NI to launch new online service - The Guardian

News International is developing mobile services dedicated to sport and showbiz. Photograph: Jay Directo/AFP/Getty Images

A new online and mobile service dedicated to sport and showbiz is to be launched in the wake of the closure of the News of the World by Rupert Murdoch's News International.

Twenty-one jobs have been advertised internally for a new "digital journalism company" with 19 editorial positions – seven in sport, seven in showbiz, three in multimedia and two in production.

Former News of the World staff suspect the company wants to get a slice of the celebrity market that has been successfully exploited by the Daily Mail.

The Mail's online offering is significantly different to its print product, with its mix of paparazzi photos and celebrity gossip a huge traffic driver in the past three years. It is now the UK's number one national newspaper site with 70 million monthly users.

News International's Tom Mockridge told staff earlier this week that the company was developing a digital business that would create 21 jobs, but he did not expand on what he meant.

It is understood the team is being assembled to develop services for online as well as applications for smartphones and tablets.

One source said: "The online department has been criticised for not being able to build apps fast enough. This could be their attempt to beef up NI's app presence. So they could do a Mail online-style showbiz app, soccer app etc and come up with one-off apps related to major events, Olympics, royal weddings etc."

The company refused to say if it was launching a standalone product – the Sun already has a showbiz app for its Bizarre column, so it is unlikely to develop another.

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Vogue and Conde Nast Launch Another Social Media Tool, but Do We Really Need It?

It’s not exactly a secret that Conde Nast has been a little late to the whole Internet thing. Look no further than the fact that their most famous fashion title–Vogue, in case you weren’t sure–only got a dot com a few years ago. So it makes sense the famed publisher is trying to make up for lost time.

Today Conde Nast launched new social media tool “Social Sidekick.” The in-house developed tool works as an aggregator for most-shared content from W, Style.com, Glamour, Self, Teen Vogue and Lucky. It sounds sort of fancy but all it actually means is that on those sites there will be a window at the bottom of the page, which splashes out popular content from the aforementioned sister sites–basically, it’s an aggregator like any other aggregator on any other site. It’s not a bad idea–especially from the advertising perspective–but it’s certainly not groundbreaking, or as Business Insider says, “It’s nice to look at, but it won’t make a big difference to the bottom line.”

It was also reported today on WWD, that Conde Nast (International) will launch yet another app–this time for London FNO. This, and the Social Sidekick, are only the latest in a long string of digital developments at the publishing house, including an FNO NYC app, launching Voguepedia, implementing mobile codes in their biggest titles, the mysterious new digital property (a Vogue archive?), and in a weird reversal, launching a Style.com print magazine. This isn’t even to mention all the iPad and mobile apps that the publishing house has rolled out in the past year or two.

But while we commend Conde for their tremendous effort, and are excited for many of the new developments (Voguepedia, hello!), some of this smells at least a little like a gimmick-style tactic–an attempt to get people to click by slapping on some newfangled digital “tool.” Or is Vogue just trying to figure it all out, like the rest of the traditional media world? What do you think? Are you excited to try their new gadgets?

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Kendra Wilkinson Glams Up "Scarface" Blu-Ray Launch

Posted Wednesday August 24, 2011 12:34 PM GMT

Turning up for an evening on the red carpet, Kendra Wilkinson was on-hand for the Blu-Ray release of “Scarface” in Los Angeles, CA on Tuesday night (August 23).

The “Kendra” reality TV star was joined by hubby Hank Baskett while looking fabulous in a floral dress and nude heels as she turned heads at the Belasco Theater.

Ahead of the premiere, Ms Kendra tweeted, “On our way to a tribute to the movie "Scarface". Definitely my type of event!”

Shortly after the movie soiree, the 26-year-old former Playboy hottie added, “wow what an event...now that was a reason to party!! :-)”

Enjoy the pictures of Kendra Wilkinson and Hank Baskett at the Scarface" On Blu-ray launch party (August 23).

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Club Monaco to Launch E-commerce For Spring 2012, Plus a Look at the Collection

Club Monaco dipped their toes into online retail last year when Shopbop started selling a selection of their wares, but next year the retailer is finally launching their own e-commerce shop!

Eight months ago, Ann Watson, Club Monaco’s vice president of marketing and communications, told WWD of their Shopbop collab, “This came from a pure consumer demand. We get daily requests for online shopping and we want to satisfy our customers and bring it to them in a very special way.” Our expectations are high for the brand’s e-commerce efforts–Club Monaco has always been very strategic about marketing (hence the Shopbop test) and most likely put a lot of planning into the launch. Plus, their website is already awesome.

Spring 2012 will be the first collection available to shop online and we already have pics and all the scoop on what’s in store for January, February and March. The inspiration was a trip down the coastline of California, from north to south. Click through for our favorite looks.

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