amazon.com

Report: Amazon to close three facilities

E-commerce giant Amazon.com plans to close three facilities, as the company rejiggers its distribution network, according to an Associated Press report Thursday.

Distribution facilities in Munster, Ind., Red Rock, Nev., and Chambersburg, Pa., will be shuttered, with the 210 affected employees offered a chance to either transfer to nearby facilities, or terminate their Amazon employment and receive eight weeks of severance, according to the report.

Representatives from Amazon.com were not immediately available for comment.

Amazon opened the Munster facility in late 2007, but with its closure, it will have two distribution centers in Indiana. The closure of the … Read more

IMDb's vision: Offer streaming for every title

AUSTIN, Texas--IMDb founder Col Needham said the massively popular movie database has set as its major goal for the future to add one-button streaming for all of the 1.3 million titles it indexes.

Obviously, the vision is a long-term one, Needham acknowledged, and it faces hurdles from the slew of content owners who control the vast library of titles the Internet Movie Database provides information about, but as a leading movie-oriented site, it's a very important goal to articulate in public.

Needham was speaking Monday afternoon at the South by Southwest (SXSW) Film Festival here. Oddly, though his … Read more

eBay retooling marketplace division

eBay on Wednesday announced plans to revise its struggling marketplace unit, giving it greater focus on its core used goods auction business, rather than its retail business, the company said during its analyst day presentation.

The news apparently pleased Wall Street, which bid up eBay shares 4.7 percent Wednesday, as the company held its analyst day. eBay shares continued to rise Thursday, climbing 2.24 percent to $11.89 a share in morning trading.

With its announcement, eBay addresses one of Wall Street's long-held complaints that the e-commerce giant suffers from an identity crisis. Analysts have previously said … Read more

Amazon caters to long tail with out-of-print CDs

Every now and then, the traditional record industry comes up with a win-win for all involved. Take for example today's announcement from Amazon.com of a new service called Back from the Vault, which offers out-of-print albums for sale as CDs or MP3s.

The key to the program is Amazon subsidiary CreateSpace, which manufacturers individual CDs as users demand them--very similar to part of the service Audiolife provides for independent musicians. (CreateSpace also lets musicians self-publish, and provides similar services for books and video.) In this case, more than 20 record labels have contracted with CreateSpace to make more … Read more

Amazon offers e-books on Apple devices

Updated 5:25 a.m. PST Wednesday to note the official release of the Kindle application.

Amazon on Wednesday unveiled a free application that will allow the same electronic books available on the e-tailer's Kindle to be read on Apple's iPhone and iPod Touch.

The program will be available for download for Apple's App Store and give users access to the more than 240,000 e-books that Kindle users can buy on Amazon. The program's Whisper Sync service promises to keep track of a reader's place in their chosen book, allowing users to pick up … Read more

Live blog: Amazon unveils Kindle 2

Update at 7:25 a.m. PST: Kindle 2 has been officially announced.

Amazon.com unveiled the second generation of its Kindle e-book reader during an event Monday morning at New York's Morgan Library and Museum.

The event started at 7 a.m. PST/10 a.m. EST, and we're updating it live below. Below the CoverItLive box, see photos of the new, $359 Kindle 2, which will start shipping February 24. (See also press release and Kindle 2 site.)

<a href="http://www.coveritlive.com/mobile.php?option=com_mobile&task=viewaltcast&altcast_code=23013053ec" >Amazon's Kindle 2 Launch</a>

Amazon Kindle 2: Complete CNET coverage

Amazon to unveil next-gen Kindle?

At a Monday morning press event at the Morgan Library & Museum in New York, Amazon.com is expected to turn the page on its e-book reader business.

The company is widely expected to introduce its next-generation Kindle device (CNET News plans to live-blog from the event later Monday morning). Rumors of its imminent launch have circulated since last summer, and in the fall, a photo of what is purported to be the Kindle 2 leaked on the Boy Genius Report blog. On Friday, a fresh set of purported Kindle 2 pictures hit the Web.

What the final product will look like is unknown, but if a new Kindle is launched Monday it's easy to imagine it will be lighter, slimmer, and have an updated look. The original design was largely panned for being too bulky and having too many sharp edges, as well as an interface that wasn't as user-friendly as some had hoped.

Even beyond that, there are a whole host of tweaks to the device consumers want to see in the next Kindle: wider support of file formats like PDF; a color screen; touch-screen capabilities like swiping to turn a page (as with Sony's Reader); and, more particularly, redesign of the "next page" button, which is located near the spot where many hold the device while reading.

Amazon's revenue jumps, beats Street forecast

Amazon.com beat Wall Street's fourth-quarter revenue and earnings expectations, as the e-commerce giant posted strong holiday sales amid a weak economy.

Amazon's revenues jumped 18 percent to $6.7 billion for the quarter compared with the same period a year earlier. Wall Street had been expecting Amazon to generate sales of $6.4 billion for the quarter, according to Thomson Reuters.

The company reported a 9 percent increase in net income to $225 million for the quarter, or 52 cents a share. Wall Street was expecting a net profit of 50 cents a share, excluding stock options … Read more

Amazon U.K. accused of sweatshop conditions

The next time you feel your boss is driving you like a heartless task master, you might want to ponder the alleged plight of some poor lads in England.

Temporary workers at Amazon.com's U.K. fulfillment centers risk being terminated if they call in sick and are required to work seven days a week, according to a report published Sunday in The Times of London. Employees reportedly get only two short breaks for an eight-hour shift and must request permission to use the toilet. The temporary employees hired to handle the seasonal increase in business earn the equivalent … Read more

The 404 239: Where we stop eating sesame cake

Buffy the Vampire Slayer, stealing the Empire State Building, and pirates make their appearance. As usual, it's a weird show today. We discover the classic line from the movie Congo from 1995, starring Tim Curry. Let's just say "Stop eating sesame cake" has become a new catchphrase for The 404. Yes, we're alienating more and more new listeners. Please, for the love of God, tell your friends about this show!

Jeff hates on the possibility that there will be a new Buffy the Vampire Slayer movie. It looks like Joss Whedon is attached to the flick, but sadly no Sarah Michelle Gellar. Also, we discover new and easy ways to pirate content off of Amazon.com...not that we ever would. We don't even know what pirating is. Honest to God. Speaking of stealing stuff, the New York Daily News manages to steal the Empire State Building. Makes us feel really safe here in New York City. We talk about the life lessons that Trey Parker and Matt Stone have taught us through South Park. An idiot guy gets his cell phone stolen at a McDonald's with nude pictures of his wife. Rather than suing McDonald's for $3 million, we think his wife should sue him for divorce. And for the love of all things that are holy, please STOP making those Scary Movie or Saw flicks!

Episode 239 Download today's podcast … Read more