For what began as a bookseller,  Amazon has grown into a sizeable and powerful empire, but what’s an empire without its own money? The web retailer has now introduced its own virtual currency, Amazon Coins.

To introduce customers to the product, Amazon has dumped 500 coins (worth $5) into the accounts of every new and existing Kindle Fire user for them to use for apps or in-app purchases, TechCrunch reports. 

“With discounts of up to 10 percent when you buy Coins, this is a great way for customers to save money when they buy apps, games and in-app items,” said Mike George, vice president of apps and games at Amazon, in a statement. “We will continue to add more ways to earn and spend Coins on a wider range of content and activities—today is Day One for Coins.” The more ways to bring in revenue, the better, right?Continue reading...

In its latest bid to become a multimedia platform, Twitter has officially announced Twitter #music, a web and app-based platform that allows users to stream trending music from the site. 

The company Jack Dorsey founded in 2006 now has over 200 million monthly users tweeting over 400 million time a day. After announcing multiple improvements to its API earlier this year, Twitter’s ad revenue is projected to generate $583 million this year and $1 billion in 2014, according to eMarketer. Now, as it builds channels to stream video content and music, the microblogger is setting itself up to become the golden-child of the emerging dual-screen media phenomenon. 

Rumored to have been soft-launched at California's Coachella festival, the Twitter #Music app is now available for download in the Apple App Store and can also be accessed on the web. “It uses Twitter activity, including Tweets and engagement, to detect and surface the most popular tracks and emerging artists," according to Twitter's blog. "It also brings artists’ music-related Twitter activity front and center: go to their profiles to see which music artists they follow and listen to songs by those artists. And, of course, you can tweet songs right from the app.”Continue reading...

Building up a brand has always been crucial to a business but the value has gone up even higher in the Internet age. The New York Times reports “brand experts and trademark lawyers say the value of simple, easily understood brand names has escalated in the Internet era because consumers are more likely to find such products while doing searches on the Web.”

Because of that, trademark fights have escalated, the Times notes, pointing to the trademark spat over the phrase "app store" by Microsoft, Apple, and Amazon.

But it is the smaller companies that have more stake in grabbing hold of those trademarks, the NYT points out, since the larger ones can attempt to crush the smaller — a legal tactic that some call "trademark bullying."Continue reading...

Apple's App Store is closing in on the 25 billion download mark, which the brand is celebrating with a contest that doesn't require actually downloading anything despite the invitation to “Download the 25 billionth app and you could win a US$10,000 App Store Gift Card.” At the very least, the online app counter on the Apple homepage is as fascinating to watch as those old flip-style airport flight information signs.

Most people use their iPhones for rather pedestrian purposes such as communicating with friends, browsing the Internet, and listening to music. However, the intersection of human nature and technology has always resulted in the proliferation of another powerful tendency: viewing porn.

And, unsurprisingly, a significant number of iPhone owners use the device for just that purpose – putting Apple, and its brand, in the unenviable position of having to make judgment calls on what is acceptable, and what is unacceptable, regarding iPhone apps. So, Apple announced that it would purge all “adult” iPhone applications from its App Store, sending many users in a nuddy rage.Continue reading...

Is it hot in here? Or is it just these car commercials? [Jalopnik]

TomTom slashes price on iPhone navigation app in wake of Droid. [DailyFinance]

Yahoo's "It's Y!ou" campaign drives internal adoption. [Business Insider]

Macy's, Amazon and Buy.com rated best e-tailer. [Consumerist]

Rumors abound, Editor & Publisher may get a second chance at life. [Gawker]

Smartphones have made paper planners obsolete. So what’s a girl to do when her business portfolio needs updating? If she’s Kate Spade she wises up and jumps on the digital bandwagon.

Made available for download in the iTunes App Store on Thursday, the Kate Spade New York Agenda features a daily fully-editable calendar styled in the traditional Kate Spade motif, a mapping feature, suggestions for stylish living, a curated guide to public events, private sale information, and secret sale alerts for iPhone and iPod touch users.Continue reading...