AMAZON - geht es wieder aufwärts? (Seite 440)

[AlaskaBear]

Amazon.com Unit IMDB To Acquire Without A Box Inc1

-17-08 3:25 AM
Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) unit Internet Movie Database agreed to acquire media company Without A Box Inc.

Financial terms of the deal weren't disclosed.

The Seattle Internet retailer said Without A Box, a company dedicated to advancing independent film and connecting artists with audiences, will continue as a stand-alone operation in the Los Angeles area.

-Lauren Pollock; 201-938-5400; [e-mail]


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[AlaskaBear]

Amazon defies French courts over shipping costs
Does the crime and pays the fine

By John Oates → More by this authorPublished Wednesday 16th January 2008 12:00 GMT


Find out how your peers are dealing with Virtualization Amazon.fr is continuing to pay daily fines rather than comply with a court order which forbids it from offering free shipping for some purchases made from its French website.

The US firm was taken to court by French booksellers in December accused of discounting some books by more than five per cent of list price when free shipping was included. This is in breach of the 1981 Lang Law which aimed to protect bookshops which were under threat from supermarkets offering bestsellers at heavy discounts.

The online bookseller was ordered to charge for shipping and to pay €1,000 a day in fines while it was not doing so. Amazon also had to pay its opponent's costs of €100,000.

Although Amazon.fr says it is sticking to its guns, the court will reconsider its fine after one month.

A French law professor told the International Herald Tribune that Amazon had little chance of success. Cedric Manara told the paper: "There is no way you can read the text to find a different result. And the court would have evidence of the firm's deliberate will to violate the law."

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos sent an email to French Amazon subscribers at the weekend asking people to sign an online petition. But Amazon might be out of luck - the law has been before the European Court of Justice twice and been upheld on both occasions. ®

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/01/16/amazon_ignores_frenc…

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[AlaskaBear]

Neue Turbo-Optionsscheine auf Amazon.com

16.01.2008
HSBC Trinkaus & Burkhardt

Düsseldorf (aktiencheck.de AG) - Die HSBC Trinkaus & Burkhardt AG, Düsseldorf, bietet ab dem 16. Januar 2008 drei neue Turbo-Optionsscheine auf die Aktie von Amazon.com (ISIN US0231351067 / WKN 906866) zum Kauf an.
(16.01.2008/oc/n/a)

Underlying ISIN Typ Laufzeit Basispreis Bezugsv.
Amazon.com DE000TB1B0T0 Turbo-Call 25.03.2008 80,00 USD 0,1000
Amazon.com DE000TB1B1G5 Turbo-Put 25.03.2008 90,00 USD 0,1000
Amazon.com DE000TB1B1H3 Turbo-Put 25.03.2008 95,00 USD 0,1000


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[AlaskaBear]

16.01.2008 03:01
Amazon.com Unveils Semi-Finalists in the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award

Amazon.com, (News/Aktienkurs) Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN), today announced that 836 submissions have moved on to the semi-final round of the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award, Amazon.com's first writing competition in search of the next great novel. Each semi-finalist has a dedicated detail page for their submission on Amazon.com, where customers can now download a short excerpt of the entry to rate and review. Additionally, customers who rate and review at least 25 semi-finalist excerpts will be entered in the ABNA Customer Review Contest for the chance to win an Amazon Kindle. In the Customer Review Contest, Amazon will select three customer review contestants based on quantity, knowledge of the excerpt and use of language used to rate and review submissions. The three Customer Review Contest winners will each receive an Amazon Kindle, a $2,000 Amazon gift certificate and a Hewlett-Packard printer from Amazon and its partners, Hewlett-Packard, Penguin Group (USA) and CreateSpace.

“We are very excited to enter the semi-final phase of the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award, though it was no simple task choosing the 836 semi-finalists,“ said Russell Grandinetti, vice president of Books at Amazon.com. “We're eager to find out what our customers think about the semi-finalists' excerpts, and look forward to giving a Kindle to each of the three customers who provide the most helpful reviews.“

Amazon.com received nearly 5,000 qualified submissions for the contest. From November 2007 through January 2008, Amazon Top Reviewers and editors generated over 10,000 unique ratings and reviews to determine the 836 semi-finalists. “Publishers Weekly“ then provided a full manuscript review of all semi-final submissions. Using reviews and ratings from “Publishers Weekly“ and Amazon Top Reviewers, as well as input from Amazon customers, Penguin editors now will begin the process of choosing the top 10 finalists, to be announced on March 3, 2008. Amazon customers will then vote on the 10 finalists to select the winner of the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award, to be announced April 7, 2008.

The Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award is sponsored by Hewlett-Packard, Amazon's preferred color print-on-demand vendor, Penguin Group (USA), and CreateSpace. The grand prize winner will be announced on April 7, 2008, and receive a publishing contract with Penguin Group (USA) to publish the winning novel, which includes a $25,000 advance. To rate and review the semi-finalists' submissions for the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award, visit www.amazon.com/abna.


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[AlaskaBear]

Pepsi, Justin Timberlake Line Up Behind Amazon

SEATTLE (AP)--Come Super Bowl Sunday, Amazon.com (AMZN) will get a leg up in the digital music race it's running against Apple Inc.'s (AAPL) iTunes Store.

And not just any leg...Justin Timberlake's leg.

The boy band heartthrob turned Grammy-winning R&B singer will appear in a spot for Pepsi, kicking off a yearlong $1 billion giveaway of MP3s, CDs, videos, consumer electronics and other items on Amazon.

Back in 2004, PepsiCo Inc. (PEP) and Apple forged a similar partnership, which started with an iTunes Super Bowl commercial promoting legal music downloads, to the tune of Green Day's version of "I Fought the Law." The companies gave away 100 million free iTunes downloads that, with rising iPod sales, helped push Apple to the forefront of the digital music industry.

Working with Amazon this year is big deal for Pepsi, which said it will spend more on its "Pepsi Stuff" advertising campaign than on any past marketing effort.

For Amazon.com Inc., the arrangement could mean even more.

In September 2007, Amazon launched a digital music store and committed to sell only MP3-format tunes, which can be copied to multiple computers, burned onto an unlimited number of CDs and played on most portable devices, including Apple's iPod and Microsoft Corp.'s (MSFT) Zune.

Thousands of independent music labels signed deals with Amazon, but EMI Music Group PLC, which already offered songs without digital rights management coding on iTunes, was the only major label to agree to DRM-free sales on Amazon.

But as a rise in sales of digital tracks in 2007 failed to offset the overall decline in album sales, the three big labels have rapidly begun retooling their digital strategies. When Vivendi SA's Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group (WMG) and Sony BMG signed on to sell DRM-free songs, they chose to do so on Amazon and not iTunes, where more than 70% of digital music is sold.

"The record labels are quite annoyed with Apple for the situation; CD sales are declining, and digital sales are not making up for it," said Philip Leigh, a senior analyst with the research group Inside Digital Media.

Leigh said the record companies want more flexibility in the way digital music prices are set. Amazon allows some flexibility, but Apple's 99-cents-a-song pricing still dominates the market. By working with Amazon, the labels are fostering competition and potentially gaining more control over how much a song is worth.

While the companies would not disclose financial terms of the deal, teaming up with Pepsi has the potential to transform Amazon from a niche seller to a major player. Leigh said music consumers who may not think about copy protection today will quickly embrace DRM-free music as they buy new computers and devices and face the hassle of moving libraries full of DRM-protected songs.

"The mass market consumer doesn't want these complications," he said.

Danny Socolof, president of Mega Inc., the Las Vegas marketing firm behind " Pepsi Stuff," said Amazon's decision to sell MP3s meshed nicely with one of Pepsi's brand values: choice.

"As we looked at the landscape of the music business, we realized, many other people realized that trying to lock up music with various different digital rights management schemes was failing miserably," he said, confusing consumers or driving them to music piracy.

The major music labels that will participate - EMI, Warner and Sony BMG, but not Universal - responded to the deal because Pepsi and Amazon could bring millions of new digital music shoppers online, he said.

Socolof, who helped Pepsi forge the music partnership with Apple several years ago, would not say whether he explored a new Apple deal this year.

"I think it's pretty obvious to everyone that it's important that this marketplace grow and that there be many players in it," Socolof said in an interview.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires



http://news.morningstar.com/newsnet/ViewNews.aspx?article=/D…

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[AlaskaBear]

Vom 15.01.2008

Pepsi verschenkt Musik
Pepsi verschenkt bis zu 800 Millionen Songs bei Amazon.com

Pepsi und Amazon verschenken bis zu 800 Millionen Songs als Internet-Downloads. Pepsi kündigte am Montag eine Werbeaktion an, bei der fünf Codes auf Flaschenverschlüssen gegen ein Lied bei Amazon eingelöst werden können.

