SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 29, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Award winning children's publisher zuuka, and Tapjoy®, a leading mobile advertising and monetization platform, today announced a partnership that will offer parents a new way to download their children's favorite books for free. The iStoryTime library app, available for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch and soon to be released in the Google Play store, will integrate the Tapjoy Mobile Value Exchange® model where parents engage with advertisements to earn Story Points to spend on hundreds of iStoryTime digital books for their kids.
The offers will be behind a parental lock, ensuring that the advertisements are directed at the parents and not kids. Additionally, the books purchased with Story Points are completely free of advertisements. The partnership underscores a significant shift in how consumers are looking to acquire premium content, whether it is for themselves or their family members.
The iStoryTime app will utilize Story Points and the Tapjoy Mobile Value Exchange model to enable consumers to buy their favorite children's books. With nearly half a million downloads, the iStoryTime library app includes a wide selection of narrated storybooks, including recent No. 1 iPad book Turbo, Sid the Science Kid, Shrek, The Smurfs, Madagascar, The Croods and How to Train Your Dragon.
By simply watching a video, taking a survey, or engaging with an ad, users will be able to earn credits to unlock the best narrated books via the iStoryTime app. This will give parents an opportunity to add to their family's digital library without opening their own wallets.
"With zuuka and the iStoryTime app, we are empowering parents to earn credits for use toward their family's favorite narrated books," said Steve Wadsworth, president and CEO, Tapjoy. "We are seeing a trend of app publishers utilizing the mobile value exchange model to enable their users to get the premium content they want. With this partnership and the amazing brands and narrated storybooks that are available through iStoryTime, we're breaking new ground and continuing to deliver innovative ways to deliver the premium content people love."
"We're thrilled to be adding a new free-to-own model to allow our audience to get their favorite narrated books without cost," said Graham Farrar, co-founder and CEO, zuuka. "With the hottest titles available, from Ice Age to The Smurfs, parents can now expand their family's digital library without paying for the content, and without exposing children to any advertising. Partnering with Tapjoy, and enabling parents to get their kids' favorite stories for free, will bring our content to more families and encourage more children to read."
Tapjoy is a global leader in helping app developers and publishers monetize many different types of mobile apps including games, movies, books, videos, and text messaging apps. This partnership further expands Tapjoy's developer network in the publishing space and opens the door for all types of premium content publishers to offer their content to more fans globally.
About Tapjoy
Tapjoy is a mobile performance-based advertising platform that drives deep engagement and monetization opportunities for app publishers, while delivering valuable, engaged consumers to some of the world's biggest brand advertisers. Tapjoy has a reach of more than 430MM (July, 2013) mobile users each month and its "Mobile Value Exchange" model allows users to receive premium content in exchange for their engagement with advertisements. Tapjoy is backed by top-tier investors, including J.P. Morgan Asset Management, Rho Ventures, North Bridge Venture Partners, InterWest Partners and D.E. Shaw Ventures. Headquartered in San Francisco, the company also has offices in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Santa Barbara, Atlanta, Boston, Paris, London, Beijing, Shanghai, Seoul and Tokyo. For more information, please visit www.tapjoy.com.
ABOUT ZUUKA
zuuka is the digital publisher of iTalk entertainment apps and iStoryTime - an interactive storytelling experience delivered to the convenience of your mobile device - which features a series of illustrated and narrated books created by parents for kids. iStoryTime books have been highlighted in the New York Times, LA Times, CBS Early Show, theiPhoneMom.com, Cnet and is decorated with PTPA Media's Parent Tested Parent Approved Seal of Approval and the Children's Technology Review's Editor's Choice Award. With over 130 titles to choose from including favorites such as Kung Fu Panda, Shrek, How to Train Your Dragon, Peter Pan and Blinky the Pink Elephant, iStoryTime books are excellent tools for both educating and entertaining children ages two years and up. These storybooks can be enjoyed in several different modes ranging from automatic to manual, depending upon the development and preferences of the user. For additional information, visit http://www.iStoryTime.com.
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