Bigmouthmedia Search Engine News: /amazon-a9/

Zappos suffers major data breach

Mon, 16 Jan 2012 02:12:00 GMT

In what's seen as the first major cyber-attack of 2012, Amazon-owned online retailer Zappos has fallen victim to a data breach affecting as many as 24 million users.

"We were recently the victim of a cyber-attack by a criminal who gained access to parts our internal network and systems through one of our servers in Kentucky," said Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh in an email to employees.

It is believed that the hacker was able to access customer names, email addresses, billing and postal addresses, phone numbers, as well as cryptographically scrambled passwords and the last four digits of customers' credit card numbers.

To combat customer data vulnerability the company said it expired and reset customers' passwords and would be sending an email with further instructions to all 24 million of its customers.

The full nature of the hacking incident is yet to be determined, but in the meantime the Zappos website is currently "not accepting international traffic," according to a notice on the site.

The company is cooperating with U.S. law enforcement to investigate "exhaustively" whether the data was actually downloaded from it servers and to mitigate damage to its customers.

Due to an expected rush of phone calls, the online clothing and shoe store is shutting down telephone support and only responding to email queries.

"Due to the volume of inquiries we are expecting, we realised that we could serve the most customers by answering their questions by email," Hsieh also wrote.

"We have made the hard decision to temporarily turn off our phones and direct customers to contact us by email because our phone systems simply aren't capable of handling so much volume."

Hsieh appeared apologetic in his correspondence with employees and customers, stating: "We've spent over 12 years building our reputation, brand, and trust with our customers. It's painful to see us take so many steps back due to a single incident."

Zappos also took to Twitter to confirm that Amazon accounts were not affected by the hack.

Digg | delicious | Reddit | Google | Twitter | Sphinn | StumbleUpon | YahooBuzz | Facebook | Mixx | Contact bigmouthmedia

New-fangled e-books with Amazon's KF8

Thu, 12 Jan 2012 01:13:00 GMT

Amazon's Kindle Direct Publishing has released new tools for creating e-books using Web technologies, announcing it's ready to receive Kindle Format 8 (KF8) books from publishers.

KF8 is Amazon's next generation file format offering a wide range of features and enhancements - giving rise to a new breed of e-book with high resolution colour and pop-up text through the use of HTML and CSS tools.

According to the ever-expanding online market: "Through the use of HTML5 and CSS3, KF8 allows publishers to create great-looking books in all categories, particularly those that require rich formatting and design, such as technical and engineering books and cookbooks."

The move signifies the growing expansion of e-book capabilities. Where pure text is satisfactory for many books and easily meets the needs of reader apps for mobile phones, graphics are becoming more and more crucial for many markets.

Amazon added: "For those doing more advanced formatting by writing HTML5, using design software or working with a conversion resource, KF8 features such as Kindle Panel Views and Kindle Pop Up enable great fixed layout books like graphic novels, comics, and kids' books."

Kindle Fire users - Amazon's tablet introduced last year - will be the first readers to get their hands on books made with the new formatting tools, downloading them straight to their devices.

"In the coming months KF8 will be rolled out to our latest generation Kindle e-ink devices as well as our free Kindle reading apps," Amazon said. However, the company noted that older book formats will continue to work.

Digg | delicious | Reddit | Google | Twitter | Sphinn | StumbleUpon | YahooBuzz | Facebook | Mixx | Contact bigmouthmedia

Flagging Kindle Fire to be stoked with update

Mon, 12 Dec 2011 03:01:00 GMT

Despite its name, the Kindle Fire - Amazon's highly promoted tablet - has seen relatively lukewarm success with its early users; however, a soon to be released update will seek to rekindle the fire (pun intended).

When the device first hit the market, Amazon insisted the Kindle Fire was a hot top-seller. However, enthusiasm has somewhat cooled as the list of user complaints have grown, including: no external volume control; an off switch that is easily hit by accident; no privacy on the device; sluggish touch screens; as well as the 'fat finger problem' - where items on the screen are too small, leading to tap errors and accidental activation.

According to a recent report in the New York Times, the individual grievances recorded on Amazon's website have received some confirmation.

Nielsen Norman Group co-founder Jakob Nielsen said the Fire offered a "disappointingly poor" experience and added, "I feel the Fire is going to be a failure. I can't recommend buying it."

