Cloudscaling is an elastic cloud computing company that has raised $10 million in funding from Trinity Ventures, Juniper Networks, and Seagate Technologies.  Cloudscaling offers an OpenStack-powered cloud infrastructure system for large organizations, SMBs, and software-as-a-service companies.

Last month, Cloudscaling launched Open Cloud system (OCS) 2.5, which was integrated with Juniper’s virtual network control (VNC) technology known as JunosV Contrail.  This signaled that the companies had a partnership already in place before the investment was made official.  Cloudscaling also recently joined the Seagate Cloud Builder Alliance Partner program to focus on developing optimized storage solutions for OpenStack.  Some of CloudScaling customers include LivingSocial, EVault, and Ubisoft.

“This financing round caps a tremendous year of momentum for the company,” stated Cloudscaling CEO Michael Grant. “That momentum affirms the voice of the market, clearly stating that customers want more than OpenStack. They want an on-premise, OpenStack-based private or public cloud turnkey system solution that delivers architectural and behavioral fidelity with major public clouds like Amazon Web Services. Our Open Cloud System product delivers on that need to enable hybrid cloud application deployments that span private and public cloud services.”

Amazon.com has launched a new service that will allow fan fiction authors to monetize their work called Amazon Kindle Worlds.  Kindle Worlds rewards writers and the original rights holders for new fiction that is based on existing characters and stories.  When an author creates works that are at least 10,000 words in length will receive 35% of the net revenue based on the sales price with royalties paid every month.  Authors that write shorter stories between 5,000 and 10,000 words will receive a digital royalty of 20% based on the sales price.

Amazon has signed up Warner Brothers Television Group’s Alloy Entertainment division as their pilot partner.  Writers Cecily von Ziegesar (Gossip Girl), Sara Shepard (Pretty Little Liars), and L.J. Smith (Vampire Diaries) are working with Amazon on this program.  Amazon is going to announce more licensing agreements soon with a focus on books, TV shows, movies, music, and other games.  Kindle Worlds is opening in June with over 50 stories, many of them from award-winning authors.

“Our goal with Kindle Worlds is to create a home for authors to build on the Worlds we license, and give readers more stories from the Worlds they enjoy,” stated Philip Patrick, director of business development and publisher of Kindle Worlds. “We look forward to announcing additional World licensing deals in the coming weeks.”

“While existing social platforms have focused on connecting people and all provide finite ways for interacting online, we’ve focused on how people interact – providing an ever-growing variety of rich and playful ways for our users to express themselves.  Born out of the acknowledgement that users want to be more expressive, Urturn is the next natural step for social media,” stated Urturn CEO Stelio Tzonis.  “We believe our mobile app will make Urturn more accessible and enable people to share Expressions more spontaneously.”

Urturn formerly used to be known as Webdoc.  The company allows users to share multimedia collages with images, videos, text, and audio.  Some celebrities that have used Urturn for campaigns include One Direction, 50 Cent, and Alicia Keys.

“We’re not charging for the promotional campaigns just as Twitter and Facebook are not charging for tweets or posts,” added Tzonis. “Today, musicians don’t get promoted or do any monetzation on Urturn. But it has been really encouraging to get such a positive response from the music industry and we’re excited to see how other industries such as fashion will use it to engage with the user community.”

Urturn plans on using the funding to develop their product and continue growing the business.

GiftCards.com, one of the top gift card websites, has acquired a startup called Giftly.  The terms of the acquisition was undisclosed.  Based in San Francisco, California, Giftly lets users send gift credits to recipients based on their location when redeeming a gift rather than issuing plastic cards.

“Digital and mobile gifting is the future of the industry and we have invested heavily in patenting technologies in this space” stated GiftCards.com CEO Jason Wolfe. “The Giftly acquisition is a logical and exciting step into building the industry’s future with an established partner in the fast-growing m-commerce space.”

