amazon posts

Amazon Kindle for PC: Now delivering books to your desktop

by Brad Linder Nov 10th 2009

As expected, Amazon has launched a version of its Kindle eBook reader for Windows. The software is available for Windows XP, Vista, and 7, with a Mac version "coming soon."

As an eBook reader, Kindle for the PC is pretty no-frills. It lets you adjust fonts, read books, and create bookmarks. And that's about it. But the software can also synchronize with other devices. So if you have Amazon's physical Kindle eBook reader or the iPhone version and you've created annotations on it, you'll be able to access them on the PC client. No, I have no idea why you can't create annotations on the PC version.

In order to download books, you'll need to connect to the Amazon Kindle store via a web browser. When you select a title, it will be downloaded to your PC and available for viewing in the Kindle software.

The Windows 7 version of the software also includes multitouch capabilities that allow you to zoom in and out by pinching your fingers if your PC has a touchscreen. A future version is expected to add support for page turning with a swipe of your finger.

The biggest problem with Kindle for PC? It's geographically restricted and won't work in most countries outside of the US. I haven't seen any official statement on this, but a colleague in Canada tells me that the software won't work in his country.

[via Engadget]

Tags: amazon, amazon-kindle, ebook-reader, ebooks, kindle, kindle-for-pc

Filed under: Business, Social Software

Amazon affiliate links now post to Twitter in two clicks

by Jay Hathaway Nov 4th 2009

In an email to members of its Amazon Associates program, Amazon.com started promoting Twitter integration for affiliate links. People have been posting Amazon links to Twitter for just about as long as Twitter's been around, but now it's an insanely easy two-click process, using the toolbar on any product page. This is good news for Associates, making Twitter a viable place to pick up some extra clicks and sales.

It's bad news if you hate product spam, though. Get prepared for a whole mess of folks starting up spammy Twitter accounts to take advantage of the new feature. Also get ready for well-intentioned friends who don't grasp Twitter etiquette to post some product links here and there. I'm not predicting a big storm, just a new minor nuisance.

The messages don't auto-post to your account, they just redirect you to Twitter.com with a pre-filled tweet. The text before the product names seem to rotate, and it includea stuff like "Great deal on," "Check out," and "Just saw on Amazon." I guess that'll make people who post frequent product links look a little bit less like spammers.

Tags: affiliate, amazon, Amazon associates, AmazonAssociates, sales, twitter

Filed under: Internet, News, Web

Amawaitin - Amazon bargain shopper's tool

by Dolores Parker Oct 23rd 2009

You know how you feel when you miss a sale on an item you were definitely going to buy, but now the price has gone up and you feel like you've been robbed? Yeh, I hate it when that happens.

Amawaitin is a shopping tool for Amazon that emails or tweets you when your preselected items hit your target price. This is convenient as it helps you from having to constantly check if the price has gone down on your favorite items.

The site is super easy to register for and navigate. You can search for an item and Amawaitin will provide a list for you to select. You put in your target price and then you - yeah you guessed right - you wait. I'm still waiting for the price alert on the 47 in HDTV for $599.

The key to Amawaitin is having the presence of mind to input your items and target price in advance. The other critical factor is to have patience and hope your target price will hit, and the last consideration is to brace yourself for Cyndi Lauper's Time After Time song, whose lyrics will invade your head just because the name of the site is asking for it. I will be waiting, time after time..

Tags: amawaitin, amazon, amazon bargain shoppers tip, amazon deals, amazon price alert, AmazonBargainShoppersTip, AmazonDeals, AmazonPriceAlert

Filed under: Internet, Video, Web

IMDb celebrates its 19th birthday

by Brad Linder Oct 18th 2009

The Internet Movie Database turned 19 yesterday. If you're scratching your head wondering how the IMDb can be older than the web, you'll notice that the first initial is I, not W. That's because the iconic destination for information about films and TV shows actually predates the web.

In fact, the earliest version of the technology behind the IMDb was a set of scripts for searching the USENET group rec.arts.movies. The IMDb wasn't even named yet, but it was already a work in progress on October 17, 1990.

The web site today is a bit more full featured. Not only can you get biographies for actors, directors, writers, and producers, as well as biographies, filmographies, and brief descriptions of movies, but you can also get TV listings, movie rankings, entertainment news, message boards, and the ability to watch some movies and TV shows from the site.

[via TechCrunch]

Tags: amazon, history, imdb, internet-movie-database, movies, usenet

Filed under: Internet, Web services

Amazon begins offering same-day delivery in select cities

by Brad Linder Oct 15th 2009

Amazon has made a name for itself by offering a huge selection of goods for sale over the internet, available in many parts of the globe, often with free shipping. Now the company is offering super-fast shipping to sweeten the deal in a handful of locations.

