Vote For Us In Mashable's Open Web Awards!

Mashable's Open Web Awards honors the top achievements of Web technology startups.

And, Cincinnati is rockin' Web 2.0 in a major way, with great companies like ShareThis, Zipscene, Photrade, and of course yours truly, PimpMyNews.

Please vote for PimpMyNews in the "mobile applications" category. Thanks for your support!

TechZulu Interviews PimpMyNews CEO, John Atkinson

Efren Toscano, CEO of TechZulu calls PimpMyNews, "One of the most useful companies for the business person on the go to come out of BlogWorld Expo."

In the video interview below at BlogWorld Expo in Las Vegas, TechZulu's Amanda Coolong talks with PimpMyNews CEO, John Atkinson, about the benefits consumers and publishers are receiving from this unique service.

[Watch it on your iPhone - Click Here]

Be sure to visit www.TechZulu.com to see interviews with the likes of Robert Scoble, Mark Cuban, Jason Calacanis and other leaders in the technology and media industry.

PimpMyNews User Spotlight: Damien Howley

We love getting feedback from you, our valued users. We especially love hearing about how you are using our service, and the benefits you're receiving. In this post, we share the feedback we received from one of our power users, Damien Howley.

Damien, a prolific blogger, and a graphic designer for MindTouch, had this to say:

"Upon first being introduced to PimpMyNews, I thought, "nifty, I can listen to blogs on my walk to work." However, I quickly found my whole consumption of blogs and news change drastically.

While at work, I used to listen to music, now I use your web interface [at http://www.pimpmynews.com/ ], and can catch up on all my blog posts while I work.

This has increased my ability to read more blogs, and keeps me extremely more informed than all of my co-workers. Bottom line is, PimpMyNews has saved me hours and hours each night of reading blogs."

Damien also gave us some great suggestions for new features, which we are evaluating.

How are YOU using PimpMyNews and what benefits are you seeing?

Shoot us an email at Suggestions@PimpMyNews.com today.

We would love to hear from you.

Cincinnati Magazine Calls PimpMyNews "Brilliant"

A few weeks ago, Cincinnati Magazine called to interview us about our "new media" service that turns text into mobile audio. The progressive monthly publication draws over 300,000 readers and visitors to its website.

The story below, which we've already pinned to the office wall, is in their October issue:

Now Hear This

Let PimpMyNews trawl the Web for your news - and read it to you.
By Chuck Sambuchino.

TO ALL YOU DESK JOCKEYS who waste the company dime, by clicking through endless streams of Web-based info-tainment, ad nauseam: PimpMyNews.com could save your job.

The brainchild of John Atkinson, a dot-com journeyman and UC grad who conceived the idea with his friend and tech consultant, Roy Georgia, at a hotel bar two years ago, the site provides a simple, brilliant service: It translates text from more than 1,200 news hubs, entertainment sites, and blogs into computer-generated speech (think “Fitter Happier” by Radiohead, only happier) that can be downloaded onto your computer, iWhatever, or MP3 player for you to listen to later.

“Over the years, I’ve been traveling like a road warrior, so I couldn’t keep up with newspapers,” says Atkinson, who now lives in Cincinnati. “I kept thinking that there had to be a better way than being tied to a computer all day for news.” PMN got its first significant boost when Apple chose it as a “staff pick” in January 2008. Since then, they’ve attracted 80,000 regular users.

“PimpMyNews opens a whole new world of content to everyone,” Atkinson says, “and it’s a great opportunity for productivity enhancement.”

Which makes us wonder: Are you reading this online?

PimpMyNews Goes to Vegas. Want a Cool Tee?

Technology Guru, Roy Georgia, and I are packing up the wagons (and the new T-shirts) and heading west to Las Vegas today! We just can't wait to spend some quality time with the 2,000 bloggers who will be at the BlogWorld and New Media Expo this weekend.

Can You Write 5 Sentences?

Even if you're not going to BlogWorld, you still have a chance to score yourself a cool new PimpMyNews T-shirt! Just write a short blog post titled "5 Reasons Why PimpMyNews Rocks!," and shoot an email to blogs@PimpMyNews.com when it's up. The five best posts will get free PimpMyNews T-shirts!

If you'll be at BlogWorld this weekend, be sure to come up and say "hello." We may just have an extra shirt for you. Because one thing that's definitely "Staying in Vegas" this weekend is 100 pounds of PimpMyNews T-shirts.

Have a great weekend!