GiftCards.com was founded in 1999 and has a strong position in the plastic and digital card space.  Giftly will be integrated into the GiftCards.com organization, but will maintain their presence in San Francisco.  Prior to the acquisition, Giftly raised $2.8 million in funding from Baseline Ventures, SoftTech VC, Floodgate, Thrive Capital, and David Tisch.

Last year, the Justice Department accused Apple and five e-book publishers of price collusion as a way to compete against Amazon.com’s e-book marketplace. The five publishers that were involved in that case included Simon & Schuster, Hachette Book Group, Penguin Group (USA), Macmillan, and HarperCollins Publishers Inc.

The book publishers did not like that Amazon.com was selling some of the best sellers for $9.99 to encourage consumers to buy the Kindle.  The publishers feared that this model would lead to consumers getting accustomed to buying books for cheap.

Pearson denied any wrongdoing in the past in terms of e-book pricing, but they decided to settle so that they could move forward with the Random House merger.  That merger was announced this past October.

Penguin also said that they committed to the state attorneys to abide by the terms agreed upon with the Justice Department.

ZALORA

The investment from Tengelmann Group is strategic since that company is one of the largest European retail companies with 4,000 stores in 15 countries and employing around 80,000 people.  Tengelmann sees around 10 billion euros in turnover according to TheNextWeb.

ZALORA recently delivered their one millionth order after launching one year ago.  ZALORA operates in 9 countries: Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei, the Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, Taiwan, and Hong Kong.  The company has products from 500 local and international brands and employs 1,000 people.  ZALORA has been using the funding to increase their presence in more countries and invest in their logistics.  The company also recently launched an iOS app.

The company does not disclose how much in revenue they are generating, but it is in the “double-digit million USD.”  Mobile sales make up around 25% of the total.

“Our company is one of the fastest growing e-commerce companies in South-East Asia and has bright prospects,” stated ZALORA Managing Director Michele Ferrario. “It is an honor for us that investors of such great repute have invested into an e-commerce company as young as ZALORA. Our goal is to continue serving up world-class products and services, so everyone in South-East Asia can benefit.”

“Apple obtained the Galaxy S4 on April 27 and immediately began its infringement analysis, including Samsungs customizations of the Android Jelly Bean platform, covering the eight asserted patents,” said Apple in the filing. “That analysis revealed that the Galaxy S4 infringes five of Apples asserted patents in the same ways as Samsungs already accused products.”

Apple said that the S4 is infringing on two patents that are related to user interfaces, two related to Siri, and one related to data synchronization.  Apple said that the infringement analysis focuses on Google’s functionality that Samsung incorporates into their devices.  The two Siri related patents have to do with Google Now.

Apple has been reviewing confidential source code made available for inspection by the two companies since June 2012 to determine if Samsung and Google was violating their patents.  Apple said that they encountered problems with the review because Samsung made the source code available for inspection on computers connected to a live copy of Samsung’s development servers in Korea.  The servers that Apple was provided with the source code for released versions and also provided them with a window of the ongoing development process.  This made the review process complicated.  There was constantly-changing versions of unreleased source code and works-in-progress provided to Apple, reported PCWorld.

Apple also said that there were server outages and delays in downloading the source code, which prevented them from reviewing the relevant accused code.  Apple and Samsung finally agreed to make a local copy of around 1.9TB of source code available to Apple.  Apple also asked Samsung to correlate their source code with the “accused products.”  Apple was able to match their analysis of the source code produced by Samsung to those products as well.

This is Blue Coat’s fourth acquisition with the last one taking place earlier this month.  Blue Coat acquired SSL technology from Netronome on May 9th.  The acquisition of the SSL appliance product line from Netronome will complement the Solera acquisition.  Solera and Netronome worked together in the past where Solera integrated their monitoring technology into Netronome’s products in order to target encrypted traffic.

