Amazon

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Amazon Buys Rival Zappos for About $900M

(Newser) - If you can't beat 'em, buy 'em. Amazon is shelling out about $900 million in cash and stock to purchase rival online retailer Zappos, reports TechCrunch. Zappos specializes in shoes, and the investment—the biggest in Amazon's 14-year history—suggests Jeff Bezos is looking to shore up his company's less-than-stellar...

Weird Stuff for Sale on Amazon
 Weird Stuff for Sale on Amazon 
Jul 15, 2009 7:05 PM CDT

Weird Stuff for Sale on Amazon

Buy the world's largest book, or a life-size grim reaper statue

(Newser) - Amazon.com long ago expanded beyond books and now offers appliances, musical instruments, and as Random Good Stuff points out, some decidedly odd items:
  • The world’s largest book. At 5 by 7 feet, the photographic book Bhutan includes lifesize portraits of its subjects. It's a steal at $30,000.
...

Hacker Sends Confidential Twitter Files to Blogs

Cyber-scoundrel also hacks Twitter CEO's Gmail, Paypal accounts

(Newser) - A hacker who gained access to a Twitter administrative account two months ago has been sending confidential files to bloggers, InformationWeek reports. Most of the documents sent to blogs such as TechCrunch have been only mildly embarrassing internal correspondence, but some contain security passwords. The hacker, who goes by “...

How the Kindle Could Kill Book Publishing
How the Kindle Could Kill Book Publishing
GLOSSIES
Jul 9, 2009 7:31 PM CDT

How the Kindle Could Kill Book Publishing

...if an Apple e-reader doesn't kill the Kindle first

(Newser) - With the Kindle, Amazon's Jeff Bezos may be poised “ to do to book publishers what Steve Jobs did to the music industry,” writes Adam Penenberg in Fast Company: rapidly create a market from nothing and use it to rule over publishers with an iron fist, perhaps even “...

Storied Paris Bookstore Gets Long-Due Makeover

After Joyce and Hemingway, Shakespeare and Co. spruces up

(Newser) - Shakespeare and Company, the English-language bookshop on the left bank of Paris, has been a refuge for writers from James Joyce to Ernest Hemingway to William Burroughs. Its owner, the sainted George Whitman, is still around at 95—but as Amazon keeps growing, he's handed the shop over to his...

Peru Army Cracks Down on Amazon Eco Uprising

(Newser) - The Peruvian Army has imposed a curfew and set up checkpoints following deadly clashes with indigenous tribes protesting plans to drill for oil and gas in ancestral homelands in the Amazon region, reports the BBC. Dozens of people, both police and protesters, were killed in the clashes that mark the...

Deadly Floods Drive 400K Brazilians From Home

(Newser) - Widespread flooding in northern Brazil has killed at least 49 people and forced nearly 408,000 from their homes, reports the BBC. More rain is expected in the area for another two weeks. The government has spent $435 million to help flood victims, but food supplies continue to dwindle. Flooding...

Snark Makes Wolf Shirt a Best Seller

(Newser) - What’s so great about “Three Wolf Moon,” a T-shirt that’s shot to the top of Amazon’s sales chart? Let top reviewer B. Govern explain. “Pros: Fits my girthy frame, has wolves on it, attracts women. Cons: Only 3 wolves.” That review went viral,...

Cisco Disappoints; Dow Off 102
 Cisco Disappoints; Dow Off 102 
MARKETS
May 7, 2009 3:27 PM CDT

Cisco Disappoints; Dow Off 102

Investors await stress tests results

(Newser) - A poor earnings report and forecast from Cisco led stocks down today, the Wall Street Journal writes. The networking giant, considered an indicator of the tech sector’s general health, noted a 17% drop in revenue, and projected bigger losses for next quarter. The Dow closed down 102.43 at...

New Kindle Upgrades Price, Not Reading Experience

(Newser) - The Kindle DX offers crisper resolution than its smaller cousin, but it’s still not big enough to display a full newspaper page, and the price may hold some buyers back, Damon Darlin writes in the New York Times. “You never see the big picture—a full page—that...

