15-year-old Ruby is a detective-obsessed mystery solver, always looking for clues involving her friends and neighbors. You can follow her adventures via Twitter, FB and of course the Ruby Skye site. In the meantime, take a peek at the trailer below.

You can also watch an interesting interview with Jill Golick, the creator of Ruby Skye P.I. Jill describes her vision of how the franchise will live across different platforms, particularly web and in print, as well as mentioning a iPad app.

I have just one question.

There are already several brands out there doing the cross-platform story-telling thing for tweens, like The Amanda Project and Sweety High, and now Ruby. They’re all primarily aimed at a female audience, and that’s great.

When are we going to see a boy-aimed brand like these?

Yes, I know the research. Boys use the internet differently, they’re not as collaborative, and it’s a struggle to get them to write more than a sentence. I’m also pretty certain boys like a good adventure with challenges, victories, or at least a good old fashioned fight. At least that’s what I gather from playing World of Warcraft, which I guess is as close as it gets to a male-aimed online community.

I’m positive, if it was done right, something like Ruby Skye, or all the other cross-platform brands, could work for boys, heck, even both sexes would be fantastic… a flirtatious moderation nightmare, but still, fantastic!

Does anyone else think it’s possible? Or am I going to have to create this thing myself?!

Hmmm…

The category for best website for kids had two great winners – Ziggity Zoom and Disney Digital Books. Take a look here to find out more about them.

In the category for best virtual world for kids, Webkinz World beat some very tough competition to claim the prize. Go here to learn more.

A very big well done to all of this years’ winners!

What’s most intriguing about this years conference is the new perspective many experts are beginning to have when it comes to keeping kids safe online. The danger of online predators are being dialed down, but while this obviously still remains a pressing concern, research by the Internet Safety Technical Task Force indicates that a more immediate problem lies with children encountering peer-to-peer bullying and self-destructive online behaviors.

Instead of increasing the fear factor for children staying safe online, conference speakers, including CNET safety blogger, Larry Magid will be placing an emphasis on media literacy and digital citizenship, encouraging kids to be positive internet users.

The two-day conference will also feature a range of workshops and sessions on subjects such as playing online games responsibly and how to use mobile devices safely. Find out more about how to register for the event, here.

As well as being able to choose books featuring a ton of Disney characters, the subscription based service also gives young readers a bunch of extra bells and whistles to play with. You can store a personal library of favorites, and share them with your friends, using the simple selection of pre-written messages to send along with your suggestion.

What I really like about the website and the reading experience, is that even though the core of the site is built around Flash animation, it really doesn’t go down the road of being overly animated and distracting. It could have been so easy to add countless little instances of characters winking, waving, and generally making a hubbub, but instead the focus is totally on the reading experience. That being said, the page turning animation of the book itself is very clever, and a large dictionary of words can be clicked on and listened to.

Of course we’re talking about books on a computer here. It’s hard to envision reading bedtime stories with it, even with a laptop. I’m sure many parents will be concerned about the physical and emotional experience of reading together with their child, but from a young users perspective, the content medium doesn’t matter.

You can already preview a bunch of books for free on the Disney Digital Books website, so take a look. The service just launched today, but I’m already certain it’s going to be something special.

In among the Twilight discussions and Johnny Depp appearances, this press release for Mattel’s upcoming Avatar toy line caught my attention. For the first time in toy industry history, the action figures based on James Cameron’s blockbuster Avatar film, will feature augmented reality technology. Each figure comes with a unique little code tag, called an iTAG that you scan with a web-cam on your computer. This reveals extra content on screen such as character bio’s and animations, and the deluxe figure versions will be able to battle each other when two are scanned together.

Developed in partnership with AR specialists, Total Immersion, the action figure line might be a must-have on Christmas lists this year. Here’s the catch that nobody else seems to have picked up on yet though; Total Immersion have already made a similar concept with Topps 3D Live Baseball Cards. It’s still the first time this technology has been incorporated into a toy, but you can already see an example of what it looks like in action below, next to a sneak preview of one of the Avatar figs at Comic-Con.