“The future of the industry is moving beyond just blocking malware and stopping targeted attacks to also identifying and resolving the full scope of the attacks in real time,” stated Blue Coat CEO Greg Clark. “Retrospective capture and analytics are now an essential component of modern security architecture, and Solera has pioneered this field, creating a DVR for the network that records traffic and allows customers to easily mine that information.”

Solera and Blue Coat will now have a user base of about 75 million users across 15,000 enterprise customers.  Together they will cover around 86% of the Fortune Global 500.

The MessageMe app allows Android and iOS users to message each other with pictures, doodles, videos, music, and location information.  The chats can involve groups as well.

“We’ve got some groundbreaking additions in the pipeline, aiming to change the way we look at communication happening in our world.  We’re excited to help lead a team that pushes the envelope on what’s possible, while focusing on first-class products,” said MessageMe in a blog post.

ExpertCircle uses testimonials of authenticated professionals and leverages expert endorsements and reviews to recommend tailored products in categories like business insurance, productivity software, and HR tools. ExpertCircle should provide reassurance to businesses by knowing that they can discover the best products and vendors for their businesses very quickly.  Products can be categorized by subjects (accounting/HR/real estate) and specific industries (retail/restaurant/healthcare).

“Millions of small businesses utilize Docstoc each month, and they’re constantly telling us that they need help determining which products are the most valuable to help them reach their business goals,” stated Docstoc founder and CEO Jason Nazar. “Most small business owners rely on word of mouth for business advice; with ExpertCircle we’re incorporating the ability for those same professionals to share their personal endorsements on a platform accessible by all business owners, so that they can, too, easily find the best products and vendors that are reviewed by their professional peers and based on their given needs. The same way that consumers turn to Yelp and Angie’s List for reviews, ExpertCircle is a free platform for business owners, entrepreneurs and operators to get the most reliable recommendations on business products that their peers recommend and use.”

Business owners and operators can create a profile of their business, which will allow them to receive tailored recommendations of the best products.  ExpertCircle users can search/view endorsements and critiques of products and vendors that are authenticated by experts inside and outside of their social graph.  Business owners will be able to submit their product for consideration by ExpertCircle.

Samsung and Pantech already work together on building semiconductor and displays.  According to TheNextWeb, Pantech spent around 235 billion won ($211 million) buying electronics and components from Samsung-affiliated businesses to help build their own devices last year alone.

Even though Pantech is partnered with Samsung, they are also fierce competitors.  Pantech’s devices competes against Samsung’s smartphones and tablets.  The Pantech brand is popular in Korea, but they do not sell many devices overseas.

In this past Mobile Word Congress event, Pantech unleashed the Android-based Vega No 6 device, which is the world’s largest full-HD smartphone.  Pantech’s Discover device is available for $50 with a contract in the United States.

Pantech is struggling financially compared to their rivals.  Last year the company set up a five-year refinancing program to help manage their fiscal development.  Samsung is now the third-largest shareholder in Pantech after Qualcomm (11.96%) and the Korea Development Bank (11.81%).  Samsung’s investment follows a $100 million investment that they made in Sharp.

Viewers will be able to split their screens to access stats and their fantasy football information.  Xbox Live users will also be able to watch highlights and Skype with fans during game broadcasts.  Additional data can be sent to mobile devices and tablets with the second-screen SmartGlass app. The NFL is also considering coaches and referees to utilize Microsoft Surface tablets to monitor formations or replays during games from the sidelines.  Microsoft will also gain exposure from having their logo appear on the sides of instant replays and on the devices that NFL officials will be carrying around.

The financial details were not disclosed, but it was confirmed by sources with Variety.  The NFL is still discussing how much exposure Microsoft will get.

About.me is a company that offers a custom profile and personal analytics dashboard.  The company was acquired within 24 hours of exiting beta mode by AOL in December 2010.  Three years later, the About.me founders bought the company back.  Earlier this month, About.me also acquired Wefollow.  Now the company is rolling out a premium service that allows users to setup personalized domain names through a three-tier subscription level.

