Best Buy announced it will institute a new policy change starting on March 3 that the company says will kill “showrooming” in its stores for good. The change is a permanent version of the temporary price-matching initiative Best Buy announced during the 2012 holiday rush. Whenever a customer asks for it, the retailer plans to match prices offered by local retail stores and major online competitors. Continue reading Best Buy Hopes Low Price Guarantee Will End Showrooming

The U.S. Patent & Trademark Office granted Amazon a broad patent that covers a “secondary market for digital objects,” according to The Hollywood Reporter. “According to the text of the patent, which Amazon first applied for in May 2009, digital objects not only include e-books, but also ‘audio, video, computer applications, etc.’ that are purchased from an original vendor.” Will a new market for used digital content have legal implications? Continue reading Legal: Amazon Granted Patent Regarding Used Digital Content

Amazon will release its own virtual currency, Amazon Coins, in May. Each coin will be worth a penny and will allow Kindle Fire customers to purchase apps, games and in-game items. Amazon will maintain its 30 percent revenue draw on all purchases made with Amazon Coins. While Amazon plans a small initial launch, some speculate customers could one day use Amazon Coins to purchase e-books, digital music and other products. Continue reading Will Amazon Virtual Currency Reach Beyond Apps and Games?

Nearly two years (and three CEOs) after its intended start date, Bookish finally launched earlier this week. The company is backed by “big-six publishers Hachette, Penguin and Simon & Schuster” and intends to “promote book discovery and sell books,” writes paidContent. The company wants to be “a one-stop shop for readers looking to connect with authors and find their next book.” Continue reading Bookish Now Live, Features Database of 1.2 Million Titles

Amazon Studios announced last week that it has selected its first five pilots for children’s shows. Angela Santomero, the creator of “Blue’s Clues” is behind one, and the Jim Henson company is behind another. The remaining three include a series based on “The Wizard of Oz,” a science-based series from creator J.J. Johnson, and “Tumbleaf,” created by Drew Hodges and Bix Pix Studios. User feedback will help determine which shows will have a future. Continue reading Amazon Studios Expands its Reach with Children’s Offerings

Amazon has begun to shift from directly selling products to customers due to its success with third party sales. The practice of fulfilling third party sales will continue to grow, and could become the entirety of Amazon’s business plan eventually. Third party sales now account for 39 percent of Amazon’s sales, and massive distribution centers show Amazon’s continued transition. Continue reading Will Amazon Make Complete Transition to Third Party Sales?

Instead of using the term “mobile commerce,” analytics provider Flurry describes “App & Mortar” trends in its new report about the rise in smartphone shopping. “This report confirms what we already knew about mobile commerce, but takes it a step further by figuring out who is benefiting the most right now from the trend. Surprisingly, it’s physical retailers,” according to AllThingsD. Continue reading App & Mortar Economy: New Battle for Consumer Relationships

Amazon’s new Elastic Transcoder service allows people to upload and convert digital video to h264, AAC and MP4 formats for smartphone and tablet playback. The service offers 20 free minutes of transcoding per month, after which Amazon offers tiered plans starting at $0.015 for SD or $0.030 for HD per minute. The prices undercut existing cloud services like Zencoder, and the service is more convenient than purchasing external transcoding equipment. Continue reading Amazon Elastic Transcoder for Converting Video in the Cloud

Research from Dynamite Data shows that retailers such as Amazon, Sears, Walmart and Best Buy changed their daily Internet prices on various holiday products during 2012 much more frequently than in previous years. Since too many changes can prove overwhelming to shoppers, new tools have been developed, some of which automatically scan for changes and alert consumers when prices drop. Continue reading Shoppers Use Tools to Keep Track of Online Price Changes

Amazon has acquired IVONA Software for an undisclosed sum. Amazon already uses IVONA voice recognition software on the Kindle Fire, which helps users navigate the touchscreen and enables other voice commands. Amazon may now integrate the software into other Kindle products, and could also use the technology to create a competitor to Siri as rumors persist that Amazon could be working on a smartphone. Continue reading Mobile: Amazon Acquires Voice Recognition Company IVONA

Viki is “the Hulu for the rest of the world,” according to the company’s CEO Razmig Hovaghimian. It takes content from all over the globe, licenses it for cheap and brings it to the U.S. and other countries. The company announced a partnership with Amazon that will add more than 1,000 hours of entertainment from Japan and Korea to Amazon’s Prime Instant service. Continue reading Viki to Expand Reach with Amazon Prime Instant Partnership

Google uses targeted ads and so does Facebook. But it turns out that Amazon’s treasure trove of 152 million customers’ data is at the top of the digital heap. “Since last year, the world’s largest online retailer has been packaging information on what it knows about consumers so that some marketers can use it to make split-second decisions about where to buy ads online and how much to pay for them,” reports Technology Review. Continue reading Will Amazon Generate New Ad Revenue with Customer Info?

Amazon’s rumored entrance into the smartphone market could potentially complement the company’s struggling Kindle Fire and surging app store sales. An Amazon smartphone would not only push forward the already growing app store, but could give the company an outlet for mobile advertising — an area in which its unique collection of data could help predict future purchases. Continue reading Mobile: Amazon Could Challenge Apple in Smartphone Market

Amazon has launched a browser-based MP3 store featuring 22 million songs. The move directly challenges Apple since the store allows consumers to use their Apple devices to access music through Amazon’s Cloud Player app. Much of the music is cheaper than iTunes because Amazon does not have to pay Apple the 30 percent commission for sales through iTunes. This allows Amazon to offer specials like 69 cent songs and $5 albums. Continue reading Amazon Launches HTML5-Based MP3 Store to Compete with Apple

The latest project from showrunner Tom Fontana, writer/producer of acclaimed shows such as “Homicide: Life on the Street” and “Oz,” is not currently available via cable or broadcast in the U.S. Instead, the historical Vatican drama “Borgia” was launched without a network, has aired in France, and is now looking to additional options, including streaming. Adweek talks with Fontana about the unorthodox path the show has taken. Continue reading Vatican Drama Borgia Takes Unconventional Distribution Path