All of this would be enough to augur an early death for even the most heavily marketed item, but Amazon sees the Kindle as critical to its future success, and is willing to acknowledge it is working on improvements.

"In less than two weeks, we're rolling out an over-the-air update to Kindle Fire," said Drew Herdener, a company spokesman.

The update will reportedly include improvements in performance and multi-touch navigation, as well as allowing customers to edit the list of items that show what they have recently been doing. As the New York Times put it, "No more will wives wonder why their husbands were looking at a dating site when they said they were playing Angry Birds."

Additionally, an improved version of the device itself is due soon, though Amazon has declined to say exactly when. One more shot is all the retailer will get, Nielsen added. "If that's a failure, then the Fire is doomed to the dust pile of history."

Digg | delicious | Reddit | Google | Twitter | Sphinn | StumbleUpon | YahooBuzz | Facebook | Mixx | Contact bigmouthmedia

Kindle fire selling well ... possibly

Fri, 02 Dec 2011 09:12:00 GMT

Amazon may have already sold millions of units of its new Kindle Fire tablet.

However, no one knows for sure, and despite asserting that the Kindle Fire is the best-selling item on Amazon.com, the retail giant is keeping quiet about the number of units it's actually sold.

"Even before the busy holiday shopping weekend, we've already sold millions of the new Kindle family and the Kindle Fire was the bestselling product across all of Amazon.com," Kindle VP Dave Limp said in a press release.

"Black Friday was the best ever for the Kindle family - customers purchased 4x as many Kindle devices as they did last Black Friday - and last year was a great year.

"In addition, we're seeing a lot of customers buying multiple Kindles - one for themselves and others as gifts."

In the absence of information, market researcher eData Source has been tracking sales of the new iPad rival and has released an estimate of how well the tablet is selling.

"Our estimate is that Amazon.com has now sold 850,000 units direct from the Amazon.com site. Total sales would be substantially larger," said eData Source CEO Carter Nicholas.

"Amazon may have sold as many as 2 million or more so far when you consider all sales channels."

If the speculative numbers are (nearly) correct, then Amazon still has a long way to go before it wins the tablet wars. Apple sold an impressive 500,000 iPads in its first week on the market, and by the launch of the iPad 2 in March, Cupertino managed to sell more than 15 million worldwide.

Still, with a strong start and the multi-billion dollar Christmas season still in full swing, the Kindle Fire may have what it takes to de-throne the reigning champ.

Digg | delicious | Reddit | Google | Twitter | Sphinn | StumbleUpon | YahooBuzz | Facebook | Mixx | Contact bigmouthmedia

Amazon starts to Yap

Thu, 10 Nov 2011 00:13:00 GMT

Everything Apple can do, Amazon can do better. At least, that's what they're hoping.

Several months after the online retail giant unveiled its foil to the iPad - the Kindle Fire - the company is taking another step to emulate its rival and be all things Apple.

Now, an SEC filing has surfaced, revealing that Amazon has snapped up voice command technology Yap - fuelling speculation that the web retailer may be developing its own version of Siri.

Yap - founded in 2007 by brothers Igor and Victor Jablokov - set out to build technology that would allow users to interact with a website using speech recognition, and eventually expanded to include a voicemail service, similar to Google Voice.

The service discontinued in October - prior to that, iPhone and Android users could download an app that could transcribe voicemail messages into text.

When Yap initially launched its service, sibling-team Igor and Victor Jablokov struggled to realise their intended goals - smartphones weren't as widely used as they are now, and wireless networks weren't as fast.

Under the Amazon umbrella, Yap may have the opportunity to develop their technology to a speech-recognising superpower.

Yap and Amazon both failed to comment on the rumoured acquisition - but an SEC filing made in September shows the company was purchased by Yarmouth Dion, whose mailing address is the same as Amazon's headquarters in Seattle.

If reports prove to be true, the acquisition of Yap would be the latest in a string of initiatives to strengthen its consumer electronics and web services portfolio from the online retailer.

Digg | delicious | Reddit | Google | Twitter | Sphinn | StumbleUpon | YahooBuzz | Facebook | Mixx | Contact bigmouthmedia

Amazon makes foray into publishing

Mon, 17 Oct 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Online marketplace giant Amazon is taking the next step to becoming an "end-to-end service" by publishing 122 books directly. The tomes will arrive this fall in both digital and print editions courtesy of Amazon's new publishing entity.