John Atkinson

Co-founder & CEO

Follow me on Twitter

PimpMyNews On Twitcast Radio...

A big thanks to "Twitter Rock Stars" Warren Whitlock and Deb Micek, who recently had us join their "TwitCast" talk show on Blog Talk Radio.

Warren and Deb are the creators of the new, and wildly popular, Twitter Handbook. The Twitter Handbook is packed with tips and tricks for both Twitter newbies, and veteran Twitter users. You can download the handbook for free at http://twitterhandbook.com/

People from all over the country tuned into the TwitCast Radio show last Friday night, to learn about PimpMyNews and ask us questions. You can listen to the full show here.

After the show, we were flooded with requests from bloggers asking us to add their blogs to PimpMyNews, so people can listen to them on the go, on iPhones, iPods, computers, and other mobile devices.

If you are a blogger, to apply to have your blog added to PimpMyNews, just email your blog's RSS feed to Feeds@PimpMyNews.com

If you are looking for creative ways to use Twitter to make friends, or to expand your network, be sure to follow Warren and Deb on Twitter: [ @WarrenWhitlock @CoachDeb ]

The Inquisitr Blog Reviews PimpMyNews

Earlier this week, The Inquisitr published a story about our free service, which turns your favorite blogs into portable audio. The Inquisitr is a relatively new blog started by former TechCrunch Blogger Duncan Riley.

Tech blogger JR Raphael profiled our service, saying: "..Great idea, great service. Being able to load up your MP3 player with reading — rather, listening — for the morning drive is a cool convenience." JR also pointed out a couple of suggestions for improving the service, which we are actively working on.

You can read the full story here: [ http://bit.ly/InquisitrPMN ], or listen to it on PimpMyNews here: [ http://bit.ly/ListenPMN ]

The frequently updated blog features a unique mix of Technology, Entertainment and Odd news.

For a fresh perspective, check out The Inquistr at http://www.inquistr.com/ , and be sure to add it to your PimpMyNews playlist, so you can listen to it on-the-go.

New PimpMyNews Feature: Stream Your Podcasts Anywhere!

Don't you hate it when you're out and about, and realize that you forgot to sync your MP3 player with your computer, to get your latest podcast episodes?

If you have an iPhone or iPod Touch, that is no longer a problem.

You can now STREAM your PimpMyNews podcast episodes over the air, on your iPhone or iTouch, with a single tap... No syncing required!

To check out this cool new feature:

1. On your iPhone or iTouch, go to www.PimpMyNews.com/m

2. *Log in with your PimpMyNews username and password, and

3. Tap the link labeled "Stream My Podcast"

*If you haven't signed up for a personalized account, please go to http://www.pimpmynews.com/ on your computer first, and sign up.

Please tell us what you think. More new features are on the way!

New PimpMyNews Feature: Stream Podcast on iPhone

When people sign up for our free service, they're sometimes surprised to find that it works on so many different types of computers and mobile devices.

We built it to run on Macs, PCs, iPhones, iPods, or any MP3 player, so you can easily catch up on your favorite news and blogs, no matter what you might be doing. And, we're constantly adding new features to make PimpMyNews even more flexible.

As you may know, there are three "use case scenarios" for PimpMyNews:

1) You can use the Full Site on your Mac or PC, at home, or in the office. For example, you may want to listen to your stories "in the background" while working on a spreadsheet.

2) You can use the iPhone and iTouch application on the go, when you want to listen and interact with PimpMyNews. For example you might hear a cool story at Starbucks, and then forward it to a friend, or post it to Twitter, or Facebook.

3) You can use the Personalized Daily Podcast feature on your MP3 player, when your hands and eyes are busy, and you want to hear continuous stories. For example, you might listen to TechCrunch on the tread mill, or Perez Hilton in your Pinto.

Until now, as with any podcast, if you forgot to sync your MP3 player with your computer before leaving the house, you were out of luck. We're excited to say, that, if you have an iPhone or iTouch, that's no longer a problem!

You can now listen to the most recent episode of your PimpMyNews podcast on your iPhone or iTouch with a single tap... No syncing required!

To check out this cool new feature:

1. On your iPhone or iTouch, go to www.PimpMyNews.com/m

2. *Log in with your PimpMyNews username and password, and

3. Tap the link labeled "Stream My Podcast"

(*If you haven't signed up for a personalized account, please go to http://www.pimpmynews.com/ on your computer first, and sign up)

Please tell us what you think!

Gary Vaynerchuk Helps PimpMyNews Help The Blind.

