Tag Archives: amzn

Amazon.com Gets Physical, Plans To Open A Bookstore In San Diego

E-commerce leader  Amazon.com ( AMZN ) is taking another step on the road to establishing a brick-and-mortar presence in books. The San Diego Union-Tribune reported Saturday that the company plans to open a second physical bookstore — the first is in its home city of Seattle — at the Westfield UTC shopping mall, adjacent to  Tesla ( TSLA ) and Apple ( AAPL ) stores. It will be called Amazon Books. The Amazon store will likely be similar to the Seattle location and feature books that got the best reviews on the company’s website. It also will sell products from the company’s expanding hardware business, including Kindle e-book readers, Fire TV set-tops, Fire tablets and Amazon’s virtual personal assistant play, Echo. “We are excited to be bringing Amazon Books to the University Town Center Mall in San Diego, and we are currently hiring store managers and associates,” Amazon spokeswoman Sarah Gelman told the Union-Tribune . “Stay tuned for additional details down the road.” Amazon is widely cited for hastening the slow demise of the bookstore business, with the online sales king originally billing itself as the world’s biggest bookstore thanks to its endless online inventory. It has been said to use cutthroat tactics on publishers to get favorable pricing. In afternoon trading on the stock market today , Amazon stock was down 3%, near 557. Shares are up 18% since touching a six-month low of 474 in early February. The company has an IBD Composite Rating of 80, where 99 is the highest. On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear Apple’s appeal over allegations of e-book price-fixing. The court’s decision will mean that Apple will have to fork over $450 million to e-book purchasers. Apple was attempting to disrupt the near-monopoly held by Amazon.

Apple E-Book Price-Fixing Judgment To Stick; Supreme Court Bows Out

Apple ‘s ( AAPL ) hope of clearing its name in the e-book pricing-fixing antitrust case was dashed Monday as the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear its appeal. The high court’s action means Apple must pay $450 million to e-book purchasers as part of the company’s July 2014 agreement to settle damages in the antitrust case brought by the attorneys general of 33 states and territories. E-book buyers will be reimbursed for the higher prices Apple’s conduct caused them to pay through automatic credits at their e-book retailers. They will be able to apply the credits to future purchases, the Justice Department said in a press release . With the $166 million previously paid by the five conspiring publishers to settle claims against them, Apple’s payment will bring to $566 million the amount repaid to e-book purchasers overcharged as a result of Apple’s and the publishers’ illegal conspiracy. “Apple’s liability for knowingly conspiring with book publishers to raise the prices of e-books is settled once and for all,” Bill Baer, assistant attorney general of the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division, said in a statement. “And consumers will be made whole.” The Justice Department filed its civil antitrust lawsuit against Apple and five e-book publishers on April 11, 2012. The department reached settlements before trial with the publishers: Hachette Book Group, HarperCollins Publishers, Holtzbrinck Publishers, Penguin Group and Simon & Schuster. The Justice Department proceeded to trial against Apple before U.S. District Judge Denise Cote of the Southern District of New York on June 3, 2013. Judge Cote ruled the next month that Apple was liable for orchestrating a price-fixing conspiracy with the publishers. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit affirmed Judge Cote’s decision on June 30, 2015. Apple negotiated a pricing scheme with publishers ahead of the launch of the iPad tablet and Apple’s e-book store. The companies were attempting to break the monopoly in e-books held by Amazon.com ( AMZN ) through its Kindle e-reader business. Publishers were upset that Amazon was offering e-books of best-sellers for $9.99. The collusion among Apple and the publishers caused the price of e-books to increase 30% to 50% to $12.99 or $14.99 from Amazon’s $9.99 price, the plaintiffs argued. “Apple was caught red-handed orchestrating this scheme to inflate the prices of e-books, and we believe this case is a true testament to the tangible benefits the law can bring consumers,” Steve Berman, an attorney with Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro, said in a statement Monday . The law firm represented a legal class of e-book purchasers and litigated the case with federal and state government lawyers. Image provided by Shutterstock .  

