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SEATTLE & NEW YORK –BUSINESS WIRE– On Dec 27, `07 Amazon.com and Warner Music Group announced that DRM-free music audio downloads from Warner Music Group are now available to customers on Amazon MP3, Amazon’s a la carte MP3 digital music store where every song and album is playable on virtually any personal digital music capable device.

Beginning Dec 27, songs from WMG’s digital audio catalog will be available for purchase and download from Amazon MP3. In addition, Amazon and WMG will make available to consumers digital music products such as album bundles containing exclusive tracks.

Warner had been holding out against using the format because MP3 tracks are easier to share between users and may be freely burned onto CDs.

Amazon’s download store is a major competitor to Apple’s iTunes, which uses Digital Rights Management (DRM) to restrict the use of some of its tracks.

Sony BMG is now the only major recording group not signed up with Amazon MP3, which is only available to US customers at present.

Amazon launched its MP3 download store in September after reaching agreements to sell unprotected tracks from Universal Music Group and EMI. More at Amazon.

Little Rock, AR — The world’s biggest retailer, Wal-Mart, has closed its video downloading service less than a year after it started selling films online.

The retreat for Wal-Mart, which accounts for about 40 percent of all DVD sales, follows the company’s 2005 decision to abandoned efforts to build an online DVD rental service. The world’s largest retailer instead turned its rental service over to Netflix.

It stopped the service on Dec 21, according to a message on the discount chain’s video download website. Wal-Mart said the decision had been forced by Hewlett-Packard withdrawing the software running the site.

The move ends a challenge to Apple’s iTunes store, Amazon and Netflix to win customers who rent films over the web.

The market for online video downloads has become very competitive with video rental chain Blockbuster buying Movielink over the summer to expand into this area.

Dec 13, `07 — Igor Skochinsky didn’t take too long to crack Amazon Kindle’s DRM. On his ‘Reversing Everything’ blog he details the workaround to read encrypted Mobi books on Kindle, which involves two Python scripts.

In his words, “We’ve known for some time already that Amazon’s AZW files are actually Mobi files, but Amazon didn’t share Kindle’s Mobi PID which would allow one to buy encrypted Mobi books for Kindle.

Well, I’ve discovered the algorithm used to generate the PID and was able to use it on Fictionwise, but there was another catch. AZW files have a flag set in the DRM info which is not present in books bought from other vendors. After fixing that, I could read the book on Kindle.”

And there goes Kindle’s DRM, so whats next?  Free EV-DO I guess! More at Igor Skochinsky’s blog ‘Reversing Everything’.

The so-called “Gift Order Patent” has been revoked by the EPO, On Dec 07, ‘07, in an opposition proceeding today after a hearing involving three opposing parties and the patent proprietor, Amazon. The patent relates to a method for purchasing goods over the Internet to be sent as gifts.

The contested patent is European Patent EP 0 927 945, granted to Amazon Inc. on 23 April 2003. This patent relates to an invention in the field of computer-implemented inventions (CII). It specifies a method by which a person can purchase a product as a gift and have it shipped based on the e-mail address of the recipient. Based on this e-mail address, the system will then contact the recipient to obtain a valid postal address for shipping. This patent is not to be confused with the “One-Click” patent application, which was withdrawn after the first EPO examination and never granted in Europe.

The parties who have lodged opposition against the patent – all of whom were represented at the hearing – are Fleurop Interflora Businesses and two non-government organisations in the IT field, namely the German Society of Information Sciences, and the Foundation for Free Information Infrastructure (FFII).

One of the opposition’s main arguments against the patent – among others – was that it fell short of meeting the criteria of providing an “inventive step”, as defined in Article 56 of the European Patent Convention (EPC). On these grounds, the three opposing parties asked for the patent to be revoked.

The European Patent Office as an intergovernmental executive institution is not itself a party to this case. The EPO’s Opposition Division acts as an independent arbiter and issues rulings in conformity with the European Patent Convention and the applicable international and European law. More at EPO.

SEATTLE –BUSINESS WIRE– Nov 29, 2007 –Amazon.com today launched Askville.com, a website where users ask and answer questions, and discover answers to thousands of questions on everything from how to buy an HDTV to the best way to lose weight.

Askville.com users who share their knowledge by answering questions will receive Quest Gold, which, for a limited time and while supplies last, can be redeemed for $100 or $50 Amazon.com Gift Cards.

“Finding information or getting good advice is hard enough when you are searching the Internet by yourself,” said Joseph Park, Director of Askville.com.