About.me’s existing users can continue using the service for free, but there is now an option to upgrade for $4 per month.  This lets users set up their own domain name with their About.me profile setup on there.  About.me is partnering with NameCheap.com to guide users to buy and set up the domain names.  If you decide to use your own domain name, then you will need to use your own host.

By upgrading to $4 per month, the About.me branding is taken off from the top of the page.  There will also be a $9 per month subscription level that will give your profile prominence on the About.me network including a directory and through search.  This feature is powered by About.me’s acquisition of Wefollow.

“At About.me, we’re constantly seeking feedback from our users and customized domain names has been the most requested feature for quite some time,” stated About.me co-founder Tony Conrad.

Spielberg is credited with directing hit movies like Jaws, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Raiders of the Lost Ark, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Jurassic Park, Saving Private Ryan, Minority Report, Catch Me If You Can, and Lincoln.  “For me, the Halo universe is an amazing opportunity to be at that intersection where technology and myth-making meet,” said Spielberg.

The series will also contain exclusive interactive content for the Xbox One based on the game.  Unfortunately, very few details about the TV series have been announced.  Halo was previously made into a live-action web series called “Halo: Forward Unto Dawn,” but this is the first time that an adaption of the game is being made into a TV format.

Another version of the ad appeared on YouTube using a different version of the background music.  Eight Mile Style said that they were attempting to avoid copyright infringement by doing that.  Eight Mile Style said that Facebook achieved the opposite because that acknowledges that they knew what they were doing was wrong.  Eight Mile Style also pointed out that copyright still applies to derivative works and the new version is also infringing on copyright.

The team behind Eight Mile Style (under the name F.B.T. Productions) also took Apple to court in 2009 to seek additional royalties from purchases made through iTunes.  They sought $1.3 million to settle the lawsuit and the main defendant in the case is Aftermath Records, the label founded by Dr. Dre.

One of the best allegations in this lawsuit is that Eight Mile Style said that the ad panders to Mark Zuckerberg’s music tastes.

“Upon information and belief, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has been a longtime fan of Eminem. This is evidenced by one of the first websites Zuckerberg reportedly created in 1999, on which Zuckerberg refers to himself as ‘Slim Shady’, which is Eminem’s famously known alter-ego. Further, the Airplane advertisement evokes the same flippancy as the Eminem/D12 Composition,” said the lawsuit.  “Upon information and belief, W+K incorporated said music into the Airplane advertisement in an effort to curry favor with Facebook by catering to Zuckerberg’s personal likes and interests, and/or to invoke the same irreverent theme as the Eminem/D12 Composition.”

Last month, we wrote an article titled “This Angelfire Was One Of Mark Zuckerberg’s First Websites,” which refers to the website that Eight Mile Style is talking about in the quote above.

This is not the first time that a company has been sued for using Eminem’s music.  Apple made an out-of-court settlement with Eight Mile Style in 2005 for using the Eminem song “Lose Yourself” in an iPod commercial without permission.  Audi also had to pay Eight Mile Style for using a similar-sounding song in a video.

In 2011, Wieden + Kennedy created another commercial using Eminem’s music for a Chrysler ad.  That time Eminem’s song was used with permission.

Below is the “Airplane” ad:

Ben used Autodesk Inventor to lay out the ring’s dimensions. He then jumped onto building it. The ring is titanium so cutting it was not easy. He added 13 white stones and 10 blue stones to the ring.

After adding the stones, Ben started working on the ring’s electronic components. He formed an inductor and added LEDs to the ring. He then built a transmitter coil that when in close proximity to the ring, lights it up. His idea was to hide the transmitter under his jacket’s sleeve so that the ring lights up when he’s near his fiancé Julie.

Ben initially planned to let Julie pick out a permanent engagement ring after presenting her with this amazing ring. However, she insisted on making Ben’s creation her permanent ring.

