Forget Zynga -- the gaming start-up that achieved Silicon Valley-style fame and fortune before losing its mojo. After leaving the company earlier this year, Zynga founder Mark Pincus has moved on to bigger and better things. Kara Swisher calls this latest endeavor: “a little bit incubator, a little bit start-up factory and a lot the new ideas of Mark Pincus.” Pincus is funding Superlabs, so-called, with his own money “to work on a variety of digital concepts he has been mulling over since leaving behind his day-to-day role at Zynga,” Swisher reports. 

Delving into the quirky, financially-shaky world of hyper-local media, NiemanLab considers the case of Berkeleyside -- a site with little use for anyone other than the 116,000 residents of Berkeley, California. “One thing that’s helped Berkeleyside grow its audience is strategic partnerships with other organizations, including KQED and the San Francisco Chronicle,” NiemanLab notes. “In exchange for helping regional newsrooms fill coverage gaps they can no longer afford to report on themselves, Berkeleyside grows its impact.” 

As the popularity of emojis continues to rise, so does criticism from those he think the little cartoon faces should better reflect various skin types.  “A proposal to expand the skin color options for emojis may get the thumbs up from those calling for more diversity in the icons,” the Associated Press reports. “Unicode Consortium, the nonprofit organization that sets the standards for these pictograms, said in a proposal that is considering adding five new skin colors.”

In the last quarter, in fact, royalty revenue from Spotify streams were 13% higher on average than revenue from Apple’s iTunes, according to Kobalt, which collects music royalties for top artists. “The numbers support findings reported in the Wall Street Journal last month noting that iTunes music sales are down about 13% this year,” TechCrunch reports. “iTunes is still a massive business -- up $300 million to $4.6 billion in sales in the last quarter.” 

Making one big women's blogging network, SheKnows has acquired BlogHer for a reported $30 million to 40 million. “The acquisition gives SheKnows Media an additional 45 million monthly unique visitors, which it claims makes it the largest women's lifestyle digital network,” Folio reports. “The BlogHer brand will continue to live on under the umbrella of SheKnows Media.” 

In the third quarter, Time Inc. saw digital advertising revenue increase 5% year-over-year to $65 million. Overall advertising revenue was flat at $428 million, according to Time, which spun off from Time Warner Inc. this past June. “Print and other advertising revenues were down 1% from last year to $363 million,” The Wrap reports. Meanwhile, “Time’s net income dipped to $48 million, down from $68 million the year before.” 

Despite rumors of a looming shutdown, Apple is still pushing its Beats Music service into new channels. In the latest example, Southwest Airlines just agreed to serve up the Beats Music streaming library to in-flight passengers. “For Apple, this means expanding the number of potential customers that it can draw to Beats Music, as using the free service on Southwest planes provides them with pretty much a captive audience,” TechCrunch reports. 

Correction: The original version of this item implied Reuters' coverage of Simulmedia's deal with Nielsen Catalina Solutions was involved in the Choice Hotels example cited in the Reuters' story. The Choice Hotel campaign had nothing to do with the Nielsen Catalina Solutions news and was just provided as an example of how a brand utilizes Simulmedia to target TV viewers.