Askville.com users who ask or answer questions earn Quest Gold. The amount of Quest Gold a user earns is tied to how well they answer questions on Askville.com and what level of expertise they have reached in a particular topic (users earn experience points in specific topics when they answer questions and are promoted to higher levels within each topic as they continue to submit high-quality answers in those topics).

Askville.com plans to launch another website called Questville.com where users will be able to use their Quest Gold for various activities and a chance to get other rewards.

For a limited time and while supplies last, Askville.com users can redeem their 10,240 Quest Gold for $100 and 5,120 $50 Amazon.com Gift Cards, Askville.com t-shirts(for 1,024 Q.G.) and coffee mugs(512 Q.G.).

More at Amazon, Askville.

Related Article: AOL Acquires Israeli Questions and Answer Service Startup Yedda.com

Nov 24, ‘07 — The lure of bargains trumped economic concerns at the start of the holiday shopping season as retailers logged sales that were significantly stronger than a year ago, a customer traffic counter said on Saturday.

According to ShopperTrak RCT Corp., which tracks sales at more than 50,000 retail outlets, total sales rose 8.3 percent to about $10.3 billion on Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, compared with $9.5 billion on the same day a year ago. ShopperTrak had expected an increase of no more than 4 percent to 5 percent.

“This is a really strong number. … You can’t have a good season unless it starts well,” said Bill Martin, co-founder of ShopperTrak, citing strength across all regions. “It’s very encouraging. When you look at September and October, shoppers weren’t in the stores.”

The upbeat reports were encouraging since merchants have been struggling with anemic sales in recent months, as shoppers, particularly in the middle and lower-income brackets, were becoming more frugal amid higher gas and food prices and an escalating credit crunch.

In an apparent sign of desperation, the nation’s stores ushered in the official start of the holiday shopping season on Friday with expanded hours, including midnight openings, and a blitz of early morning specials that were more generous than a year ago. J.C. Penney and Kohl’s Corp. opened at 4 a.m., an hour earlier than a year ago.

The strategy appears to have worked, as shoppers jammed stores in record numbers for early morning deals on Friday. Martin noted that judging by the strong figures on Friday, stores were able to sustain strong sales throughout the day. He said he’s counting on strong traffic throughout the weekend as many stores, including Macy’s Inc., are continuing with special deals.

While Black Friday — so named because it was traditionally when the surge of shopping made stores profitable — starts holiday shopping, it is not considered a bellwether for the season. However, merchants see Black Friday as setting an important tone to the overall season: What consumers see that day influences where they will shop for the rest of the year.

An increase in online shopping has somewhat defused the seasonal predictions based on Black Friday turnout to stores. The convenience of online shopping has caused an increase in shopping on Thanksgiving Day itself.

Shoppers are browsing and researching more on Friday, but buying more on the Monday following Thanksgiving, or “Cyber Monday,” eBay said in a statement.

Nov 22, ‘07 — DiveintoMark.org shows us two sides of Jeff Bezos and of Amazon Here is how:

“When someone buys a book, they are also buying the right to resell that book, to loan it out, or to even give it away if they want. Everyone understands this.”

Jeff Bezos, Jeff Bezos, Open letter to Author’s Guild, 2002

“You may not sell, rent, lease, distribute, broadcast, sublicense or otherwise assign any rights to the Digital Content or any portion of it to any third party, and you may not remove any proprietary notices or labels on the Digital Content. In addition, you may not, and you will not encourage, assist or authorize any other person to, bypass, modify, defeat or circumvent security features that protect the Digital Content.”

Amazon, Kindle Terms of Service, 2007

More in-depth stories / discussion on Amazon Kindle at DiveintoMark.org

SEATTLE –BUSINESS WIRE– Nov 19, ‘07 — Amazon.com today introduced Amazon Kindle, a revolutionary portable reader that wirelessly downloads books, blogs, magazines and newspapers to a crisp, high-resolution electronic paper display that looks and reads like real paper, even in bright sunlight.

More than 90,000 books are now available in the Kindle Store, including 101 of 112 current New York Times Best Sellers and New Releases, which are $9.99, unless marked otherwise. Kindle is available starting today for $399 at Amazon/Kindle.

- Downloads Content Wirelessly, No PC Required, No Hunting for Wi-Fi Hot Spots

The Kindle wireless delivery system, Amazon Whispernet, uses the same nationwide high-speed data network (EVDO) as advanced cell phones. Kindle customers can wirelessly shop the Kindle Store, download or receive new content — all without a PC, Wi-Fi hot spot, or syncing.

- No Monthly Wireless Bills or Commitments

Books can be downloaded in less than a minute and magazines, newspapers, and blogs are delivered to subscribers automatically. Amazon pays for the wireless connectivity for Kindle so there are no monthly wireless bills, data plans, or service commitments for customers.

