News Briefs

Newly available from Vook and Atria: Simon & Schuster, Narine Kikogosian's Return to Beauty, a multiformat skincare guide combining text with video content accessible online or as stand-alone iPhone and iPod Touch apps. (More info at www.simonandschuster.com/returntobeauty.) See also Anthony E. Zuiker's recently released Level 26: Dark Origins, a simultaneous print/audiobook title touted by Penguin Audio as "the world's first Digi-Novel," i.e., a novel similarly combining text and audio with online video footage (Audio NewsBriefs, LJ 10/15/09).

Leading up to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP15), to be held in Copenhagen from December 7–18, World Television has launched an online video portal to support news coverage of and relating to the event. The site, www.climatetalks.tv, incorporates RSS-feed functionality and makes available broadcast-quality videos for download. More info at www.world-television.com and www.videonewsmanager.com.

Objectified, the second entry—following Helvetica (2007)—in director Gary Hustwit's documentary design trilogy, is newly available for purchase (via www.objectifiedfilm.com) as both a standard-edition DVD and limited special edition available on either USB drive or standard DVD. The feature-length film will make its U.S. television debut on November 24, 2009, as part of PBS's Emmy Award-winning Independent Lens series.

Newly available from A&E Home Entertainment on DVD ($19.95) and Blu-ray disc ($29.95): Willie Nelson and Wynton Marsalis Play the Music of Ray Charles, a live, high-definition recording of the February 2009 Jazz at Lincoln Center tribute concert, in which Grammy Award-winning singer Norah Jones performed as a special guest. Both the DVD and Blu-ray editions include a documentary comprised of interviews with Marsalis, Nelson, and Jones and a musical photo gallery. Purchasing info at shop.aetv.com.