Animated news Reuters has announced the launch of an exclusive partnership with Next Media Animation. Starting this week, Reuters will offer around 20 animated news stories a week produced by Next Media Animation News Direct service, intended to offer visual chronologies of events not captured on video—such as the sinking of the Costa Concordia—as well as present clear illustrations of more technical news.
Master plan The Brooklyn Tech Triangle is seeking proposals for an area-wide strategic plan to support the growing tech sector, which is expected to nearly double in the next three years. Objectives of the designated planning team include improving transportation between the tech triangle and surrounding communities and developing implementable land-use strategies. An information session for potential respondents will take place on July 20 at the Downtown Brooklyn Partnership office; proposals are due August 10.
How-to Open Air Publishing, an innovative digital publisher which produces interactive how-to ebooks for iOS, including Master Your DSLR Camera and The Better Bacon Book, just raised $800,000 in seed round funding from Digital Entertainment Ventures, SV Angel, Charles River Ventures and 500 Startups.
Freelancing PeoplePerHour, Europe’s most popular online freelance-work marketplace, just opened its first American office in New York. This week the company debuts Hourlies, listings where users can market services they will sell by the hour. The move is aimed at attracting more Americans to the marketplace, which currently has over 300,000 registered members.
Ads The activity-based advertising company appssavvy just released its adtivity publisher portal, which provides web, social and mobile publishing partners with a comprehensive dashboard and analytics to create and manage display advertising opportunities.
Fresh produce NYC-based task management app Producteev just announced updates for Android and iPhone, including improvements to its export and print features for Producteev task lists. An iPad app is on the way.
Apparel JackThreads’ Adam Gianotti just launched his second clothing brand, Vive Shirt—a collection of blank apparel which he claims is, “my approach to the ‘American Apparel’ line without the expensive price tag.”
Demo day Tomorrow is the second annual FinTech Innovation Lab Demo Day Introduction. Run by the New York City Investment Fund and Accenture, the lab is a 12-week mentorship program for early stage startups in the financial services industry. Tomorrow, the six accepted companies will present their innovations to an audience of potential investors and senior tech executives from companies including Credit Suisse, Morgan Stanley, Bank of America, Merrill Lynch, JP Morgan and American Express.
