one day Marvel decides to bring both apps together into one unstoppable comic book-serving application.
By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Google Maps for iOS Receives Local Business, Friends Search Feature, New iPad And iPhone 5S Pegged For April And August Release [Rumor],
There’s one thing every comic fan has been yelling about for years: Why isn’t there a subscription service that lets you pay for an all-you-can-eat monthly dose of comics? Marvel just did it. Marvel Unlimited, formerly MDCU, is on iPads and iPhones now. More »
PSP Comic Store, we hardly knew ye. No really, we hardly knew ye — which is probably why Sony is warning PSP owners that its comic book portal is shutting down after October 30th. Come Hallowe’en, we’ll lose the option to download the necessary app or buy additional titles. Any currently owned comics will be available to download again until mid-January, but readers will be on their own to preserve existing libraries after that. Outside of Japan, that creates significant problems for literary PlayStation fans: while PS Vita owners in Sony’s home country will get a Manga store and reader in October, there’s no equivalent crutch for other countries (or any PSP owners) at this stage. The console maker is non-committal and says there’s nothing it can discuss “at the moment,” which to us is a hint that we shouldn’t plan our reading hours around a PSP or PS Vita in the near future.
[Thanks, Sooraj]
Filed under: Gaming
Sony shuts down PSP Comic Store after October 30th, leaves most of us in the lurch for now originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 30 Sep 2012 08:49:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Amazon, like its competitor Netflix, has been making some moves to increase the amount of exclusive, original content under its brand. Today it took one more step in that direction with the news that Amazon Studios will be launching its first self-commissioned digital comic, a version of the Blackburn Burrow Civil War story. The first copy is now free in the Kindle store.
Originally a screenplay from Jay Levy from December 2010, the story is also being used by Amazon to try something else: more crowdsourced creation. The company says that the idea to launch the digital comic comes out of its own community feedback, which is so essential to Amazon’s whole business model in the form of user reviews, and is now being introduced around the work coming out of Amazon Studios. The project, it says, will be used to continue to gather additional feedback to decide whether it should then develop the Levy screenplay into a full motion picture, which would also be developed by Amazon Studios.
This means that Amazon will be able to test how many people will put their money where their mouths are when it comes to consuming the stuff they say they would like to consume. (And it also helps it drum up some PR for the brand, giving them a headstart on the whole franchise opportunity.)
The news comes at the same time that Amazon is rolling out a series of new tablets and e-readers under its Kindle brand (including the Kindle Fire HD, which we reviewed yesterday). This is the first time that the Fire tablets will be making their way outside of the U.S., although it looks like the Blackburn Burrow content will for now only be in English.
It also comes at a relatively high water time for digital comics, which have been given a big boost from the rise in popularity of tablets. In July, digital comic book aggregator and storefront ComiXology said it had surpassed 75 million downloads.
Amazon Studios is commissioning the Blackburn Burrow digital comic, which will be released in installations over the next four months, from 12 Gauge Comics. 12 Gauge is working with Ron Marz (a big name in comics, penning the copy for titles like Green Lantern and Batman/Aliens) and Matthew Dow Smith (the big-name illustrator behind Doctor Who, X-Men Icons, and more) to “shape the story and look” of the comic.
And it looks like it will be the beginning of a longer-term testing format for Amazon. “Beyond entertaining lots of comic fans, we see value in digital comics as a new way to test screenplays and learn more about fan engagement,” Roy Price, director of Amazon Studios, said in a statement.
Like other projects that come out of Amazon Studios, the company is going to keep the crowdsourced element strong it continues to produce the series. With each new issue of Blackburn Burrow, Amazon will release a poll to let readers give more feedback and comments on the work.
Full release below.
