People think of data centers as a big, clunky category, but in the cloud computing era it shouldn’t be a surprise that the sector has been hot, with more hotness to come. As more cloud services come online, demand for webscale data centers will keep growing. Read more »
Amazon has now broken out its touch-friendly shopping experience for the iPad from its Kindle Cloud Reader product, in an effort to make it easier for everyone to buy books from the Kindle Store, and quickly read those purchases in Amazon’s native iPad Kindle app. Read more »
Much has been written about the U.S. government’s plan to shutter 1,200 data centers. There’s been considerably less chatter about the fact that some of the remaining, revamped federal data centers are now leasing out excess capacity to other government agencies. Read more »
According to reports circulating Monday, Apple could be hosting a special media event in January. The event won’t be about Apple’s next iPad if reports are correct, however. Instead, Apple will be talking directly to the publishing industry, and the time for that talk is ripe. Read more »
As I look ahead, I hope that over the next few months, some of the technology products that I use the most will make incremental changes that could make life better for the people who use their products – including me. Read more »
I made a lot of predictions about cloud computing and the general IT infrastructure space heading into 2011, and I impressed myself with my skills of prognostication. Of course, it’s possible I’m just grading myself too generously, so I’ll let readers be the judges. Read more »
With its new Elastic Network Interfaces, created by separating IP addresses and some key attributes from EC2 storage instances, Amazon is making its Virtual Private Cloud more flexible for companies that want to bring legacy applications to Amazon’s cloud computing infrastructure. Read more »
While Hulu has mostly built its audience by featuring popular new programming, it’s also building a recommendations system to introduce viewers to new content. It’s leveraging those recommendations with a new set of ads aimed at getting users hooked on shows they didn’t known about. Read more »
The outsize growth in online spending this holiday season suggests that e-commerce as a sector of the economy has passed some kind of tipping point and that factors beyond simply convenience and price — both long-standing hallmarks of online shopping — are propelling the e-commerce sector ... Read more at GigaOM Pro »
There will be millions of new Kindle Fire owners unwrapping the tablets over the holidays. Amazon wants users to buy movies and TV shows on the Kindle Fire, but those who want to transfer their own videos to the device can now do so with Miro. Read more »
If Amazon opens an office in the Boston-Cambridge area as reported, it would boost a high-tech community that often feels overlooked and undervalued compared to Silicon Valley and Seattle. Amazon is recruiting engineers for an as-yet-unannounced Boston area venue slated to open in 2012. Read more »
Earlier this week, I grilled Amazon for attempting to control web browsing activities on its Kindle Fire as the device was blocked from browsing Google’s Android Market website. With the new Kindle Fire software update, Amazon no longer blocks access, which is the right move. Read more »
Amazon is now offering free, two-day shipping on all Kindles including the Touch and Fire. To take advantage of this offer, customers simply add a Kindle to their cart and select two-day shipping when they check out. Amazon has seen a huge surge in demand for its Kindle devices, […] Read more »
Millennial Media is providing another solid bit of data on Kindle Fire sales, saying that the Fire’s ad impressions have been growing by 19 percent daily since its mid-November launch. The Kindle Fire is now on a faster initial pace than the iPad. Read more »
Amazon’s successful 7-inch tablet, the Kindle Fire, is locked down more than people might think: browser requests to Google’s Android Market are redirected to the Amazon AppStore. Imagine buying a new car and then being told you that it can only be driven on certain roadways. Read more »
The new breed of e-commerce sites offers consumers ways to socialize and be entertained. But as Rags Gupta of Brightcove points out, these new new commerce sites are taking advantage of old principles. Their innovation comes from introducing them online. Read more »
In this era of cheap-and-reliable renta-data centers run by Amazon, Rackspace, and others, does it make sense for a company to build a new data center on it’s own? Unsurprisingly, Amazon’s own James Hamilton doesn’t think so. More surprisingly, other IT pros agree. Read more »
In the past few years we have seen accommodation-sharing company Airbnb grab a valuation of over $1 billion and car-sharing leader Zipcar squeak into profitability sooner than expected. Those developments, among others, suggest the share economy is alive and well, but how can this space continue ... Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Ebay’s recent purchase of Hunch illustrates how social media has leveled the playing field for e-commerce recommendations engines. Mixing human-powered reviews with algorithm-powered recommendations will be a key driver of social ... Read more at GigaOM Pro »
The highly anticipated Amazon Kindle Fire arrived in our offices on Monday, and here we unbox it and take our first look. The Kindle Fire is Amazon’s first foray into tablets after proving it knows a thing or two about e-book readers. Read more »
The next step in Hollywood’s effort to educate consumers about its UltraViolet digital rights locker came from Warner Bros., which is taking to Twitter with a promoted trend aimed at getting Harry Potter fans excited about streaming the title to their computers and other devices. Read more »
“Other,” the revenue category in Amazon’s reports that encompasses Amazon Web Services, is growing like mad — 70 percent over last year, in fact. This matters because it likely means AWS is outpacing its projected growth and is rapidly approaching a $1 billion run rate. Read more »
It may seem like Amazon.com has conquered every corner of the e-commerce market, but it has its sights on a new vertical to add to its empire: Groceries. Quidsi, the wholly-owned Amazon subsidiary, has launched a new grocery category within its Soap.com website. Read more »
Kids love toys. But the sheer number of toys and games continuously coming out on the market can make toy shopping a big drag for grownups. Amazon.com is launching a new site called YoYo aimed at making the toy shopping experience a bit less overwhelming. Read more »
Amazon.com is making what appears to be a big investment in analytic database startup ParAccel. ParAccel today announced the close of a Series E round led by Amazon, bringing the company’s total funding to $73 million. The amount of this round is undisclosed. Read more »
Big data — as in managing and analyzing large volumes of information — has come a long way in the past couple of years. Among the greatest innovations might be the advent of real-time analytics, which allow the processing of information in real time to enable instantaneous decision-making. Read more »
Consumer electronics recommendation engine Retrevo launched a new feature this morning that challenges the Amazon Marketplace. However, for Retrevo to meet its lofty goals of dethroning Amazon even in this single category, it will have to rely on the accuracy of its machine-learning algorithms. Read more »
At first blush your local electric utility and online shopping behemoth Amazon.com have about as much in common as Obama and Snooki. But the CEO of utility Duke Energy, told an audience recently that he saw Duke one day taking a cue from Amazon’s playbook. Read more »