Amazon bietet in seinem MP3-Dienst - bisher nur in den USA - gut 3,2 Millionen Musiktitel an. Alle Songs haben keinen Kopierschutz und können daher auf praktisch allen Playern abgespielt und beliebig oft kopiert werden.


Die Musikindustrie will mit der Aktion nach Einschätzung von Branchenbeobachtern den Download-Dienst von Amazon als Wettbewerber zu Apples iTunes Store stärken. iTunes hat beim legalen Herunterladen von Musik aus dem Internet einen Marktanteil von bis zu 80 Prozent. An der Aktion nehmen nur drei der vier großen Musikkonzerne teil: Sony BMG, Warner Music und EMI. Marktführer Universal Music ist nicht dabei. Laut einem Medienbericht gab es Streit um die Bezahlung für die verschenkten Songs. Pepsi will im Rahmen der Aktion insgesamt vier Milliarden Flaschen mit Codes versehen. (dpa/mst)

http://www.tecchannel.de/news/themen/business/1743629/index.…


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[AlaskaBear]

Amazon, Apple and a DRM Free World

posted on: January 15, 2008 | about stocks: AAPL / AMZN Print Email On January 10, Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) announced the addition of Sony BMG Music Entertainment to its repertoire of labels available at Amazon MP3, the DRM-free music store of Amazon.com. With this deal, Amazon is now offering DRM-free MP3s from the four major music labels - EMI, Universal, Warner Music, and Sony BMG - and 33,000 independent labels. This deal puts Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) at a disadvantage.

The music industry has been witnessing rapid downfall in the sale of CDs. Some solace in this environment is the increasing sales of digital songs and albums. Apple iTunes, with more than two-thirds marketshare, has been successful in making the customers pay for online music. The music industry will now be looking forward to AMZN's role in increasing sales of digital songs and albums - AMZN now supply almost 3.1M DRM free songs. The Sony BMG deal brings in a massive portfolio of leading artists that include Backstreet Boys, Beyoncé Knowles, Britney Spears, Carlos Santana, Celine Dion, Kenny G, Michael Jackson and more.

The advantage of Amazon MP3 is that it is compatible with hardware devices like PCs, iPod, Zunes, iPhones and BlackBerrys, and can be used with applications like iTunes and Windows Media Player.
However, most of the iTunes songs restrict user choice as they came with Apple's proprietary FairPlay DRM, which made these songs compatible only with Apple music players. The top 100 songs at Amazon MP3 come at a price of $0.89 each and most other tracks are offered at a range of $0.89-$0.99, when the songs at iTunes are sold at $0.99 per song. This variability in price, will attract both the labels and the customers.

Record companies would also have liked the creation of a counterbalance to Apple's dominance in the sales of music. Media opinion is that Apple exerts authority in pricing and other terms while negotiating with record labels. Promoting DRM free songs is finding favor with marketers too. On January 14, Pepsi announced its tie-up with AMZN to promote Pepsi Stuff, a program through which consumers can collect points from Pepsi packages and redeem them for downloads from Amazon MP3. This promotion, beginning February 1, is touted as Pepsi's biggest promotion ever and will mark its debut on the Super Bowl. Earlier, in 2004, Pepsi had a promotional arrangement with iTunes.

Apple will feel the heat. More importantly, the final nail in the coffin for DRM enabled songs has been hammered.

Disclosure: none

http://seekingalpha.com/article/60207-amazon-apple-and-a-drm…

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[AlaskaBear]

15.01.2008 12:34
USTelematics Announces Availability Through Amazon.com to Offer Company's Voyager(TM) Mobile IPTV Integrated Entertainment System

USTelematics, (News) Inc. (OTC:UTLM), deploying proprietary technology and market-disruptive products at the forefront of the connected-car revolution, has announced that its breakthrough Voyager™ mobile television and multi-functional entertainment system will be distributed through leading online retailer Amazon.com. (News/Aktienkurs)

Following the successful development of its unique technologies and products, USTelematics has commenced the commercialization phase of its high-growth business strategy. The Company has begun to announce agreements to deliver its mobile communications and vehicle-based entertainment products to the $160 billion consumer electronics marketplace in the U.S. and internationally.

USTelematics recently formed a distribution agreement with J&R Computer World, a top national and international consumer electronics retailer, to carry its Voyager™ Mobile IPTV multi-featured entertainment system.