Amazon Studios Turns Supernatural Horror Tale “Blackburn Burrow” into Digital Comic to Test Story with Audiences
SEATTLE–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Sep. 12, 2012– (NASDAQ: AMZN) — Amazon Studios, the original content arm of Amazon.com, Inc., is introducing an all-new digital comic book today – Blackburn Burrow, a story set in Civil War America where supernatural horrors are infesting a small Appalachian town in Northern Georgia. Blackburn Burrow first came to Amazon Studios in the form of a feature film screenplay from writer Jay Levy. Community feedback, gathered from Amazon Studios’ crowdsourcing model, triggered the idea for the popular project to be adapted into a digital comic that would be shared with audiences for feedback and tested for viability as a major motion picture.The Blackburn Burrow digital comic looks and reads like a traditional book and is available for free through a variety of sites and platforms including top digital comic provider Graphicly, as well as AmazonStudios.com, Amazon Studios Facebook page and the Kindle Store. For more information on how to get the comic, visit www.amazonstudios.com or search for Blackburn Burrow in the Kindle Store.
Amazon Studios’ Blackburn Burrow digital comic book is produced by 12 Gauge Comics, which teamed with renowned comics writer Ron Marz (Silver Surfer, Green Lantern, Marvel vs. DC, Batman/Aliens) and veteran illustrator Matthew Dow Smith (Doctor Who, X-Men Icons, Mirror’s Edge, Day of Judgment) to shape the story and look of the comic.
“This is a very exciting new venture for Amazon Studios. Beyond entertaining lots of comic fans, we see value in digital comics as a new way to test screenplays and learn more about fan engagement,” said Roy Price, Director of Amazon Studios. “The 12 Gauge team has done beautiful work on the Blackburn Burrow digital comic and we are thrilled to share it with audiences to see how they react to the story of Blackburn Burrow.”
Like movie and episodic series projects that exist within Amazon Studios, the public will have the opportunity to provide feedback and direction on Blackburn Burrow as the story continues to unfold. The entire Blackburn Burrow comic will be released over a period of four months with new issues coming out every four weeks. Each release will be accompanied by a poll (www.blackburnburrowsurvey.com) related to content in that issue that encourages readers to give feedback and provide comments.
About Blackburn Burrow
In Blackburn Burrow, Mister is a legendary fighter rumored to take on the strange and supernatural. When a Union general requests his help in investigating the disappearance of a group of his soldiers from a small town in the South, Mister initially declines, refusing to get involved in the politics between the North and the South. Mister’s interest, however, is piqued when the last contact with these soldiers referenced the walking dead and a man Mister has been tracking all his life, the man who brought him into this world. Mister teams with Merrin, a young female survivor, to stop an ancient uprising and discover the family secret that connects his past to the small town of Blackburn Burrow.
About Amazon Studios
Amazon Studios is Amazon’s content development division that uses audience feedback to develop great, original entertainment customers will love. Since its launch in November 2010, more than 10,000 movie scripts and 1,800 series pilot scripts have been submitted to Amazon Studios. Currently, 17 film projects and nine series are in development. For more information about Amazon Studios, visit http://studios.amazon.com.
About Amazon.com
Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN), a Fortune 500 company based in Seattle, opened on the World Wide Web in July 1995 and today offers Earth’s Biggest Selection. Amazon.com, Inc. seeks to be Earth’s most customer-centric company, where customers can find and discover anything they might want to buy online, and endeavors to offer its customers the lowest possible prices. Amazon.com and other sellers offer millions of unique new, refurbished and used items in categories such as Books; Movies, Music & Games; Digital Downloads; Electronics & Computers; Home & Garden; Toys, Kids & Baby; Grocery; Apparel, Shoes & Jewelry; Health & Beauty; Sports & Outdoors; and Tools, Auto & Industrial. Amazon Web Services provides Amazon’s developer customers with access to in-the-cloud infrastructure services based on Amazon’s own back-end technology platform, which developers can use to enable virtually any type of business. Kindle Paperwhite is the most-advanced e-reader ever constructed with 62% more pixels and 25% increased contrast, a patented built-in front light for reading in all lighting conditions, extra-long battery life, and a thin and light design. The new latest generation Kindle, the lightest and smallest Kindle, now features new, improved fonts and faster page turns. Kindle Fire HD features a stunning custom high-definition display, exclusive Dolby audio with dual stereo speakers, high-end, laptop-grade Wi-Fi with dual-band support and dual-antennas/MIMO for 40% faster throughput than other tablets, enough storage for HD content, and the latest generation processor and graphics engine—and it is available in two display sizes—7” and 8.9”. The all-new Kindle Fire features a faster processor for 40% faster performance, twice the memory, and longer battery life.
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