186K Homeless in Deadly Brazil Floods

(Newser) - At least 19 people have been killed and close to 200,000 driven from their homes by floods and massive mudslides in northern Brazil, reports CNN. Over 1000 tons of emergency food are being delivered in six northern states as residents negotiate streets with boats amid roofs jutting from rivers...

Amazon to Roll Out Kindle for Textbooks

(Newser) - Amazon will unveil a bigger new version of the Kindle tomorrow, designed to handle textbooks and periodicals, the Wall Street Journal reports. Amazon already has deals in place with several textbook publishers for content, and with various universities, including Princeton, Reed College, and Arizona State, to get the device into...

Bigger E-Readers Ride In to Save Newspapers
 Bigger E-Readers Ride In
 to Save Newspapers 
ANALYSIS
May 4, 2009 12:24 PM CDT

Bigger E-Readers Ride In to Save Newspapers

(Newser) - Amazon is set to introduce a tabloid-sized version of the Kindle tailored to display newspapers—just one of many e-readers in the pipe that just might toss a life-preserver to print journalism, the New York Times reports. In fact, Engadget expects the new Kindle to debut Wednesday at a press...

Best Buy Joining Digital Movie Biz

Service may come built-in to electronics

(Newser) - Best Buy plans to join the digital movie market this summer to offset declining DVD sales, Variety reports. The retailer is in talks with film providers such as CinemaNow—also Blockbuster's supplier—and may market TVs or Blu-ray players with built-in access to the movie library. That would put Best...

Amazon: 'Ham-Fisted Error' Caused Gay Glitch

Company promises to restore gay, lesbian titles to ranking system

(Newser) - Amazon.com says “an embarrassing and ham-fisted cataloging error” caused thousands of gay and lesbian-related titles to be removed from sales rankings and some searches, the New York Times reports. The company—the target of online outrage after the changes came to light—says the "glitch" has now...

Hacker Cops to Amazon Gay Flap

Skeptics still unsure whether he did it

(Newser) - A notorious hacker has taken credit for the snafu that bumped gay titles from Amazon’s bestseller lists and rankings, Gawker reports. “Weev” claims he tricked users into flagging the content as inappropriate without their knowledge. “I guess my game is up,” he confessed in a how-to...

Discovery Sues Kindle, Claims Patent Infringement

Firm alleges it owns e-book reader's encryption technology

(Newser) - Kindle is catching more legal flak. Discovery Communications—best known for the similarly named cable channel—says Amazon infringed on its patent for electronic book technology, Reuters reports. It's seeking unspecified damages. The Kindle also has taken heat from publishers because of its text-to-speech technology, which could cut into sales...

Amazon Yanks Video Rape Game
 Amazon Yanks 
 Video Rape Game 




Feb 15, 2009 11:32 AM CST

Amazon Yanks Video Rape Game

Finally decides it's not appropriate after consumer complaints

(Newser) - Amazon will no longer offer a video rape game, following consumer complaints, reports the Daily Telegraph. The Japanese game Rapelay instructs virtual players to stalk and rape women, then force them to abort any resulting pregnancies. "We determined that we did not want to be selling this particular item,...

Kindle 2 Is a Whole New Book
 Kindle 2 Is a Whole New Book 
PRODUCT REVIEW
Feb 9, 2009 4:28 PM CST

Kindle 2 Is a Whole New Book

(Newser) - The Kindle 2 e-reader unveiled by Amazon today is great if you love computers, Tom Leonard writes in the Telegraph. "Wafer-thin," it's more "fragile bird" than book and boasts a tiny keyboard perfect for the i-Pod/Blackberry crowd. But the clear, no-glare screen and grayscale display are...

Stephen King to Pen Kindle Exclusive
Stephen King
to Pen Kindle Exclusive
UPDATED
Feb 9, 2009 11:51 AM CST

Stephen King to Pen Kindle Exclusive

Novel announced along with new version of e-reader today

(Newser) - Amazon.com may have written a new storyline into the publishing world: Along with today's announcement of a slimmer, faster (but still $359) Kindle reader, the online giant revealed that it has signed horror writer Stephen King to a deal for an exclusive e-book, reports the Wall Street Journal. King...

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