The flagship line will be run by publishing guru Laurence Kirshbaum - who has also worked for the likes of Random House and Warner Books - and will release both fiction and non-fiction titles.

According to the New York Times, Amazon has been aggressively pursuing some of the literary community's top-selling authors, but declined to comment on how many editors were currently being employed or how many books are already under contract.

The online giant received both praise and censure for its reshaping of the literary marketplace; while Amazon offers shoppers convenience, retailers and publishers are struggling to fend off competition from their online store and Kindle e-reader.

Agent and ebook publisher Richard Curtis said: "If you're a bookstore, Amazon has been in competition with you for some time. If you're a publisher, one day you wake up and Amazon is competing with you too. And if you're an agent, Amazon may be stealing your lunch because it is offering authors the opportunity to publish directly and cut you out."

Amazon exec Russell Grandinetti shrugged off criticisms from publishers and agents. He said: "It's always the end of the world. You could set your watch on it arriving."

"The only really necessary people in the publishing process now are the writer and the reader. Everyone who stands between those has both risk and opportunity."

Amazon also announced the Kindle Fire this September, a souped-up tablet version of the already popular e-reader that gives readers direct access to the Kindle Store for immediate downloading.

Digg | delicious | Reddit | Google | Twitter | Sphinn | StumbleUpon | YahooBuzz | Facebook | Mixx | Contact bigmouthmedia

Amazon may be eyeing Palm following Fire launch

Fri, 30 Sep 2011 03:24:00 GMT

There is currently much talk about Amazon buying Palm from HP to use the operating system in its Kindle tablet. Venturebeat reported a close source as saying the online retail giant is very close to securing a deal, although no comment has been made from either company involved.

Amazon's latest Kindle venture, the Kindle Fire tablet computer, was launched Wednesday and has been deemed by several industry analysts to be a potential home for a revamped version of Palm's webOS software.

"The Kindle Fire is powered by Android, but it's been heavily customised by Amazon to the point where you can barely tell," said VentureBeat's Devindra Hardawar.

"By purchasing the remnants of Palm, Amazon would have free rein to redesign webOS to its own liking, and it would be able to further differentiate its Kindle devices from the slew of Android tablets in the market."

HP has all but abandoned its web hardware business due to the failure of its TouchPad tablet, but the software itself still has potential and could power another device. The multi-tasking abilities of the Palm have been praised and could help expand the feature set of the Kindle.

Additionally, experts weighed in that webOS handled movies, games and media much more efficiently than the Android software on the TouchPad.

HP bought Palm for $1.2 billion in 2010, however it will probably only receive a fraction of that amount if Amazon buys it due to the TouchPad failure.

Digg | delicious | Reddit | Google | Twitter | Sphinn | StumbleUpon | YahooBuzz | Facebook | Mixx | Contact bigmouthmedia

Amazon enters tablet wars with Kindle Fire

Thu, 29 Sep 2011 02:48:00 GMT

Amazon is shaking up the battle for tablet supremacy with the introduction of the Kindle Fire.

Not content to stick with e-readers, the online behemoth introduced a tablet to the Kindle range, much to the excitement of many industry insiders and analysts. Announced at a New York press conference yesterday, the Kindle Fire was joined by two new revamped readers, the Kindle Touch and Kindle Touch 3G, but it's the Fire that's really fanning flames.

The Fire, with its new cloud-accelerated web-browser Amazon Silk, claims to offer speedy web access as well as email, Amazon Whispersync, Amazon MP3 Store, Kindle Book Store and TV download app Amazon Prime.

Reactions have been predictably mixed, with some hailing it as a killing blow to the iPad's hold on the tablet market and others claiming it will barely be able to make a dent. Price is being widely cited as a being a crucial part of Amazon's marketing plan.

The Touch and Touch 3G are hitting the American market at an eminently affordable $99 and $149 respectively, but it was the $199 price tag for the Fire that saw most jaws dropping. According to the Telegraph, analyst Gene Muster claimed this low price will see the retailer losing $50 per unit sold.

He explained the reasoning behind this aggressive undercutting: "The pricing is critical to gain traction in the tablet market. Rival manufacturers have failed to attract consumers as they have matched the iPad's price point without matching its content offering."

