The United States Department of Justice is trying to take a bite out of Apple. The tech giant has been hauled before a Manhattan court to answer accusations that it gouged consumers by conspiring with publishers to inflate the price of ebooks.

The Department of Justice alleges that, in a bid to break Amazon.com’s stranglehold on the ebook market, Apple tried to convince publishers to set prices across the industry. At the time, Amazon enjoyed 90% of the e-book market, due in large part to the popularity of their Kindle reader. In order to steer customers toward the Kindle, Amazon would sometimes sell ebooks at a loss, making it difficult for other retailers to compete.

The government claims that Apple’s late founder, Steve Jobs, was intimately involved in the price-fixing scheme. The Department of Justice believes it has a ‘smoking gun’ in the form of emails that Jobs sent to other Apple executives as well as executives at major publishing houses. For example, in an email to News Corp executive James Murdoch, Jobs asked News Corp to “[t]hrow in with Apple and see if we can all make a go of this to create a real mainstream ebooks market at $12.99 and $14.99.”

Apple’s legal team has vigorously contested the government’s attempt to use these emails. “There’s something inherently unfair and uncomfortable about placing such reliance on the out-of-court statements of someone who’s not here to explain them or place them into context — particularly when in almost every instance the government either omits key language to draw an inference, or blatantly mischaracterizes what the statements mean,” said Apple attorney Orin Snyder said in his opening statement.

Five publishers were named alongside Apple as co-defendants: the Hachette Book Group, HarperCollins Publishers, Macmillan, Penguin, and Simon & Schuster. However, all of them decided to settle out of court. The presiding judge, District Judge Denise Cote, has urged Apple to settle as well. “I believe that the government will be able to show at trial direct evidence that Apple knowingly participated in and facilitated a conspiracy to raise prices of ebooks,” she said back in May.

But Apple vows to fight on. “We’re taking a very principled position on this,” said CEO Tim Cook. “We were asked to sign something that says we did do something, and we’re not going to sign something that says we did something we didn’t do. And so we’re going to fight.”

Image credit: Adam Fagen via Flickr

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Oakland, U.S.A. – On September 4, 2012, Leading clean-tech entrepreneur Danny Kennedy debuts his book, “Rooftop Revolution: How Solar Power Can Save Our Economy – and Our Planet – from Dirty Energy” to boldly debunk the many myths surrounding the solar industry and unveil simple ways that the public and policymakers alike can engage in generating positive change.

With a foreword by the former supreme commander of NATO and former U.S. presidential candidate, General Wesley Clark, the book uses objective research and Kennedy’s front-line experience to lay out the win-win proposition of solar energy for the American economy.

As of September 4, 2012, the book is available widely in both electronic and print versions and via Kindle, and more information is available at www.rooftoprevolutionbook.com.

Amidst the political energy policy debate, the 1-year anniversary of the Solyndra bankruptcy and threatening blackouts in parts of the nation, Kennedy – a life-long activist turned successful clean tech business entrepreneur recently profiled in The New York Times Magazine - tackles the industry’s toughest criticisms and makes the case for his solar focused, clean energy revolution.

“Rooftop Revolution” boldly contends that the economic, security and environmental imperatives for solar power are so strong that the time is now for businesspeople, policymakers and homeowners to come together to combat “King CONG” – the monolithic dirty energy lobby of “Coal, Oil, Nuclear and Gas”. To this end, at the end of every chapter, Kennedy equips readers with a practical guide to becoming “Rooftop Revolutionaries” – active advocates to bring about a 21^st century economy.

“Solar energy isn’t a left or right issue: it’s an economic one, and it should be a central part of the election cycle dialogue on how to fix our economy.  There is in fact a clear economic imperative for clean energy now, and despite myths and misperceptions,  solar power is already at work creating jobs, saving American households on their utility costs and securing both our workforce and our borders from the ills of dirty energy,” says Kennedy.

“The sun’s reliability coupled with recent manufacturing efficiencies in our industry, make solar energy a more affordable, cleaner and safer way to power our lives. It’s not the energy source of the future, it’s the energy source of now.”

Throughout “Rooftop Revolution”, Kennedy cites key statistics, including:

• The solar industry creates jobs –  domestic jobs at a rate 10 times faster than the rest of the economy (2011 National Solar Census).
• Solar energy saves people money – By 2015, the Department of Energy estimates that two-thirds of U.S. homes will save money using solar.
• The steep drop of in solar panel prices (50 percent since 2010), has benefitted American homeowners.
• Smart money continues to flow in to the solar industry. Global investment in renewable energy was$260 billion in 2011 (up from $243 in 2010) – and half of it went to solar.

“Dependent on millions of barrels of imported fuel for decades, the U.S. has squandered its lives, treasure and legacy in grasping for foreign-sourced petroleum, while sitting on the most abundant energy resources and intellectual capital in the world,” said General Wesley Clark.