I’ve been keeping an eye on press releases from T.A.P creators, Fourth Story Media, and it looks like the first book in the series, and the website are ready to be launched soon.

This is one of those projects that has me, as someone obsessed with story-telling through different mediums, going crazy with anticipation. I’m so excited to see this, and I really hope it’s successful.

Up until this point, books like, The 39 Clues and, Skeleton Creek have touched on mixing traditional books with web content, but nothing has been as ambitious in terms of audience participation, interaction and discussion, as what The Amanda Project aims to do.

Be sure to check out the interactive press release, announcing the partnership of HarperCollins in the U.K. and Fourth Story Media, the slideshow has some intriguing visuals.

Then I got thinking. Then I got analytical. Then I got realistic. And finally, I got surprised.

Granted, there isn’t much clarification in the study as to how long or how often users watch T.V. on the web, but the survey shows a significant amount of teens across the country were questioned. And no matter how you look at it, online viewing numbers are increasing.

This leaves me considering a different conclusion than the one I had so quickly jumped to at first. Am I so wrapped up in the world of cross-platform content that what I consider to be normal viewing habits aren’t normal at all?

I’ve been involved with countless rounds of user testing and focus groups with online content and television shows, but looking back, I can’t honestly say I’ve ever asked the question, “How much T.V. do you watch online?”

The numbers speak for themselves, no matter how unusual they seem to me, but it’s sobering to compare one content medium over another. I’d love to know if people working in games, publishing, online communities or any other type of media have discovered surprising facts that make them look at their work with a different pair of eyes.

Replacing Toon Disney, this newly launched boy brand has me in cross-platform heaven. On top of the cable channel, they’ve got the token MySpace and Facebook pages, but even better, there’s downloadable content on both iTunes and Xbox Live, the latter being the icing on the cake for me. A quick look around my living room shows the only electronic product Disney XD isn’t available to me is the clock on the wall – that’s impressive.

Before I come across as a total fanboy, let’s talk about some actual content. For starters, you better be into skateboards and secret agents – they’re everywhere on the site. I’m still on the fence over some of the program lineup, particularly flagship show, Aaron Stone. Sure, the whole “schoolboy super-spy” shtick has been done before with Alex Rider and Young Bond, but Canadian production, Aaron Stone seems a little too similar to CBBC’s M.I. High for my liking. There’s got to be a new angle for this kind if thing?

Between the likes of Hannah Montana and the Jo-Bro’s Disney has the girl’s market at this age wrapped up. I’m curious to see if the same thing happens with the male audience here. Right now I’m questioning some of the program output, but Disney’s approach to saturating every content medium, even at this early stage, leaves me awestruck.

Fourth Story Media will soon be launching a new brand/book/website/social media extravaganza, named, “The Amanda Project”. Aimed primarily at 12-14 year old girls, but certain to attract older users as well, the idea pushing T.A.P. along is a cross-platform mystery intended to find out one thing – who is Amanda, the enigmatic new kid in school?

This is an original attempt to create a multimedia brand featuring a book as one of its components, but the reason the project has me so interested is because I had a similar idea last summer, utilizing a similar blend of media albeit with a completely different story and target audience. The obvious roadblock I faced was the lack of available talent to work on such a huge project, but Fourth Story Media have enlisted the help of ace design and usability agency, Happy Cog, to bring The Amanda Project to life.

Earlier last year I talked about T.A.P. with Lisa Holton, Founder of Fourth Story Media and ex SVP of Disney Children’s Books. My impression was that even though the cards were being played, quite rightly, close to the chest on the brand’s actual content, there was a great deal of optimism and anticipation about how the project would be received by audiences once all of the components are available.

I don’t disagree with the choice to make the brand girl-specific – research shows the target audience both read more than boys at this age, and are also more likely to contribute to an online community, but I’m curious to know why Fourth Story Media didn’t choose a non gender-specific theme. For instance, how would a male 12-14-year-old be received in the online community if he wanted to be a part of it and had something useful to contribute?

The Amanda Project already fascinates me and I’m certain it will be a big success. No doubt I will be sharing more thoughts about this soon, but in the meantime, take a look a peek at the teaser below and watch this space for more news as the brand becomes closer to launch.