Apple CEO Tim Cook appeared in front of a Senate hearing on Tuesday to discuss the company’s use of Irish subsidiaries to avoid paying billions of dollars in taxes.  Cook insisted that the tax code has not been keeping up with the digital age and it restricts the free movement of capital in comparison to tax policies in other countries.  Cook asked the Senate to dramatically simplify rates and for reasonable taxes on foreign earnings.

“We pay all the taxes we owe – every single dollar with the spirit of the laws,” said Cook.  “We don’t depend on tax gimmicks.”

The chairman of the panel, Senator Carl Levin (D-Mich) said that Apple is an American success story with a well-earned reputation.  After admitting he has an iPhone, Levin said that does not excuse Apple’s tactics.  The subcommittee found that Apple avoided paying at least $9 billion in U.S. taxes for 2012.

“Apple executives want the public to focus on the U.S. taxes the company has paid, but the real issue is the billions in taxes it has not paid, thanks to offshore tax strategies whose purpose is tax avoidance, pure and simple,” said Levin.  Levin added that avoiding taxes by large U.S. companies increases the federal budget, causing average citizens to make up the difference with higher tax burdens.

Levin added that Apple is “exploiting an absurdity” that lets three of their subsidiaries in Ireland to claim that they have no responsibility to pay taxes to any country.  One of the subsidiaries, Apple Operations International, has no employees and reported $30 billion in income over four years.  That subsidiary has not paid taxes to any country.

Another subsidiary, Apple Sales International, has economic rights to Apple’s I.P. in Europe, Asia, and Africa.  The subsidiary reported $74 billion in sales income between 2009 and 2012, but paid under 1% taxes in Ireland.

These tactics are legal through cost-sharing agreements transferring economic rights to the intellectual property used for the iPhone, iPad, MacBooks, etc.

Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky.) said that he is offended by the way that this case is being handled.  He called this a “show trial” and pointed out that Corning makes the Gorilla Glass for Apple products in Kentucky.

“I’m offended by a $4-trillion government bullying, berating and badgering one of America’s greatest success stories,” said Paul. “Tell me what Apple’s done that is illegal.”  He added that Congress should apologize and compliment Apple for their job creation.

Google Happiness Evangelist François Beaufort wrote on Google+ that the company is working on a Chrome OS app launcher for the Mac.  Early adopters can try a beta version of the app now.  To access App Launcher in beta, you will need to install Chromium and run a command in terminal.  Then when you click on the Chromium dock icon, you will see a grid of installed web apps from the Chrome store.  When you click on the apps, it will open the browser windows in full-screen with the selected app.  You will also need to keep your terminal window open to access other apps.  No word yet on when the final version of Chrome App Launcher for OS X will launch officially.

“Pandora Premieres represents a great new discovery platform for our more than 200 million registered users and an equally powerful vehicle for artists, both established and emerging to reach new audiences,” stated Pandora founder and Chief Strategy Officer Tim Westergren. “Never has so targeted a program been delivered on such a massive scale.”

What makes this feature different is that listeners will be able to select any track in any order to listen to the featured album.  Users can also listen for an unlimited period for the duration that it is live.

Earlier this month, we reported that Pandora is hitting 70.1 million active listeners per month.  They have a total of 200 million registered users that listen to 1.5 billion hours of music on Pandora per month.

Swipely analyzes credit card payment data for merchants to learn customer behavior.  Customers will be able to sign up for loyalty programs that are tied to cards that they own.  Merchants can send users targeted messages and offers.

“We’re the new kids on the block in a pretty enormous market, and frankly, the people that hurt when we win are the legacy, old school payment providers,” said Davis as quoted by TechCrunch.

This round of funding was led by Shasta Ventures.  Other investors that participated in this round include First Round Capital, Greylock Partners, and Index Ventures.  The funding will be used to increase the size of their team and go from serving hundreds of merchants to thousands of them.

Swipely currently handles around $700 million in sales for their merchant partners.  They also have relationships with around 2 million customers.