“Today, the opportunity presents itself in the solar industry to reverse these decades of failure, create millions of new jobs, and put America on top of the world energy markets. But there are formidable political, regulatory and bureaucratic obstacles to this vision. And these, too, are part of Danny’s story.”

A life-long clean energy advocate, Kennedy has worked on climate and energy issues for more than two decades.  He was named 2011 “Innovator of the Year” by PBS for providing a high-impact and commercially-viable solution that responds to the world’s environmental challenges.

Kennedy founded the leading residential solar power company Sungevity in 2007 to create a more widely accessible way of going solar for American households. As president of the company, he oversees government relations and community engagement programs.

“Rooftop Revolution lays out, in clear and engaging language, how we got into the energy mess we’re in now and how we can get out – benefiting the planet, creating jobs and saving homeowners money,” saidAnnie Leonard, creator of the film and book “The Story of Stuff”.

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Boston, U.S.A. - In the two-way mirror that often is a reflection of life or art, another trend is forming. The worlds of literature and Hollywood are colliding again, this time with a focus on cryonics, the science intended to reanimate people after death and freezing.

The debut novel from Bruce E. Spitzer, Extra Innings , about baseball great Ted Williams returning to life through cryonics, was published last month by Bear Hill Media. Extra Innings was featured recently in Sports Illustrated Magazine and ranked in the top 25 on the Amazon Kindle bestseller list for sports fiction.

A cryonics movie, Freezing People is Easy, is in pre-production in Hollywood and will shoot in the fall, reportedly starring Paul Rudd, Kristen Wiig, Owen Wilson and Christopher Walken.

Inspired by Bob Nelson’s memoir We Froze the First Man and an episode of Chicago Public Media and Public Radio International’s This American Life, Freezing People is the story of Nelson’s first cryonics attempts in the 1960s. Errol Morris will direct. Producers include Steven Zaillian and Garrett Basch of Film Rites. Toronto-based Entertainment One announced that it will distribute the picture worldwide.

TV got into the act last winter when Larry King announced on CNN that he wanted to be cryonically preserved. Can reality TV be far behind?

Unlike Freezing People, which looks back at the beginnings of cryonics, Spitzer’s Extra Innings looks forward, featuring Ted Williams reanimated in 2092. In real life he was cryonically preserved after death in 2002. In his imagined return, Williams plays again for the Red Sox, bats against a robot “Botwinder” pitcher that he abhors pilot’s jets for the Marines, and struggles in a future world beset by global warming and flooding.

“The narrative resonates with the consequences of the major issues we face in our world today—the steroids debate in sports, global warming, corporate greed, technology run rampant, and the moral ambiguity of war,” says Spitzer. “It’s a societal and personal journey. Flawed in his first life, Williams must decide in the second, what’s more important: the chance to win his first World Series or the chance to be a better man?”

Extra Innings, adds Spitzer, is not only about science, baseball, redemption, and the quest for meaning in this life and the next, it’s humorous as well. “Similar to what we’re likely to see in Freezing People, you can’t help but poke a little fun at the idea of returning to life after being frozen.”

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Rumors regarding the creation of Amazon’s new tablet have been confirmed by invitations to members of the press. On Wednesday September 28, Amazon will unveil a new product to the market, and after much speculation, it has now been confirmed that it is the new Amazon Kindle that was under investigation for quite some time.

‘Amazon Kindle’ is the name of the new tablet by Amazon, a name that consumers will already be familiar with. What distinguishes this product from the e-reader is the new features installed. The new tablet has a 7-inch touch screen that displays its content in full color, and also runs the Android operating system.

What’s interesting about this tablet is that the interface was designed specifically for the Amazon tablet. The key colors displayed in the tablet are dark blue, black and orange, which are also the colors used to represent the notifications from apps at the top of the screen next to your Kindle’s name. The main screen resembles the cover flow in iTunes that users can easily recognize.

The tablet will have its own Amazon Android Appstore, and will include Google as the default search engine browser. The web browser looks like the typical web browser for other Android devices and includes tabs for different pages. It will also include the Kindle book reader app so customers can still have access to their Amazon eBook purchases.

The tablet only has 6 GB of memory, mainly reserved for apps and book storing. The reason for this may be that Amazon wants to focus on clouding, as it offers Amazon cloud player for music. The company also plans to give out a free subscription to Amazon Prime, which normally goes for $79 a year, and allows unlimited access to Amazon Instant video and their free 2-day shipping for Amazon purchases as well as no minimum for delivery.

This new device sells for half the iPad price, and the same price as the Barnes and Nobles Nook at $250. It is expected to be released in November before the holidays, which will make for a great holiday gift. Rumors also say that a 10-inch tablet is expected to debut early next year.

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