[On Your iPhone? Click Here To Watch Video ]

Shortly after we launched, we were pleasantly surprised to learn that blind people were also using our service to listen to their favorite news and blogs. [see our first post about this here ]

Since we think companies should also "give back" in some way, we've decided to try to use the power of social media, to raise money for blind charities.

To bring some attention to our effort, we hit up our new friend, "Internet Celebrity" Gary Vaynerchuk, who graciously agreed to do a video for PimpMyNews. Over 70,000 people a day watch Gary's Wine Library TV Show.

>Be sure to check out the video. John introduces Gary, who talks about "Helping People and the Transparent Web."

>Click Here To Donate. And please tell your friends. Every dollar you give goes to a charity for the blind.

PimpMyNews iPhone Tip: Add To Home Screen

Many of our users report that they use our service to catch up on their favorite news and blogs on-the-go. On trains and planes, at Starbucks and gyms, ...well, you get the idea.

For our iPhone and iPod Touch users, here's a quick tip to make sure PimpMyNews is always at your finger tips...

Add PimpMyNews to your Home Screen in 3 easy steps:

1. On your iPhone or iPod Touch, go to www.PimpMyNews.com/m

2. Tap the plus sign ["+"] at the bottom of your screen, and select "Add to Home Screen."

3. Tap the "Add" button at the top right of the next screen, and the PimpMyNews icon will be placed on your home screen.

That's it! Next time you need news in a flash, just tap the PimpMyNews icon.

Thanks for listening with PimpMyNews.

What YOU Said About PimpMyNews - Survey Results

We're obsessed with listening to YOU, our valued users. And, we know that our continued success is directly tied to reacting quickly to your feedback. To that end, we recently conducted a User Survey. And, we received a lot of great feedback!

Here are some of the key findings from the PimpMyNews User Survey:

• The majority of users access PimpMyNews on iPhones and iPod Touch Devices. These users also reported the highest overall satisfaction rate.


• Nearly half of all respondents said they use PimpMyNews 3 or more times per week.


• The top 2 benefits users reported were: Number 1, the "Productivity Benefit" of being able to listen to news & blogs while doing other things, like driving, working out, etcetera. And Number 2, the ability to instantly receive "News I care about"


• Many users also suggested that we offer additional ways to "customize" PimpMyNews to their liking, which we're already working on.

Our Top 5 Favorite User Comments are:

1. "Thanks to PimpMyNews, people think I'm much smarter than I am. I'm more informed all the time."

2. "Excellent idea, excellent execution. Keep improving."

3. "I'm kind of a PimpMyNews Junkie."

4. "I have no attention span, so it's perfect."

5. "Dig it all. Hard."

Thanks to everyone who responded to the survey. If you haven't taken it, please click here to take The Survey - If you'd rather shoot us an email, you can reach us at Suggestions@PimpMyNews.com (we review every email, immediately).

You can rest assured that we're continually working on improvements. And, we'll be announcing some really cool new features in the near future, so stay tuned.

Keep the great feedback coming. We'll always be listening!

John & Roy

PimpMyNews Schwag, Embroidered Lids!

PimpMyNews users seem to like to share stuff with their friends, whether it's posting "talking stories" to Twitter, Digg or Facebook, or sending their PimpMyNews podcasts to others.

So, here at PimpMyNews, we've been checking out different "Schwag" vendors, looking for the coolest T-shirts, hats, wrist bands and stickers we can find.

This weekend, we stopped by The Embroidery Station to have "Saw-heed"[it's really spelled "Said"] stitch up some cool PimpMyNews lids, for us to pass around for feedback. (If you're following us on Twitter, you may have seen our tweet about him stitching up his finger. Ouch!)

We think the hats turned out incredibly cool, and we're thinking about giving a few a way as part of an upcoming charity drive for the blind, which we'll be doing with Wine Library TV's Gary Vaynerchuk (more on that soon!).

Check out the PimpMyNews lids in the pictures, and tell us what you think! Shoot us an email at Suggestions@PimpMyNews.com

Hey PimpMyNews Users: Please Take Our Survey!

Dear Genius / PimpMyNews User,

Yes, we mean you, the person reading, or listening to, this blog post. We built PimpMyNews for you, and we'd love your opinion, so we can serve you better.

>>Please Click Here To Take Our Brief Survey

It's only 10 questions ;)

Thanks in advance for your help!