“Amazon.com has established itself as a leading online retailer through a commitment to excellent customer service, and we are delighted to add them to the growing list of top distribution partners,“ said Howard Leventhal, Chief Executive Officer of USTelematics. “We're confident that Amazon.com's global reach and reputation for quality will contribute importantly as we bring our Voyager and other new products to the marketplace.“

The USTelematics product lines have introduced revolutionary advances in automobile-based digital communications, mobile wi-fi internet access and rear-seat entertainment for traveling families. The Company's Voyager™ and Vivee™ systems have been the subject of news media reports about the most significant new products of the year.

About USTelematics

USTelematics, Inc. (“USTelematics“ or the “Company“) is engaged in the development and commercialization of next-generation, proprietary technologies to revolutionize the “wired car,“ delivering high speed data and entertainment content to private and commercial vehicles. The Company is addressing high-growth opportunities in the projected $58 billion global telematics marketplace with proprietary technologies that enable a full range of voice-driven handheld and automotive mobile communications, full internet connectivity and rich infotainment options. With products that provide a full range of next-generation rear seat infotainment, USTelematics is offering an advance over the old DVD-only systems that still represent the current standard in the rear seat entertainment industry.

To learn more, please visit http://www.USTelematics.com.

For investor-specific information and resources, visit http://www.trilogy-capital.com/tcp/utlm.

To view current stock quotes and news, visit http://www.trilogy-capital.com/tcp/utlm/quote.html.

Forward-Looking Statements

The information herein contains forward-looking statements. All statements other than statements of historical fact made in report are forward-looking. In particular, the statements herein regarding industry prospects and future results of operations or financial position are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as "believes," "estimates," "could," "possibly," "probably," anticipates," "projects," "expects," "may," "will," or "should" or other variations or similar words. No assurances can be given that the future results anticipated by the forward-looking statements will be achieved. Forward-looking statements reflect management's current expectations and are inherently uncertain. Our actual results may differ significantly from management's expectations.




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[AlaskaBear]

15.01.2008 08:34
Amazon.com Inc.: buy (Stifel, Nicolaus & Co., Inc. )
Rating-Update:

Baltimore (aktiencheck.de AG) - Die Analysten von Stifel Nicolaus stufen die Aktie von Amazon.com (ISIN US0231351067 (News/Aktienkurs)/ WKN 906866) unverändert mit "buy" ein. Das Kursziel werde bei 99 USD gesehen. (15.01.2008/ac/a/u) Analyse-Datum: 15.01.2008






hmmm-scheint nicht so,als das da einer der analysten seine kz reduzieren möchte.heute krachts,und die halten alle an den prognosen fest.interessant.....

lg

[AlaskaBear]

http://www.crn.de/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=205604320


Amazon.com macht in Social Commerce
von Dr. Matthias Hell

Der Etailer Amazon.com hat eine Beteiligung an der Social Commerce Webseite Woot.com erworben. Darüber hinaus versucht der E-Commerce-Marktführer auch sein eigenes Angebot um neue Shopping-Konzepten zu erweitern.

[red]E-Commerce-Marktführer Amazon.com hat eine kleine, aber feine Beteiligung an der Social Commerce Webseite Woot.com erworben. Für vier Millionen Dollar erhält Amazon damit ein Vorkaufsrecht für den Fall, dass Woot eine nicht benannte Umsatzschwelle erreicht, einen Börsengang ins Auge fasst oder zum Verkauf steht.[/red] Woot.com ist in den USA die führende »One Deal a Day« Webseite, d.h. es wird pro Tag nur ein Produkt angeboten, dieses allerdings zu einem besonders günstigen Preis.
Der Einstieg bei Woot ist nicht nur als reine Investition zu betrachten, sondern steht auch für die strategische Ausrichtung von Amazon, sein Angebot um neue Shopping-Formen zu erweitern. So bietet der Etailer seinen Kunden in den USA mit der »Gold Box« bereits ein eigenes Social Commerce-Konzept. Neben einem »Produkt des Tages« werden den Kunden dabei auch personalisierte Sonderangebote und Rabattaktionen angeboten. Bereits bisher hat Amazon bei der Umsetzung der »Gold Box« mit Woot zusammengearbeitet. Daneben ist Woot.com auch als Dienstleister für weitere E-Commerce Anbieter tätig und hat sich vor allem für die Vermittlung von günstiger Restware einen Namen gemacht.


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