Customers who live in New York, Philadelphia, Boston, Washington, Baltimore, Las, Vegas, and Seattle can select same-day deliver if they place an order early enough in the day (before 10:00AM in most areas, and before 1:00PM in Seattle).

Of course, same-day delivery ain't exactly free budget shipping. Amazon Prime members, who pay $79 per year for some extra perks will have to pay $6 per item for the speedier delivery. Non Prime members will have to pony up substantially more cash. The New York Times notes that a box of diapers will set you back $15 in shipping. When I checked the shipping charges for an HD media player, it was closer to $20.

What do you think? Are you more likely to buy something if shipping is fast? Or cheap?

Tags: amazon, retail, same-day-shipping

Filed under: Internet, Web

Amazon adds over 18,000 free public domain titles to Kindle Store

by Brad Linder Oct 12th 2009

Amazon has been adding public domain titles to the Kindle eBook store at a frantic pace over the past few days. As of this afternoon, there were over 18,000 titles in the eBook store available as free downloads. Most are public domain works, which means they are no longer protected by copyright.

Of course, Amazon's in the business of selling books, not giving them away. But by giving away these books, Amazon may be able to convince potential customers to buy the Kindle eBook reader... and once they own it, odds are they'll spend a few bucks now and then on newer titles in the Kindle store.

It would have been nice if Amazon had thought of this tactic before launching the Kindle. But the rapid growth of the public domain library in the Kindle store is more likely a response to the fact that Sony eBook readers can access Google's massive collection of scanned public domain works.

So while Amazon's 18,000 public domain downloads are a good start, Google has over half a million titles, which means Amazon still has some catching up to do.

[via The Kindle Nation and C.K. Sample]

Tags: amazon, amazon-kindle, ebooks, public-domain

'The Lost Symbol' by Dan Brown for Kindle outselling hardback edition

by Paul O'Brien Sep 17th 2009

Oh those times they are a changin'! According to the statistics at the time of writing in the Amazon US best-selling books list, 'The Lost Symbol' by Dan Brown for Kindle is outselling the equivalent hardback!

Kindle Nation notes that the situation may well change as time goes on and particularly as the holiday season approaches (when the book will certainly sell extremely well as a gift), however I think that what we are seeing is almost a 'coming of age' of the eBook - consumers realising that they can get their books more conveniently, cheaper and of course instantly - a huge plus when you're rushing to get the newest best-seller from a huge author like Dan Brown.

Bear in mind that as you can see in the above screenshot, not only is the Kindle version of the book outselling the hardback edition, but it is outselling every other book in any form in Amazon's store. Impressive!

Unfortunately we don't have any numbers that detail what percentage of the copies sold are delivered to iPhones and iPods rather than the Kindle devices themselves, but I suspect that if we did, a large percentage would be going to the non-Amazon devices.

Who knows how huge the book sales would be if more platforms have a Kindle reader...?

Tags: amazon, dan brown, DanBrown, kindle, the lost symbol, TheLostSymbol

Filed under: Business, News

Amazon pays off victims of 1984 incident

by Jay Hathaway Sep 4th 2009

A while back, we told you how Amazon revealed its ability to delete a book from all Kindle devices, even after customers had purchased it. In a somewhat poetic twist, the deleted book that brought this to everyone's attention was George Orwell's 1984, and bloggers were quick to liken Amazon's activities to those of 1984's Big Brother. Now, to smooth things over with customers, Amazon is offering anyone who bought 1984 a redelivery of the book or $30.

If you're one of the affected customers, you can take your payoff as Amazon store credit, or in the form of a check. For those who choose to get their books back, all notations made on the books will also be restored. This is noteworthy in light of the recent lawsuit Amazon was facing from a high school student who lost his class notes on 1984 as a result of the incident. Amazon can't really unring the bell of letting users know it can delete their purchases, so promising not to do it again and offering compensation is as close as they'll get to regaining trust.

[via slashgear]

Tags: 1984, amazon, big brother, BigBrother, kindle, orwell, refund

Filed under: Business

High schooler sues Amazon for ruining his study notes

by Jay Hathaway Jul 31st 2009

When Amazon.com removed copies of George Orwell's 1984 from users' Kindles, there was a big uproar over possible censorship. The irony that the book in question happened to be the most famous literary screed on surveillance since - well, since ever - only added fuel to the fire. The resulting backlash caused Amazon to promise never to snatch customers' purchases off their Kindles again, even if another book has to be pulled from the store for legal reasons. The promise came too late for one high school senior, though, who lost his copy of 1984 AND the study notes he had made on the book.