Roy Georgia & John Atkinson
Founders of PimpMyNews
------------------------------------------

Fun Facts About PimpMyNews:

• Since December, people from 155 countries have used it
• 1,132 of the web's top news & blogs are now talking on PimpMyNews.com
• We now have 939,504 "talking stories" online, with 5,000 new stories added daily.
• You can share any "talking story" to Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, Digg, & other social sites
  

Memorial Day: A Real Reason To Celebrate

To honor our military servicemen this Memorial Day weekend, we asked Trish Forant to write a guest post for the PimpMyNews blog. Trish is the president of http://www.emailourmilitary.com/ , a popular service that connects ordinary people like you and me, with members of our armed forces.

To remind others of the real meaning of Memorial Day, please share this post by clicking the envelope icon.

A big "THANKS" to the members of our armed forces, and "Thank You," Trish!

Here's Trish' post:

Throughout our history, we have been blessed by the courage and commitment of Americans who were willing to pay the price of their tomorrows. They have fought and died for our freedom, and have kept us sleeping secure each night in safety.

Every one of them, from all different backgrounds, races and religions, no matter what battlefield they died on, every one, helped to build this strong nation we love. I'm proud to be an American and I don't take my freedom for granted.

The great German poet, Goethe, said to his generation:

"What you have inherited from your fathers, earn over again for yourselves, or it will not be yours."

We inherited freedom. We seem unaware that freedom has to be remade, and re-earned in each generation of man. As you spend this Memorial Day weekend with your family and friends, remember those who came before you and paid the ultimate price, paving the way for the freedoms we enjoy.

Take a moment at 3:00 pm eastern today, Memorial Day, to pause for a National Moment of Remembrance.

If you'd like to thank a veteran, or connect with a military service member one on one, but don't know one personally, stop by the http://www.emailourmilitary.com/ projects page to learn how you can get involved.

Scoble is "Shocked How Many Like PimpMyNews"

Just yesterday, in FastCompany magazine, Robert Scoble and his Twitter followers named PimpMyNews a favorite iPhone application, ranking #2 to Google Reader, in the news category.

While on Twitter today, we spoke (or should we say, "tweeted") with Robert about the accolade, and we loved his response so much, we just had to post it here on the PimpMyNews Blog.


Here's the transcript from Twitter:

John: "Scobleizer, great FastCompany iPhone story - We're glad your fans like PimpMyNews! Big things in the works. We would love to share the vision with you."

Robert Scoble: "I was shocked how many people like PimpMyNews. Would love to hear more."

John: "We're shocked too! It is taking off - since December, People from 154 countries have used PimpMyNews (80% from the US, 86% on mobile devices)"

John: "We've made a lot of enhancements based on early adopter feedback - Could you ask your fans to send me theirs?"

See the image of the conversation on Twitter below. We're looking forward to sharing our vision with Robert Scoble, and we'll do a blog post of the conversation to keep you in the loop.

Thanks for listening with PimpMyNews, and keep the feedback coming! Oh, and be sure to follow us on Twitter here: http://twitter.com/JohnAtkinson

Robert Scoble Names PimpMyNews "A Favorite iPhone App"

Since our December launch, we've been lucky to have received lots of positive coverage from the blogosphere, but this one really took us by surprise, in a very good way.

Regarded by many in the tech industry as "the man with his finger on the pulse of early adopters," when A-List Blogger Robert Scoble talks, a lot of people, including us, listen.

In the June issue of FastCompany magazine, the great "Scobleizer" gives a full run down on the iPhone application he loves, in a story titled "Star-Spangled iPhone." These are the killer apps that, as he puts it, "add skyrockets to your 'genius'" phone.


Scoble and Fans Weigh in on Mobile News Apps

Before writing the story, Robert asked the 18,000+ early adopters following him on Twitter to chime in on their favorite iPhone apps.

In the "news" category, Robert and his followers named the iPhone-optimized version of PimpMyNews their second favorite application. Second only to mega-popular Google Reader.

Considering that there are more than 1,500 applications listed on Apple.com, we're pleased... no, to be honest, we're pinching ourselves, to share the leader board with Google.


Here's an excerpt from Scoble's FastCompany story:

"I am still a Google Reader addict, and so are many of my fans. Reader was mentioned in my poll more than any other app. Another one that came up often was PimpMyNews.com , which turns text blogs into MP3 audio files, so you can listen on the go." (the iPhone/iTouch version can be accessed at www.PimpMyNews.com/m )

Robert also mentions his, and Steve Rubel's, fondness for sports news application sportstap.mobi, which he describes as "quite good."