- Reads Like Paper

Kindle uses a high-resolution display technology called electronic paper that provides a sharp black and white screen that is as easy to read as printed paper.

- Books, Blogs, Magazines & Newspapers

The Kindle Store currently offers more than 90,000 books, as well as hundreds of newspapers, magazines and blogs

- Subscriptions are auto-delivered wirelessly to Kindle overnight so that the latest edition is waiting for customers when they wake up. Monthly Kindle newspaper subscriptions are $5.99 to $14.99 per month, and Kindle magazines are $1.25 to $3.49 per month.

- The Kindle Store has over 300 blogs on topics ranging from Internet and technology to culture, lifestyle, and humor, to politics and opinion.

- Holds Hundreds of Books in 10.3 Ounces

- Built-In Dictionary and Wikipedia

- Adjustable Text Size

- Comes Ready To Use

SEATTLE– BUSINESS WIRE–Nov 07, 2007– Amazon.com today announced the launch of “Customer Video Reviews,” enabling customers to use video to share their opinions and demonstrate the use of products on Amazon.com. Customer Video Reviews are located within the Customer Reviews section of items in the Amazon.com catalog. For example, check out this video review in which Amazon.com reviewer “Anjana” shows the Fisher-Price T.M.X. Tickle Me Elmo toy in action: http://www.amazon.com/review/R2WRZYZZOZKQIA. It’s easy to post a Customer Video Review on Amazon.com. Simply upload a .WMV, .MPEG, QuickTime or .AVI file to the Customer Reviews Section of any product detail page. The new Flip Video camcorder from consumer electronics manufacturer Pure Digital provides on-board software which allows users to upload a video to Amazon.com from a computer in a matter of minutes. A Customer Video Review shot with a Flip Video camcorder can be seen at: http://www.amazon.com/review/R3I0A6SL5SZ2IK.

Check out a Customer Video Review of the Wenzel Queen Insta-Bed Air Bed here: http://www.amazon.com/review/R5NAX0NIHS72H or a review of a Sony Telephoto Conversion Lens here: http://www.amazon.com/review/RXP87I7U8NXB9. Video game enthusiasts can see a Customer Video Review of the PlayStation 3 here: http://www.amazon.com/review/R1WDAOWIW8WCF. See what “Gregory” thinks of the Hasbro Star Wars Darth Vader Voice Changer here: http://www.amazon.com/review/R2GZP7CUOQAVWL or watch a Snowmobile Trail Post Driver in action here: http://www.amazon.com/review/R2L3YN0TKFE4V0.

More at Amazon.

Featuring the highest quality screen resolution, highest quality video, touch screen, WiFi capabilities for streaming content to the device or a TV, the ARCHOS 705 WiFi is the top product in the line-up for flexibility, portability, features and price. Says Archos.

Archos 705 Wi-Fi Portable Media Player now available for pre-ordering at Amazon. 80GB is up for $399.99 and 160GB cost $499.99.

Specs: 

SEATTLE–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Oct. 22, 2007–Amazon.com, Inc, today unveiled a new category store, the Amazon All Business Center, aimed at helping entrepreneurs find solutions to fit the needs of their small and medium businesses. The store serves as a one-stop shopping destination to help business owners start, manage and grow their business. In addition to providing customers with quick, easy access to small and medium business products in categories including software, computers, printers, books and office products, business owners will also have the opportunity to explore other services available to them such as Amazon Web Services, Fulfillment by Amazon and Amazon Corporate Accounts.

“Becoming an entrepreneur can be a risky, yet exhilarating experience,” said Greg Hart, vice president of software at Amazon.com. “Our goal with the Amazon All Business Center is to help eliminate some of the guess work when it comes to the information small business owners need to know and the products they need to have in order to succeed. The store is a tool that allows us to reach out to this unique group of customers, and provide them with the best prices, selection and convenience to help make their dreams of owning their own businesses a reality.

Key features of the Amazon All Business Center include:
–  Customers forums, where business owners can ask questions and receive guidance from each other
–  Essential software solutions focused on helping small and medium businesses get started
–  Industry-specific software such as financial services, creative and design, professional services and retail to help entrepreneurs manage their businesses
–  How-to software to help businesses expand
–  Everything needed to outfit an office from furniture, laptops, monitors and printers to notepads and pens
–  Access to Amazon Web Services, Fulfillment by Amazon and Amazon Corporate Accounts
– The Amazon All Business Center is sponsored by Microsoft and Intuit.

More at Amazon