jatiN mahindrA doT coM

New TiVo Box Offers Access To Online Content

TiVo said today it will begin offering two new set-top boxes starting in April. TiVo Premiere will sell for $300 and will have the ability to hold up to 45 hours of HD content or up to 400 hours of standard definition content.  TiVo Premiere XL will retail for $500 and hold up to 150 of HD content or 1,350 hours of standard definition. Premiere’s search functionality offers user the ability...

Amazon.com Tops In Brand Trust In U.S.

Amazon.com is the top performing brand in the U.S. based on "trust" and "recommendation," according to a new report from Milward Brown. The report titled "Beyond Trust: Engaging Consumers in the Post-Recession World" was conducted in partnership with The Futures Company and introduces "TrustR," a new metric for understanding the relationship between consumers...

Amazon Rolls Out Kindle App For BlackBerry

Amazon.com has launched "Kindle for BlackBerry," a new free application that can be downloaded from the retailer’s website. Kindle for BlackBerry offers access to over 420,000 books and is available on variety of BlackBerry devices. Kindle for BlackBerry allows users to save and synch bookmarks on their Kindle devices, iPhone, iPod touch, PC and BlackBerry. Amazon said it has plans...

Online Retail Spending Reaches $39 Billion In Q4

Online retail spending in the U.S. in the fourth quarter reached $39 billion, a 3 percent increase compared to a year ago, according to the latest report from comScore. Total retail ecommerce spending reached $129.8 billion in 2009, slightly lower than the previous year’s total of $130.1 billion. "The fourth quarter, with a 3 percent year-over-year growth, helped end what has been a disappointing...

Amazon Posts Strong Q4 Results

Amazon.com today reported strong fourth quarter profits that beat Wall Street analyst’s estimates. The online retailer said its net income increased 71 percent to $384 million in the fourth quarter, or 85 cents per share, compared with $225 million, or 52 cents per share in the fourth quarter of 2008. Net sales increased 42 percent to $9.5 billion in the fourth quarter, compared with $ 6.7 billion...

Amazon Opens Kindle to Third-Party Apps

Amazon announced that it is inviting software developers to build and upload "active content" that will be available in the Kindle Store. In other words, look for something like an app store for the Kindle in the future. The company is releasing a new Kindle Development Kit, which gives developers access to APIs, tools, and documentation to build such active content. The kit starts limited...

Amazon Kindle Publishers and Authors to Get More Royalties

Amazon announced details of a new program in which it will provide a new 70% royalty option for the Kindle, meaning authors and publishers can earn more royalties from every Kindle book that is sold. Under this new option, authors would get 70% of the list price, net of delivery costs. The option will not replace the current option of the DTP standard. "Today, authors often receive royalties...

Travel And Weather Websites See Big Gains In December

During December 2009, winter weather hit the country driving holiday travelers online, according to Compete’s latest top 50 website rankings. Six of the top 20 highest growth website categories in December were travel and weather related.  The airport travel category attracted 40 percent more unique visitors in December (2.1 million) than the previous month.  News sites related to weather...

Amazon.com Launches Kindle DX Globally

Amazon.com said today it is making its larger electronic reader, Kindle DX available in more than 100 countries. Kindle DX features a 9.7-inch electronic paper display, about 2.5 times the surface area of the original Kindle. Kindle DX with Global Wireless is available for pre-order starting today for $489 and ships January 19. "Kindle DX is great for personal and professional documents, cookbooks...

Amazon Customers Most Satisfied Online Shoppers

Customers of the largest online retailers are more satisfied than ever according to ForeSee Results’ annual report on holiday shoppers. The ForeSee Results E-Retail Satisfaction Index (U.S. Holiday Edition) jumped 7 percent to 79 on the Index’s 100-point scale, a new all-time high. Websites for Macys, SonyStyle, The Gap, The Home Shopping Network and Overstock.com had the greatest increases...

Amazon Sells More Kindle Books Than Real Books On Christmas

Amazon.com has announced that for the first time ever, customers purchased more Kindle books than physical books on Christmas Day. In addition, Amazon said its Kindle reader has become the most gifted item in the company’s history. The Kindle Store boasts more than 390,000 electronic books. "We are grateful to our customers for making Kindle the most gifted item ever in our history,"...

Amazon Offers Free One day Shipping For Kindle Orders On December 23

Amazon.com said today it is offering free one day shipping for orders of its Kindle placed on December 23 and promises delivery in time for Christmas. The company is also offering free two day shipping for Kindle orders placed today. Last week Amazon said its Kindle broke another record with its best sales day. The company did not provide any specific sales figures. Amazon boasts that its Kindle continues...

Amazon Kindle Breaks Monthly Sales Record

Amazon.com has announced that December has been the best month for sales of its Kindle electronic book reader. The company did not provide any sales figures or comparisons for its Kindle, but did say it is the most wished for, and most gifted item across all of Amazon. Amazon said it is now offering free two-day expedited shipping for the Kindle between now and December 22, with shipping for delivery...

Google’s Blogger Adds Amazon Affiliate Monetization Option

Google-owned Blogger has added a new revenue generation option: direct integration with Amazon Associates to search Amazon’s product catalog and add links to products where Bloggers can earn commissions when their readers buy products they recommend. "Making it easy for our Associates to advertise relevant content on their websites is the foundation of the Amazon Associates program. Our...

Amazon In eBook Deal With Best Selling Author

Amazon.com said today it would start offering electronic versions of books by business author Stephen Covey exclusively in its Kindle Store. Electronic versions of Stephen Covey’s best-selling books, "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People" and "Principle-Centered Leadership" are available in the Kindle Store for $7.99. The e-books are being published through RosettaBooks. Previously...