Check out the full story on FastCompany's website: [http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/126/star-spangled-iphone.html]

You can also check out Robert Scoble at http://scobleizer.com/


A Message to Robert: If you're reading this, or listening to this on PimpMyNews, we'd love to share our much larger vision with you. We're good guys, rapidly building a new media platform for the future, based on user feedback.


Thanks to everyone for listening with PimpMyNews, and please tell your friends about us. And, keep your feedback coming to: Suggestions@PimpMyNews.com

John
Co-founder & CEO
-------------------------------

About PimpMyNews
PimpMyNews makes your favorite news & blogs TALK, so you can get current by listening, anytime, anywhere. It continuously scans the web for breaking stories, and converts them to audio, so you can listen on your computer, or, on-the-go on your iPhone, iPod, or any MP3 player.

Get current, save time, and listen on-the-go with PimpMyNews.

>Create your personalized account on your Mac or PC at: www.PimpMyNews.com/SignUp.aspx

>Access the iPhone/iTouch app at: www.PimpMyNews.com/m

Chris Brogan "Starting to Get" PimpMyNews

For those of you who follow "social media," Chris Brogan needs no introduction. For those who might not be familiar with him, he's the proverbial "social media superhero." Thousands of people follow him on Twitter, read his blog, and hang on his every word (or, should I say, his every character?).

A Little New School "Fairy Dust"

Chris is well-known for sprinkling "textual fairy dust" on things... which usually ignites healthy conversations about those things. Just last night, we were pleased to find that Chris signed up for PimpMyNews, and wrote a post about us on his highly-trafficked blog.

The blog post is titled "Listening to Blogs - Really Listening."

Chris doesn't really do "endorsements," but we were pleased with the positive things he had to say about PimpMyNews. Here are a few excerpts from his post:

• "What’s neat about PimpMyNews is that you can cook off a bunch of MP3 files of blogs you like reading, dump them into your MP3 player (portable or on your desk), and listen to a bunch of blogs while doing stuff."
• "I listened to my own blog post (natch), and found it actually reasonably listenable."
• "It’s neat, and you might give it a try."

"Kindling" for the User Feedback Conversation.

Chris also said "John and team have done a good start," and offered constructive criticism by suggesting tweaks to our navigation. Then, he ended the post by asking his readers to share their feedback on PimpMyNews. And share, they did.

Please check out the post on Brogan's blog and, don't forget to read, and add to, the comments.

[Read the full post here: http://www.chrisbrogan.com/listening-to-blogs-really-listening/ or - REALLY listen to it here: http://pimpmynews.com/p.aspx?i=632354 ]

This is exactly what a startup needs... Feedback from, and ongoing dialogue with, its users.

Thank you Chris Brogan, you fire-starter, you ;)

John
PimpMyNews Co-Founder & CEO

PS: As always, please send your feedback to Suggestions@PimpMyNews.com

PimpMyNews Tops 500,000 "Talking Stories"

Did you know that you can now access more than a half a million "talking stories," from the web's top 1,000+ blogs on our full site at www.PimpMyNews.com ?

[see the news on Yahoo here: http://tinyurl.com/yu4cd3]

If you're accessing this story on your iPhone, or another mobile device, you just gotta check out all the cool functionality on our full site on your Mac or PC.

A Few of the Cool Things You Can Do on the Full Site:

1) Sign Up for a Free Personalized Account & Get the News YOU care about

• Just click the sign up link on our home page to create your personalized account.
• You can choose from more than 1,000 of the web's top blogs to create your playlist.
• Then, you'll be able to log in on your iPhone, iPod Touch, Mac or PC, and hear YOUR favorites, anytime, anywhere.

2) Create a Daily News Podcast for Your MP3 Player

• Just log in to your account, click "Manage MyPodcast," and select the blogs you'd like in your daily podcast. Then, every morning, PimpMyNews will automatically check your blogs for new stories, and create an episode with 10 minutes of uninterrupted stories.
• Just sync your MP3 player with your computer, and... Listen at the gym, on the train, while doing laundry - anywhere!

3) Share, Share, Share!

• With over half a million stories to choose from, chances are good that you'll find something funny, shocking, or just plain interesting. Why keep it to yourself?
• You can email any "talking story" to friends, or post it to Digg, Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, Delicious, Stumble Upon and other social sites, with a single mouse-click.
• To share any story, just click the envelope icon, or click the "View Summary" link and look for the social site icons at the bottom of every story.