Now the student is trying to start up a class action against Amazon, suing for messing up the annotations he (and, presumably, at least a few other people) made on their digital copies of 1984. Amazon didn't actually delete his notes, but removing the book means that the notes don't refer back to any text, and renders them useless. The suit alleges that nothing in Amazon's terms of service for the Kindle covers the removal of users' purchases -- the license is supposed to be for life.

[via Wall Street Journal]

Tags: 1984, amazon, amazon-kindle, books, lawsuit, orwell

Filed under: News, Web

Amazon buys online apparel store Zappos for $807 million

by Brad Linder Jul 22nd 2009

Online shoe and apparel store Zappos has made a name for itself by offering excellent customer service, allowing users to order shoes in multiple sizes and return the ones that don't fit, and overall becoming something of an Amazon-style resource for shoe shoppers.

And now it looks like Amazon wants to be the Amazon of shoe stores, because the company is making a move to acquire Zappos for 10 million shares of Amazon common stock, or about $807 million. The deal could close before the end of the year.

Zappos will continue to operate as a separate brand from Amazon, and the company's management team will stay in place. Zappos CEO tony Hsieh has published a letter sent to all his company's employees about the acquisition today. he says the move will help Zappos grow its "brand and culture." In the Q&A that follows, Zappos makes it pretty clear to employees that very few things will be changing. The company headquarters isn't moving, the health benefits aren't changing, and Zappos employees won't even get Amazon employee discounts.

[via TechCrunch]

Tags: amazon, zappos

Filed under: Internet, News

Schwarzenegger: No internet sales tax in California, please stick around Amazon

by Brad Linder Jul 7th 2009

It's not unusual to see a Republican politician promise not to raise taxes. But California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's recent promise not to sign any legislation that would force internet retailers to collect sales tax was designed specifically to keep companies like Overstock.com and Amazon doing business with affiliates in California.

In recent weeks, Amazon and Overstock have shut down affiliate stores in a handful of states that have passed such laws. Basically, the way things work right now is that online stores don't have to collect sales tax in a US state unless the store has a physical presence in that state. A handful of states including New York, North Carolina, Rhode Island, and Hawaii either have, or are expected to adopt policies that consider affiliates to fit the bill.

What's an affiliate? It's a person or business that has signed up with a web retailer to post links to the online store in exchange for a commission. Basically, it can be some guy who runs a web site that only his grandmother reads or a newspaper web site. Either way, it's not exactly a local store branch or distribution center. But I can certainly see how a state could decide affiliates constitute physical presence in a state. But I can also see how retailers would decide it's easier to pull out of that state altogether rather than have a competitive disadvantage with retailers that don't have affiliates and therefore don't have to charge sales tax.

[via Techdirt]

Tags: affiliates, amazon, arnold-schwarzenegger, california, overstock

Filed under: News

Overstock kills affiliate programs in 4 states, just like Amazon

by Brad Linder Jul 1st 2009

Amazon isn't the only company ending its affiliate programs in a handful of US states in an effort to avoid being forced to collect sales tax in those states. The Wall Street Journal reports that Overstock.com has shut down its affiliate programs for California, Hawaii, North Carolina, and Rhode Island.

Each of those states has either adopted or is about to adopt a law that would require online retailers with in-state affiliate partners to collect sales tax on items sold. The idea is that a web publisher who posts links Amazon, Overstock, or other web stores and gets a commission for items sold through those links is essentially giving the online store a physical presence in the state, which means state tax laws come into play.

On the one hand, states are struggling thanks to the recession, and it makes sense that some states would turn to this tax as a revenue source. On the other hand, if companies like Amazon and Overstock decide that the laws are too burdensome and just pull out of those states altogether, then nobody wins.

It's worth pointing out that you're really supposed to pay sales tax for most things purchased on the internet. But in most cases, the burden is on the shoppers, not the retailers. If enacted, these state laws would require the stores to collect the taxes which consumers pretty much never pay voluntarily.

[via The Business Insider]

Tags: affiliates, amazon, overstock.com, sales-tax

Filed under: News

Amazon kills Rhode Island affiliate program

by Brad Linder Jun 29th 2009

Last week Amazon shut down its affiliate program in North Carolina. This week it's Rhode Island's turn.

