Your Monday Tech News Round Up

Amazon starts signing authors, pushing publishers out a job; BlackBerry gives out freebies in the hopes of making amends; it's Samsung vs. Apple in the court room and wireless phones will soon start warning customer's if they are about to going over their monthly call, text and data allowances.

1) Amazon.com has gone over the heads of many publishing companies, instead targeting authors directly. Cutting out the middle men - agents, publishing house and yes, even critics - Amazon will release 122 books this fall across many varied genres. If publishers are on their way out of business, it might be time to buy a kindle... [NY Times]

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2) BlackBerry has decided that having a global network failure might have annoyed quite a few people. The way to make these people feel better? FREE STUFF! Research In Motion, the company behind BlackBerry, have announced that they will give away premium apps to millions of consumers who's faith in the brand may have wavered over the past week. The app package will include iSpeech Translator, as well as games such as Bejeweled; some consumers will also receive a month of free tech support. [NY Times]

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3) If the queues across New York were anything to go by, the iPhone 4S was practically flying off the shelves on Friday. Apple reported that just over 4 million units of the device had been sold during it's first weekend; in comparison to the initial sales of the iPhone 4, these figures are more than double. Any demands for an iPhone 5 were silenced as Apple proved that a strategy of upgrading rather than remaking was great for business. [NY Times]

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4) Samsung has been informed that it's Galaxy Tablet infringes on patents owned by Apple, although Apple will need to improve their patents to prevent sales of the Samsung device. The case spans the globe, with the outcry from Apple of 'you stole our iPad!', and now Samsung have retaliated by wanting to place an embargo on the iPhone 4S in Japan and Australia. Apple however, seem to have the edge over the whole scandal as a brand that paved the way for touch screen devices. [BBC]

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5) The Federal Communications Commission has agreed with US wireless networks that people should be warned before they exceed their monthly usage limits for calls, texts and data. An investigation into 'bill shock' - yes that feeling of despair in your stomach when you've opened your bill  - found that many Americans were not warned about their usage and could not afford to pay fines and excess charges. [CNN]

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