To enjoy all of the fun, time-saving functionality, sign up on your Mac or PC today, at: http://www.pimpmynews.com/

Thanks for listening with PimpMyNews!

>We love feedback: Share your ideas & thoughts by emailing: Suggestions@PimpMyNews.com

>Are we missing a blog you like? Just email the name to: Feeds@PimpMyNews.com

PimpMyNews Users: Please Speak Up!

Our goal is to make PimpMyNews a "user-driven" application that makes it easy for you to get current on the blogs you love, by listening to them, anytime, anywhere.

And, that can only happen if you "join the Conversation."

Since we launched in December, we've received lots of great feedback from our valued users. And, we've used this feedback as the basis for the many enhancements we've made to date.

If you haven't shared your ideas to improve PimpMyNews, Now is Your Chance!

• Are we missing an awesome blog that you'd love to listen to?
• Got an idea for a "killer feature" you'd like to see?
• Or, perhaps you'd just like to tell us what you like, and what you don't like?

Please shoot us an email now at: Suggestions@PimpMyNews.com

Thanks for listening with PimpMyNews!

The PimpMyNews Team

>Don't Keep PimpMyNews All To Yourself - Spread The Word

Do YOU have a blog or a website? If so, we'd love it if you'd write about us, or, simply link to us at: www.PimpMyNews.com/

PimpMyNews Gets Listeners From 149 Countries, and New Features

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

[Original release 2/27/08, numbers updated 3/18/08]

New Media Startup Enables Users Around the Globe To Get Current

By Listening To Their Favorite News & Blog Sources On-The-Go

OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. - March 18, 2008 - Web 2.0 startup PimpMyNews.com today announced new product features for its user base, which has grown to include users from 149 countries since its mid December launch.

PimpMyNews is a new media application that allows consumers to stay current on breaking stories from their favorite text news and blog sources by listening to them wherever they happen to be. The free service continuously scans the web’s top 1,000+ news and blog sites for breaking text stories, based on user preferences, and instantly converts them to near-human sounding audio. Users can listen online on computers, or on the go on iPhones, iPods, Zunes and other MP3 players and mobile devices. The service also allows users to create playlists and personalized news podcasts, rate and share “talking stories” with friends, and post them to Facebook, Digg, Del.icio.us, StumbleUpon, Reddit, Mixx, and other social sites.

The company has rolled out a series of enhancements based on user feedback since the December launch of its full site at www.PimpMyNews.com. In mid January at Macworld, the company released its iPhone-optimized mobile application at www.PimpMyNews.com/m, which received Apple’s coveted “Staff Pick” designation.

Today, the company announced new mobile personalization features, integration with MySpace, and enhancements to its home screens. The new release allows mobile users to access their PimpMyNews favorites playlists from any location, delivering the same personalized news experience of the full site on mobile devices. Users can also now post audio versions of their favorite stories to MySpace to share them with their MySpace network. Additionally, the application home screens have been enhanced to load audio versions of the latest stories from the web’s top thirty blogs.

“Today, with our busy lifestyles, and the vast amount of news released each day, it’s difficult to stay current through traditional methods. PimpMyNews saves time by finding stories that you care about, and lets you get current by listening while you do other things like drive, work out, ride the train and more. It’s like TiVo for news and blogs,” said PimpMyNews Co-Founder & CEO John Atkinson.

Anyone with Internet access can sign up for the free service at www.PimpMyNews.com

About PimpMyNews

PimpMyNews scours the web 24/7 for text news and blog posts that you like, and converts them to audio that you listen to [vs. R-E-A-D] on your iPod, iPhone, Mac or PC, anytime, anywhere!

- Listen online or on-the-go, in the car, at the gym - anywhere
- Stay current on the news and blogs you care about
- Save time - your favorite stories come to you
- Express Yourself - share and rate stories, create playlists and more

###

Media Contact: Press@PimpMyNews.com

Blind Ambition, An Unexpected Blessing For Us

A few days after going live in mid December, we received a very "special" email saying: "Thank you for creating this service, it has opened up a whole new world of content to me."

A few days later, we received a similar email. - Then, they began to pour in.

>You Ask, ...What's so "special" about someone liking the service?

>The Answer? The senders of these emails are blind.

Close your eyes for 60 seconds, and think about all of the blogs and websites you enjoy reading.. Now, imagine if you could never see again.

Learning that our technology might make sightless people's lives a little more enjoyable has spurred us to take this on as a "corporate cause."

