E-commerce

Amazon has acquired text-to-speech technology provider Ivona Software for an undisclosed amount, broadening its in-house capabilities as the Internet retailer continues to push its tablet business.

The two companies have collaborated in the past, Amazon noted, with Ivona's technology powering the text-to-speech, voice guide, and explore-by-touch features on Kindle Fire tablets.

In addition, Poland-based Ivona delivers text-to-speech products and services to thousands of developers, businesses, and customers around the world. It offers voice and language portfolios with 44 voices in 17 languages, and it's developing even more.

Amazon has been expanding its tablet business to take on companies … Read more

Those of you who play games from Amazon on your computer or over the Web will now be able to buy virtual items directly in the game.

Unveiled today, the new in-app purchasing service allows developers to set up their games so players can pay for virtual goods and currencies using their Amazon accounts. Previously, only Android and Kindle games in the Android Appstore were able to offer the in-app buying option. Now the feature extends to Amazon games for Windows PCs, Macs, and the Web.

Gamers wil find titles for the PC and Mac at Amazon's Digital Games store. … Read more

Groupon has suspended all of its gun-related promotions, a move that has led some gun-rights advocates to call for a boycott of the daily deals site.

"All scheduled and current gun-related deals featured on Groupon North America, including shooting ranges, conceal-and-carry and clay shooting, have been placed on hiatus while we review internal standards that shape the deal inventory we feature," Groupon spokeswoman Julie Mossler told AOL Daily Finance in a story published Sunday. "The category is under review following recent consumer and merchant feedback."

Although the move is presumably in reaction to last month's … Read more

Publisher Hearst has a new initiative that gives iPad owners early access to digital versions of its magazines.

Apple today quietly launched a new section in its App Store called "Read them here first," with a listing of Hearst-owned magazines that can be had digitally before they arrive on newsstands or on competing digital platforms.

Hearst has 20 of its titles involved in the program, including Esquire, Car and Driver, and Popular Mechanics. A company spokeswoman said the lead time varies by publication.

The move gives Apple a leg up against competing digital newsstand products, particularly apps Zinio … Read more

iPhone users now have another option for downloading songs from their device.

Amazon today launched its MP3 store for iPhone and iPod Touch users, allowing them to buy digital music from Amazon's 22-million song catalog. There's one catch, though. The purchases have to be made via the Safari Web browser, not through any of Amazon's apps. That means the process isn't quite as seamless as buying music through iTunes.

Amazon noted that music purchases are automatically saved to the customer's Cloud Player library and can be downloaded or streamed instantly from an iPhone, iPod Touch, … Read more

Uber began operation in Germany today, giving Berliners their first taste of the fast-growing private car-summoning service.

The service, which the company said is being conducted by "Secret Ubers," is in the testing phase, with more drivers being added each day, Jena Wuu, an international launcher, wrote in a company blog post today. The new service, which allows users to request rides via their smartphones, will apparently be limited to the capital, at least initially.

Interestingly, the service's first passenger was Alexander Ljung, cofounder of the steaming audio host SoundCloud, who was mysteriously "spotted" and … Read more

EBay's sales climbed 18% to $3.9 billion in revenue during the fourth fiscal quarter, up from $3.4 billion during the same period a year earlier.

In a prepared statement, management touted double digit user growth across its portfolio as well as strong gains in mobile adoption.

EBay posted net income of $751 million, or 57 cents a share, compared to net income of $1.98 billion, or $1.51 a share, for the same period the previous year. Excluding various expenses -- primarily $1.7 billion related to the sale of eBay's remaining investment in Skype … Read more

Increasingly bringing its service offline, PayPal announced today that it has nearly doubled its brick-and-mortar store lineup to 23 retailers that now accept its payment service.

"Delivering valuable digital and mobile payments is alive and thriving, and consumers all over the U.S. will now start seeing PayPal more where they shop every day, including the grocery store and at the gas pump," PayPal's vice president of retail services Don Kingsborough said in a statement. "No bells, whistles or buzzes -- just technology that works and gets the most from your money."

Throughout the U.… Read more

Audiobooks.com has lowered its subscription price, but now you can listen to only one or two books per month.

The new plans offer two different options. You can pay $14.95 per month to listen to one audiobook or $22.95 each month to hear up to two books. Previously, the site charged people $24.95 per month but gave them the ability to listen to an unlimited number of audiobooks for that fee.

Why the change? A spokesman for Audiobooks.com sent CNET the following statement: