Automata Studios, the team behind the Barnes and Noble Nook Kids™ eBook software, proudly announces that NOOK titles have been nominated for the award of “Best eBook.” Attaining four of the five nomination slots, the NOOK Kids eBooks were nominated to receive a Cynopsis Kids !magination Award. Keenan Keeling, Chief Operating Officer at Automata Studios, worked as technical lead on the project.

The four Enhanced NOOK Books to be nominated in the eBook category at the first annual Cynopsis Kids Awards are Go Dog Go! (Random House), A Charlie Brown Christmas (PEANUTS Worldwide), Birdies Big-Girl Shoes (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers) and You Will Be My Friend! (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers). All are available in a fun, engaging, digital format, only for Barnes & Noble customers on NOOK Tablet and NOOK Color.

NOOK Kids lets Barnes & Noble’s youngest readers explore more than 2,000 digital picture books, all presented in a consistent format, so parents and kids can keep the focus on the fun and interactive content, while encountering a familiar reading and learning experience.

“We are so proud to receive these nominations as they represent an acknowledgement of the respect and care we attribute to each book as it transitions from print to digital on the NOOK platform,” said Wendy Bronfin, Senior Director of Children’s Digital Products at Barnes & Noble. “If you do a side-by-side comparison of all the picture books in the digital market, it’s clear that the best experience is on NOOK as books are treated with great care and a deep understanding of how parents and children interact with stories.”

Cynopsis: Kids! is a daily e-publication covering the kids’ entertainment business and is the must-read by leaders in the programming, licensing and kids’ marketing arena. Celebrating 10 years in 2012, Cynopis: Kids! is one of the most comprehensive sources of information for the kids’ reading and entertainment industry.

The Cynopsis Kids !magination Awards honor the year’s most outstanding achievements in content creation and marketing between October 2010 and December 2011. Presented by one of the industry’s most-read and trusted publications, Cynopsis Media, the awards are open to all production companies, studios, producers, networks, animators, developers, licensing companies, marketing and PR firms, ad agencies and toy companies.

“Cynopsis: Kids! is a well-known name in the children’s media industry and that’s why we are so pleased with these four nominations,” said Kevin O’Connor, Director of Business Development at Barnes & Noble. “These nominations are representative of what we see and hear from media insiders and from families about NOOK and our kids’ offering. Add to that the fact that we have the largest collection of digital books for kids and teen – NOOK is a real win for families and publishers.”

The Cynopsis Kids !magination Awards winners will be announced during a ceremony in New York City on June 7, and will be profiled in a special edition of Cynopsis: Kids!

Automata Studios has hired a new Chief Business Officer. Franco Brockelman, PMP, CSM, joins Branden Hall and Keenan Keeling on the board. “Franco impressed me by growing his former department from 14 people to over 100,” says CEO Branden Hall, “He brings an expertise to the business side of Automata that will help us grow as a company.” Team-oriented and highly motivated, Mr. Brockelman brings a fresh perspective to Automata, and plans to bring his successes elsewhere to his new company.

Joining the developer team is Skye Alcorn, who started with Automata as an intern in June 2011. Mr. Alcorn’s skills can be seen most recently in building the kiosk system for Timberland.

Automata Studios would like to welcome Skye Alcorn and Phil Weinstein to our team. Skye and Phil have been here a mere three days and they are already wowing us. The whole Automata family is looking forward to fantastic things this summer!

Automata Studios is proud to announce the launch of Star.me! We were asked by Ze Frank to work on the new “Thank it Forward Chain” feature, and we are super happy with the result. Tell your friends how awesome they are and give them stars, just like kindergarten.

Because of Star.me, Automata Studios worked on special projects for both the IE9 beta launch, and the official launch. When it comes to interactivity, it doesn’t matter the technology, Automata always makes beautiful and fun creations for our clients.

Starting Monday, February 14th 2011 IBM’s Watson supercomputer will compete on the game show Jeopardy!. Automata Studios was proud to collaborate with Joshua Davis to create Watson’s on-screen avatar.

Automata took Josh’s designs and programmed both the avatar and a collection of tools. We defined easily editable configuration files and a special supercomputer simulator to let Josh work with IBM to bring Watson to life and give “him” a truly unique stage presence.