We're now in talks with charity orgs to figure out ways to help more of the visually impaired. (There are 10 million visually impaired people in the US).

We would love to hear your thoughts and ideas on helping the visually impaired. Just comment on this post, or send your suggestions to Suggestions@PimpMyNews.com

Please stay tuned!

The Enquirer States: "Market Poised For PimpMyNews"

Writer Jeff Huggins contacted us about a week ago for a story he was working on for The Cincinnati Enquirer.

Jeff immediately grasped "the concept," and the consumer and publisher benefits that our personalized talking news solution provides. The story, titled "It's News to Me," recently ran in The Enquirer's print and online edition.

[You can read the full story on the Enquirer's website here: http://news.cincinnati.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2008802170394]

Below are a few excerpts from the story:

"Integrating several Web 2.0 technologies, PimpMyNews continuously scours more than 1,000 Internet sources for text news and blog posts, converting approximately 5,000 stories to a digital audio format each day. The service features about 315,000 archived talking news stories from 1,000-plus news and blog publishers.

'PimpMyNews is like TiVo for news and blogs,' explains co-founder and CEO, John Atkinson of Mason. 'Today, we have access to so many different news sources, but still everyone struggles to stay current. Our service puts consumers in control, letting them listen to breaking news on their own terms.'

Huggins then goes on to say:

"The market appears to be poised for PimpMyNews. According to research from the Pew Internet & American Life Project, nearly one in three Americans regularly get news online, and 39 percent of Internet users, or about 57 million adults, read blogs.

Additionally, a significant number of young people (13 percent), say they now get news via a cell phone, a personal digital assistant, such as a PalmPilot or Blackberry, or an iPod or other portable music player.

In the short time it has been live, PimpMyNews has enjoyed considerable critical acclaim."

>Anyone with Internet access can sign up for a free PimpMyNews Account at: http://www.pimpmynews.com/

>iPhone & iPod Touch users can access the mobile web application at: www.PimpMyNews.com/m

PimpMyNews Update and New iPhone Features!

We're excited that PimpMyNews is taking off around the world thanks to YOU (our valued users), the press and fellow bloggers, who are spreading the word about the instant benefit it provides to anyone looking for an easy way to stay current on their news and blogs.

We're now up to users from 114 countries, 1,000+ news and blog sources and 300,000+ talking stories online - and, we're adding new sources and more than 5,000 new stories every day.

When we started "this thing", we pledged that PimpMyNews would be "user-driven", and we're excited to announce that, based on your feedback, we've added even more time-saving features to PimpMyNews.

But first, for those of you who may not be familiar with PimpMyNews, here's the obligatory "elevator speech"...

Simply put, PimpMyNews makes your favorite news and blogs TALK. It scours the web's top 1,000 news and blog sites for breaking stories and instantly converts them to near-human sounding audio that you can listen to anytime, anywhere. You can listen on your Mac, PC, iPhone, iPod, or any ol' MP3 player.

With PimpMyNews, instead of being tied to a computer searching and reading, you can kick back at your computer and listen, or, you can take your content on-the-go and make the most out of your time while you drive, workout, cook and more.

We're Continually Enhancing PimpMyNews Based on Your Feedback:

>In mid December, we launched the full PimpMyNews site at PimpMyNews.com, which allows anyone to choose from the web's top news and blog sites to create a free "personalized talking newspaper."

>In mid January, we followed up with an iPhone-optimized version of PimpMyNews at Macworld, that allows you to listen to breaking stories from the web's top 30 News and Blog sites on your iPhone or iPod Touch.

>And now, we're pleased to announce a brand spankin' new "personalization" feature for iPhone and iPod Touch users... You can now log in and access your "PimpMyNews favorites playlist" on your iPhone or iPod Touch from anywhere!

To use this cool new feature, sign up on your Mac or PC at PimpMyNews.com and complete the brief Account Setup Wizard... then, login from your iPhone or iPod Touch at PimpMyNews.com/m

Plus, you can now save a PimpMyNews icon to your iPhone homescreen, so you'll be able to get to it with a single "tap" - to do this, while on PimpMyNews, just click the "plus" sign and click "Add to Home Screen."

Keep the great feedback coming to Suggestions@PimpMyNews.com, and remember to tell your friends about us!

