Tag Archives: Amazon

Amazon.com and Penguin Group (USA) Announce Fourth Annual Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award Competition

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*Two grand prize winners, one for general fiction and one for best young adult novel, to be published by Penguin Group (USA)*

SEATTLE & NEW YORK, Dec 01, 2010 (BUSINESS WIRE) — Amazon.com, Inc. and Penguin Group (USA) today announced the fourth annual Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award competition, the international competition seeking the next popular novel. Due to the popularity of the additional young adult category in 2010, the competition will again award two grand prizes: one for general fiction and one for best young adult novel. Each grand prize winner will be published by Penguin Group (USA). The 2011 competition will again be open to unpublished and self-published novels. Writers around the world are encouraged to begin preparing their manuscripts for entry into the competition, which will launch on Jan. 24, 2011. (more…)

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Black Friday Boasts $648 Million in U.S. Online Holiday Spending, Up 9 Percent vs. Year Ago

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*Thanksgiving Day Surges 28 Percent to $407 Million as Consumers Increasingly Use Day for Online Shopping*

RESTON, VA, November 28, 2010 – comScore, a leader in measuring the digital world, today reported U.S. retail e-commerce spending for the first 26 days of the November – December 2010 holiday season. For the holiday season-to-date, $11.64 billion has been spent online, marking a 13-percent increase versus the corresponding days last year. Black Friday (November 26) saw $648 million in online sales, making it the heaviest online spending day to date in 2010 and representing a 9-percent increase versus Black Friday 2009. Thanksgiving Day (November 26), traditionally a lighter day for online holiday spending, achieved a strong 28-percent increase to $407 million. (more…)

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Amazon.it Launches Today, Providing Vast Selection, Significant Savings and Great Convenience for Italian Online Shoppers

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  • New Site Offers Everyday Low Prices on Books, DVD, Music, Video Games and Consumer Electronics – just in time for Christmas shopping
  • Amazon Prime membership program is available with unlimited free guaranteed 2-3-day delivery at an annual fee of 9.99 Euros
  • Introductory offer includes 30% discount on the vast selection of over 2 million Italian- and foreign-language books

SEATTLE, Nov 23, 2010 (BUSINESS WIRE) — Amazon.com today launched Amazon.it (www.amazon.it), an Italian-language website offering customers a vast selection of books, DVDs, video games, music and consumer electronics at everyday low prices. Launching with more categories than any other Amazon web site has launched with, the selection also includes computers, software, small home appliances, watches and toys. Amazon.it’s convenient services include Amazon Prime, the membership program with unlimited free guaranteed 2-3-day delivery at an annual fee of 9.99 Euros. (more…)

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Price Check by Amazon App Now Available for iPhone

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*New app helps customers instantly compare in-store prices to the low prices from Amazon.com and other online merchants*

SEATTLE, Nov 22, 2010 (BUSINESS WIRE) — Amazon.com today announced a new price comparison app for the iPhone that provides customers the easiest way yet to compare in-store prices with the low prices from Amazon.com and other online merchants. Across all categories of products – from toys to consumer electronics – customers can use the app to scan a barcode, snap a picture, or say or type a product name to receive instant prices for that item from Amazon.com and other online merchants. Customers will then have the ability to, with one-click, purchase the item and have it delivered directly to their doorstep.

“This app makes it incredibly easy to quickly compare prices on millions of items before making a purchase,” said Sam Hall, director of Amazon Mobile. “We’ve worked hard to have low prices at Amazon, and we like it when customers comparison shop so they know they’re getting a good deal. We hope this app will empower customers to shop with confidence this holiday and any other day.” (more…)

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Amazon.com Announces Launch of New Visual Search Capability for Customers

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*Amazon customers can now refine search results by using new shape picker technology*

SEATTLE, Nov 19, 2010 (BUSINESS WIRE) — Amazon.com, Inc. today announced a new search capability available to all customers in Amazon’s men’s and women’s shoe stores. This new capability allows customers to search and browse for shoes based on how they look, allowing them to find the styles they want easily and quickly. 

“With the launch of this new search feature, finding the right pair of shoes becomes even easier for customers,” said Bill Stasior, president of A9. “The customer is presented with a palette of shapes, representing different styles of shoes and that palette is constantly changing to match the customer’s context. Because the styles are shown graphically as silhouettes, customers don’t even need to know the name of the styles they are exploring.”  (more…)

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Amazon Web Services Announces Amazon Cluster GPU Instances, a New Amazon EC2 Instance Type Delivering High-Powered Graphics Processing Unit (“GPU”) Computing in the AWS Cloud

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*GPU processing is now less expensive and more accessible to a wide variety of graphics rendering and High Performance Computing (HPC) workloads*

SEATTLE, Nov 15, 2010 (BUSINESS WIRE) — Amazon Web Services LLC, an Amazon.com company, today announced Amazon Cluster GPU Instances, a new instance type designed to deliver the power of GPU processing in the cloud. GPUs are increasingly being used to accelerate the performance of many general purpose computing problems. However, for many organizations, GPU processing has been out of reach due to the unique infrastructural challenges and high cost of the technology. Amazon Cluster GPU Instances remove this barrier by providing developers and businesses immediate access to the highly tuned compute performance of GPUs with no upfront investment or long-term commitment. To get started using Amazon EC2 GPU Instances, visit: https://aws.amazon.com/ec2/hpc-applications/. (more…)

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comScore Veteran Amy Weinberger Appointed Vice President for Australia and New Zealand

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*comScore Continues Emphasis on Expansion in Asia Pac*

Sydney, Australia, November 12, 2010 – comScore, Inc., a leader in measuring the digital world, today announced the appointment of Amy Weinberger as vice president for Australia and New Zealand. Ms. Weinberger brings nearly 12 years of digital research industry experience to her new role, including 8 years of experience with comScore in its San Francisco office where she was responsible for developing relationships and delivering value to some of the leading global technology brands. Ms. Weinberger will be responsible for new and existing business in Australia and New Zealand and will be based in Sydney. (more…)

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Amazon Announces 70-Percent Revenue Share Terms Now Available for Kindle Magazine and Newspaper Publishers

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*Starting today, publishers can use the new Kindle Publishing for Periodicals tool to more easily add content to the Kindle Periodicals Store*

SEATTLE, Nov 08, 2010 (BUSINESS WIRE) — Amazon.com, Inc. today announced that magazine and newspaper publishers will soon be eligible to earn a larger share of revenue from each title they sell in the Kindle Store (www.amazon.com/kindlestore). For each magazine or newspaper sold, publishers will be able to earn 70 percent of the retail price, net of delivery costs. These new 70-percent royalty terms will become available on December 1, 2010.  (more…)

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