Microsoft’s $300M Nook deal: One year later, it’s MIA

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One year ago, Microsoft and Barnes & Noble surprised the tech world by announcing a “strategic partnership.” Microsoft made a $300 million investment in the bookseller’s Nook e-reader and e-book subsidiary, for a 17.6 percent stake. The deal was completed in October, making Microsoft a key ally for Barnes & Noble in its struggle vs. Amazon’s Kindle…. Read More…

A giant sucking sound: Seattle startup CEOs say Amazon is sucking up all of the tech talent in the city

A sign outside Amazon's HQ in Seattle shows the company's amazing appetite for new hires. Photo: Matt Shobe

It’s tough enough to do a startup, let alone when you’re competing for talent against a juggernaut like Amazon.com. I’ve heard that a lot in recent weeks, especially as the Seattle online powerhouse continues to gobble up engineers, developers and executives from the startup ranks (most recently Charlie Kindel, and before that entire teams of… Read More…

Amazon’s Kindle Fire dips back below 4% market share

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Maybe the Kindle Fire really is the “fruitcake of tablets.” Worldwide market share for Amazon’s family of tablets dropped to 3.7 percent in the first quarter, according to new data from the IDC research firm, which says the Kindle Fire was the “victim of a highly seasonal product cycle.” In other words, lots of people are… Read More…

CHART: Tablet market soaring, now almost two-thirds the size of PC market

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The market for tablets is continuing to climb dramatically, reaching 49.2 million units shipped worldwide in the first quarter, up from 20.3 million units a year earlier, according to an IDC research report issued today. That’s in sharp contrast with the market for traditional computers. An earlier report by IDC said that PC shipments declined… Read More…

Amazon adopts Apple ‘VoiceOver’ for Kindle on iPhone, iPad

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Amazon this morning updated its Kindle iOS app with support for Apple’s “VoiceOver” reading and navigation feature for blind and visually impaired users of the iPhone and iPad. Amazon says more than 1.8 million e-books will support the technology, which automatically reads aloud the words on the page. The decision to use Apple’s VoiceOver is… Read More…

Ripe for expansion? The Amazon Fresh grocery experience, 5 years later

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Amazon has been delivering groceries in the Seattle region for more than five years through its Amazon Fresh service, and now there are rumors that the service could be expanding to other parts of the country. The company has made regular changes and updates to the service, attempting to hone the business model and prepare… Read More…

Ex-Jobster founder Jason Goldberg pivoting Fab, this time challenging Amazon

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Those in the Seattle startup community may remember Jason Goldberg. The former T-Mobile manager and White House aide was one of the more colorful characters in this community and co-founded the online recruiting startup Jobster in 2003, which eventually tanked. Now, though, Goldberg is making moves with his New York City-based online shopping site, Fab.com. The company… Read More…

Amazon workers in Germany set to strike over pay, labor conditions

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Things aren’t going so well for Amazon in Germany. Two months ago, the Seattle online giant cut ties with a Germany security firm amid an uproar in the country over allegations that security guards mistreated the company’s foreign temporary workers. Now, it appears that warehouse workers in Germany are set to strike after trade union Verdi demanded better… Read More…

Study: Online grocery delivery is more environmentally-friendly than driving to the store

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Online grocery shopping just isn’t for couch potatoes or those folks who are too busy to get to the grocery store. New research from the University of Washington finds that relying on an online grocery delivery service like Amazon Fresh or Safeway is actually far more environmentally-friendly than jumping in the car and heading to… Read More…

An open letter to Jeff Bezos: Help spark the creative class

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Congratulations on your success, Jeff Bezos! You’ve become one of the most important innovators in the world.  You’ve matched your vision with the hard work necessary to make ideas come to fruition. You’ve aligned yourself with people equally willing to start with a dream and work hard to achieve that dream.  And now you’ve decided… Read More…