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What They're Saying About PimpMyNews:

"It's like magic... PimpMyNews is ideal for productivity junkies who can satisfy their news and blog cravings while doing other things," says Touchtip.com. [http://tinyurl.com/3ajbkc]

"A great service for listening to your favorite news and blog sites... and sharing them," says Just Another iPhone Blog. [http://tinyurl.com/29jwol]

[About iPhone personalization] "It’s a great inclusion, and shows that the iPhone site is developing at a swift pace," says PocketPicks. [http://tinyurl.com/2sd4uu]

Talking iPhone Web Application Unveiled at Macworld, Receives Apple's Prestigious "Staff Pick" Designation

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

January 16, 2008

New iPhone Web App Instantly Converts the Web’s Top Text News and Blogs to Audio -Allowing Users to Get Current & Multitask While Listening On-the-go

San Francisco, Calif. – January 16, 2008 – Web 2.0 startup PimpMyNews.com announced today at Macworld the debut of the world’s first “talking social news application” designed specifically for iPhones and iPod touch devices.

The application has received Apple’s prestigious “Staff Pick” designation and can now be accessed from any iPhone or iPod touch at www.PimpMyNews.com/m or through Apple’s web app directory.

The PimpMyNews web app features key functionality from the PimpMyNews full site, which launched in December at http://www.pimpmynews.com/. The web app scours the Internet for breaking text stories from the most popular news and blog sites and converts them to near-human sounding audio that users of iPhones, iPod touch devices and other mobile devices can listen to wherever they happen to be. Users can also share audio versions of stories with friends, or post them to other social sites including Facebook, Digg, Del.icio.us, StumbleUpon, Reddit, Mixx and more.

Since the December launch of the core PimpMyNews offering, the company reports that visitors from 99 countries have flocked to http://www.pimpmynews.com/ to listen to audio versions of breaking news stories from the web’s top 1,000 text news and blog sites on their computers, iPhones, iPods, Zunes and other devices.

PimpMyNews users who sign up for the free service on the main site can create a “personalized talking newspaper” by selecting their favorite text news and blog sources from 59 unique categories, including Technology, Entertainment, Sports, Politics, Colleges, Business and more. Users can listen online or on-the-go by creating a personalized news podcast that is continuously updated with fresh content from their favorite sources. The site has over 200,000 talking stories online, adds more than 4,000 new stories per day and was recently selected as “The Cool Site of the Day”.

“We’re excited to provide yet another option that empowers people to get current on their favorite news and blogs by listening to them anytime, anywhere. Being selected as a “Staff Pick” by Apple is further validation that PimpMyNews provides meaningful value to users everywhere,” said PimpMyNews Co-Founder & CEO John Atkinson

PimpMyNews will be demonstrating the new iPhone web app at Macworld in San Francisco this week. Members of the press can schedule a demo by emailing Press@PimpMyNews.com

About PimpMyNews
PimpMyNews scours the web 24/7 for text news and blog posts that you like and converts them to MP3’s that you listen to (vs. R-E-A-D) on your iPod, iPhone or PC – anytime, anywhere!

- Stay current on the news and blogs you care about
- Save time – your favorite stories come to you
- Listen online or on-the-go – in the car, at the gym – anywhere
- Express Yourself – share and rate stories, create playlists and more

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Media Contact: Press@PimpMyNews.com

PimpMyNews Picked as Today's "Cool Site Of The Day"

We love it when others help us spread the news about PimpMyNews, and we're very thankful for the press, fellow bloggers, "Twitterers" and "Diggers" who have been spreading the word since we launched a few weeks ago.

Last week, the folks over at "Cool Site of the Day" contacted us to let us know that PimpMyNews had been chosen as their "Cool Site of the Day" for today (Monday, January 7th, 2008). After Googling them and seeing praise about them from Yahoo and New York times, our excitement grew.

- Yahoo says they're "the original and still the best."

- New York Times calls them "the arbiter of good taste on the Internet."

Then Panic Set in...
We asked ourselves, "What if 'Cool Site' brought an avalanche of millions of people with click-happy fingers to our site today? Could our tireless, "near-human sounding robots" fetch and read the news fast enough?

As I write this blog post at 7:36 pm eastern, I'm happy to say that our traffic has more than tripled, and we haven't heard a single complaint from our "robo news team."

I suppose as long as we continue to treat them humanely and provide a rewarding upward career path for them, the "PimpMyNews machine" will continue to run like a top. (Fingers crossed, of course ;)

Please cast your vote for PimpMyNews at "Cool Site of the Day"

On a side note - keep sending your feedback to Suggestions@PimpMyNews.com - and share a talking PimpMyNews story to your mother-in-law.