Michael Gartenberg, analyst at Gartner, also highlighted the importance of the content and cloud strategies for the competing tablet-touters when speaking to the Guardian. Of the news that Amazon would allow customers to store their music, movies and TV shows remotely, he said: "For me, that was the most significant part of the announcement."

It's anticipated that Apple will have a similar revelation to make within a week, and it looks like the tablet battle will be moving ever upwards and further into the realm of the cloud.

Amazon has been keeping quiet about the UK launch of the Fire, although the fifth generation Kindle Touch e-reader is already available.

Digg | delicious | Reddit | Google | Twitter | Sphinn | StumbleUpon | YahooBuzz | Facebook | Mixx | Contact bigmouthmedia

Press conference sparks rumours of Amazon tablet

Mon, 26 Sep 2011 00:49:00 GMT

Amazon is rumoured to be announcing a new tablet this week at a press conference scheduled for Wednesday in New York.

Speculation about an Amazon tablet has been growing for months, reigniting this week when word broke about Wednesday's press conference.

Analysts speculate the Amazon tablet will be a revamped version of the existing Kindle e-reader. It will be priced cheaper, however, undercutting Apple by selling its tablet for $250, but, similar to the iPad, will operate by touchscreen.

Unlike other competitors, Amazon is well positioned to take on Apple's stronghold on the market because of its online store, which makes books, movies and music available to users at the touch of a button.

While the Amazon tablet is expected to be a simpler tablet than the iPad, it could offer consumers the features they want most at a lower price.

Forrester analyst Sarah Rotman Epps told the New York Times: "The No 1 thing consumers do on tablets is email. The No 2 thing is look up stuff on the web. Then playing games and watching video. Amazon will offer all the tablet that many consumers need."

In its first, largely unchallenged fifteen months on the market, Apple sold 29 million iPad tablets.

The success of the tablet sparked a number of rival tablets, almost all of which failed to sell. According to the New York Times, The BlackBerry PlayBook shipped 200,000 units in three months, roughly equivalent to the number of tablets Apple sells in three days.

Regardless of whether Amazon manages to take a bite out of Apple, Barclays analyst Anthony DiClemente said the consumer stands to gain from competition between the two rivals.

He said: "The consumer is going to be the winner. The fact that Amazon is making such a huge investment might make Apple come back into the market at a lower price point. What's to prevent them from slimming down the iPad?"

Digg | delicious | Reddit | Google | Twitter | Sphinn | StumbleUpon | YahooBuzz | Facebook | Mixx | Contact bigmouthmedia

New-look Amazon site sparks iPad rival rumours

Wed, 31 Aug 2011 00:24:00 GMT

Amazon looks set to launch a new 'tablet-friendly' version of its marketplace site to the general public, which has added to online speculation it may be launching its own tablet device very soon.

The new site design, which has only been rolled out to a handful of users so far, features bigger buttons and a more prominent search bar, plus it also appears to push tablet-related products such as streaming video, MP3s, cloud services, Kindle, apps for Android, game and software downloads, and audiobooks.

And, in addition to launching two new Kindle models, rumour has it that Amazon' set to launch its own tablet device by October this year.

"Suppliers have indicated that the company will receive around two million units before launch, suggesting the company is confident it can sell its Android tablets in the face of Apple's iPad dominance," Mark Brian said on thenextweb.com blog.

Going head to head with market leaders Apple would be an enormous challenge for Amazon, as a report recently showed exactly how strong Apple's grip is on the tablet market, with the iPad proving to be the most popular choice, with an overwhelming 95 per cent of consumers questioned choosing it as their brand of choice.

However, it has been reported that one draw to potential buyers however may be a significantly more modest price tag attached to the Amazon model compared to the iPad. It appears that from Amazon's perspective, content could prove a valuable way forward in subsidising the hardware and gaining market share.

"If it's launched at the right price with enough supply, we see Amazon's tablet easily selling 3 million to 5 million units in Q4 alone, disrupting not only Apple's product strategy but other tablet manufacturers' as well," according to Sarah Rotman Epps of Forrester Research.

"Apple will maintain a strong lead in market share, but Amazon will gain ground quickly and give product strategists from media, software, retail, banking, and other firms a reason to kick app development for Android tablets into high gear," she said in a press release.

Digg | delicious | Reddit | Google | Twitter | Sphinn | StumbleUpon | YahooBuzz | Facebook | Mixx | Contact bigmouthmedia