Comedians Mostly Sidestep iPhone Issue, Joke About Facebook Buttons

While Apple ( AAPL ) has garnered the support of the tech industry and civil liberties groups for its stance on smartphone security, the issue appears to have been too complex or serious for most comedians to want to touch. Among the late-night comedians, only Seth Meyers of NBC’s “Late Night” took aim at the subject of smartphone encryption and explained why it’s important that consumers know about it. Meyers devoted a nearly seven-minute segment, called “ A Closer Look, ” of his show to examine Apple’s refusal to unlock iPhones for law enforcement officials. Of course, Meyers couldn’t resist making some jokes at Apple’s expense. “Apple is fighting back against critics and says it has no ‘sympathy for terrorists’ despite refusing FBI orders to unlock private iPhone data. In fact, Apple hates terrorists so much, it’s releasing a new U2 album just for them,” Meyers said. Meyers’ late-night rivals devoted much more time to mocking Facebook ’s ( FB ) new reaction buttons. What follows are recent jokes from America’s late-night comics on issues of science and technology. In addition to Facebook, other targets of jokes included Amazon.com ( AMZN ), eBay ( EBAY ), Fitbit ( FIT ), LinkedIn ( LNKD ), and the humanoid robot Atlas developed by Alphabet ( GOOGL )-owned Boston Dynamics. Joining Meyers in on the fun were Jimmy Fallon, Conan O’Brien, Jimmy Kimmel, James Corden and Stephen Colbert. Conan: In addition to the “like” button, Facebook has now added buttons for “love,” “wow,” “haha,” “sad” and “angry.” In other words, Facebook copied the emotional journey of any Adele album. Kimmel: Facebook today rolled out a new thing called “Reactions.” Now instead of “liking” when a friend’s dog passes away, which is weird, you can be much more thoughtful and sensitive, posting a sad emoji with a giant tear squirting out of its face. Corden: Facebook has launched new alternatives that go beyond its trademark “like” button. Basically Facebook is doing what I tried and failed at with so many women — moving beyond just “like.” Fallon: Some crazy tech news. I saw that a company in Boston built a 5-foot-9 robot that can open doors, and can actually get back up if it’s punched. They didn’t MEAN to test whether it can get up after being punched, but well, it’s Boston. (BOSTON) “Not so tough, are ya, Terminator?” Meyers: Engineers at Boston Dynamics have unveiled a humanoid robot that can withstand getting pushed in the chest with a hockey stick without falling over. Which is definitely the most Boston way to test a robot. Conan: In France, a robot has been programmed to develop its own taste in art. The robot’s favorite paintings? Naked robots. Conan: Chase bank ATMs are getting a new feature that will allow customers to withdraw cash without using a card. The feature is called “a crowbar.” Conan: A recent study found that bottlenose dolphins sometimes murder other dolphins. However, police say it’s easy to find the culprit because dolphins love to squeal. Fallon: This is a little controversial. I saw that Oral Roberts University is now telling students that wearing Fitbits is mandatory, and logging less than 10,000 steps a day will affect their grades. So finally, some good news for students doing the walk of shame. “12,000 steps — zero regrets!” Meyers: President Obama posted on LinkedIn today about his first job — scooping ice cream. He’s the first president to post on LinkedIn — other than, of course, Abraham LinkedIn. Meyers: A recent study suggests that it’s harder to concentrate in the winter. Said researchers, “For example, this study was supposed to be about traffic accidents.” Colbert: You guys like the website Amazon.com? It’s like eBay, but the things you buy don’t arrive smelling like cigarettes. Colbert: Amazon’s always been on the cutting edge. From drone delivery, to automated warehouses, to shipping six AA batteries in a box the size of a mini fridge. Colbert: Amazon is planning to open hundreds of actual physical bookstores. That’s exciting because you don’t see those much anymore and I think this could be the start of a whole trend of online retailers going real-world. For example, Tinder could open a singles bar, where everybody walks around stating their height.