The Amazon Associates program allows web publishers to post links to Amazon products and earn a commission every time someone places an order after clicking those links. And a handful of states including North Carolina, Rhode Island, and New York have decided that this essentially means that if even a single person in any of those states has an Amazon Associates account, that's essentially means that Amazon has a physical presence in the state... and that means that the state can force Amazon to collect sales tax on sales to customers in those states.

Amazon sees things differently, and rather than being forced into collecting sales tax, the company has decided to simply terminate its affiliate programs in North Carolina and Rhode Island, two states that are on the verge of passing bills that would require Amazon to collect sales tax. New York already passed a similar law last year, but Amazon has been fighting it in the courts. In the meantime, Amazon still operates an Associate program in New York, presumably because the company stands to lose more money in sales by pulling out of New York than it will lose by shutting down its North Carolina and Rhode Island programs.

Update: It looks like we can add Hawaii to the list of states that Amazon used to offer its associates program in.

Tags: affiliate-marketing, amazon, amazon-associates, sales-tax

Filed under: News

Amazon eliminates affiliate program in North Carolina over tax dispute

by Brad Linder Jun 26th 2009

Remember last year when New York passed a law to start collecting sales tax on items sold by online retailers with affiliate deals with New York residents? Basically stores like Amazon had been able to get around collecting sales tax in states where they had no physical retail presence. But New York decided that if John Smith posts links to Amazon products on his web site and gets a commission for any items sold, and if John Smith happens to live in New York, that constitutes a retail store.

Amazon, Newegg, and Overstock were having none of it, and Amazon even filed a lawsuit. It lost.

Now North Carolina is preparing to adopt a state budget that would similarly require retailers like Amazon to collect taxes if they have affiliate relationships with individuals living in North Carolina. And this time Amazon took a different approach. It canceled its affiliate relationships with North Carolina residents.

Search Engine Watch points out that North Carolina lawmakers have instituted tax breaks for a handful of other major companies including Apple and Google in an effort to convince the companies to build data centers in the state. The result could be that these companies will play by different rules than the ones that would have applied to Amazon had the retailer not severed its affiliate relationships in North Carolina.

Tags: amazon, internet-tax, north-carolina, tax

Filed under: OS Updates, Windows, Microsoft

Windows 7 now available for pre-order

by Brad Linder Jun 26th 2009

Right on schedule, Microsoft has begun taking pre-orders for Windows 7. In the US anyway. Customers in the rest of the world will have to wait a little longer. But if you're in the US you can pre-order Windows 7 upgrade packages for about half off, bringing the price of Windows 7 Home Premium upgrade to $49.99 and Windows 7 Professional Upgrade to $99.99.

Windows 7 Ultimate Upgrade will still set you back full price, or about $219.99 And at least at Amazon, there are no discounts for full retail versions of the operating systems yet. That means you'll end up paying $199.99 for Home Premium, $299.99 for Professional, and $319.99 for Ultimate.

All versions have a release date of October 22nd. Amazon is limiting pre-orders on Windows 7 Home Premium Upgrade and Windows 7 Professional Upgrade to 3 per customer, and the pre-order pricing expires on July 11th or once Microsoft sells a set number of pre-orders. Not that anybody knows exactly what that magic number is.

[via Engadget]

Tags: amazon, windows-7, windows-7-pre-order, windows-7-pricing

Graveyard Shift - zombie-busting Time Waster

With Halloween fast approaching, it's a great time to get in some practice defending your territory against zombies. In Graveyard Shift, you take aim at zombies and other creepy-crawlies, blasting them into splatters of cartoony green guts. It's a casual first-person shooter, and it's very easy to get the hang of - use the mouse to aim, click to fire. Graveyard Shift has at least 15 levels, and it might even have some secret stages I haven't unlocked yet. They key to getting good at Graveyard Shift is learning to use ...

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amazon posts

Amazon Kindle for PC: Now delivering books to your desktop

Amazon affiliate links now post to Twitter in two clicks

Amawaitin - Amazon bargain shopper's tool

IMDb celebrates its 19th birthday

Amazon begins offering same-day delivery in select cities

Amazon adds over 18,000 free public domain titles to Kindle Store

'The Lost Symbol' by Dan Brown for Kindle outselling hardback edition

Amazon pays off victims of 1984 incident

High schooler sues Amazon for ruining his study notes

Amazon buys online apparel store Zappos for $807 million

Schwarzenegger: No internet sales tax in California, please stick around Amazon

Overstock kills affiliate programs in 4 states, just like Amazon

Amazon kills Rhode Island affiliate program

Amazon eliminates affiliate program in North Carolina over tax dispute

Windows 7 now available for pre-order

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