Lexcycle announced Monday that they’ve been acquired by Amazon.com, the online retail giant. Lexcycle, who is responsible for Stanza (iTunes link), one of the best-selling ebook apps for the iPhone, stated in a blog post:

We are not planning any changes in the Stanza application or user experience as a result of the acquisition. Customers will still be able to browse, buy, and read ebooks from our many content partners.

It’s unclear exactly what the future holds for Stanza and Amazon’s own Kindle app. It’s probably fairly safe to assume that Amazon’s extensive catalog of over 270,000 ebooks will eventually be extended to the Stanza application, in addition to the current catalog of over 100,000 ebooks already available to Stanza users. It’s worth noting that the open ePub format used by Stanza’s catalog of ebooks is a container not supported by Amazon’s Kindle e-reader device.

(via Appleinsider)

Say what you will about Google, but you can’t deny that they have a good sense of humor. They’ve one-upped their previous update (which proudly listed “enhanced version number” in the changelog, for anyone who doesn’t remember) by including Ninja. It’s doubtful we’ll actually see this so-called Ninja. After all, everyone knows you can’t actually see Ninjas. This is exactly the kind of tongue-in-cheek humor I like to see, especially from companies as big as Google. Keep an eye out for their next update. What will it include? Well if I had to guess, I’d put my money on Pirates.

IGN has an exclusive preview of the upcoming iPhone version of Assassin’s Creed.

Via IGN:

As the master assassin Altair you must explore the bustling metropolises of the Holy Land to uncover “The Chalice,” a sacred artifact held by the Templars. According to your superiors at The Order of the Assassins, stealing the Chalice has the potential to end the Crusades. (How the Chalice fits into the entire story about the Crusades is not going to be spoiled here — but it’s a story well worth exploring, especially if you played through the final scenes of Assassin’s Creed on the Xbox 360, PS3, or PC.)

The screenshots that have been released certainly look impressive. I imagine this will be a game worth picking up when it’s released. IGN claims that it is set to be released within the next few weeks at a price point somewhere between $5.99 and $9.99.

(Via IGN)

Looks like Direct TV is not going to let U-Verse have all of the iPhone app glory. The guys over at DBSTalk have posted a nice first look at the Direct TV app for the iPhone. The app looks like it will let you pretty much control all of your DVR needs while on the go, right from your iPhone. Direct Tv has always had a mobile site to do this, but the iPhone app looks to pack a little more action into the mix. Head on over to DBSTalk to marvel at the PDF doc showing off the new goods.

Via: DBSTalk