SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Amazon.com Inc is testing a new monthly option for its popular Prime video-streaming service as the world's largest Internet retailer steps up competition with Netflix Inc.
Prime typically costs $79 a year in the United States for free two-day shipping, free video streaming and access to Amazon's Kindle e-book lending library. The company is now offering the service for $7.99 a month on its website, which works out to $95.88 a year, but at that rate it can be purchased strictly on a month-to-month basis.
The monthly option is more comparable to Netflix's streaming video subscription, which also costs $7.99 a month but does not come with free shipping and an e-book library. Another streaming rival, Hulu, also charges $7.99 a month.
An Amazon spokesman said the monthly Prime option was a test and declined to comment further.
Netflix and Hulu offer greater video selection than Amazon, though Amazon is spending hundreds of millions of dollars buying more content from Hollywood and TV studios.
'As Amazon continues to add movie and TV content to Prime, we see it likely adding more competitive pressure to the legacy online video services,' Colin Sebastian, an analyst at R.W. Baird, wrote in a note to investors on Tuesday.
Netflix shares fell 2.5 percent to $76.27 in afternoon trading on Tuesday. Amazon shares climbed 1.1 percent to $237.01.
Amazon's new monthly Prime option coincides with the holiday shopping season, giving shoppers a way to use the two-day shipping service for gifts without the annual obligation, Sebastian noted.
'While one risk for Amazon is that consumers use Prime for just one month to take advantage of free shipping on large purchases, the test could also reveal that a ready market for alternative pricing and serve as a new customer acquisition tool,' the analyst wrote.
(Reporting By Alistair Barr; Editing by Leslie Adler)
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Tuesday, November 6, 2012
Exclusive: EU regulators to accept Apple, publishers e-book offer
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - EU regulators are set to accept an offer by Apple and four book publishers allowing Amazon and other retailers to sell e-books more cheaply than Apple to end an antitrust investigation and avoid fines, two sources said on Monday.
Apple, Simon & Schuster, News Corp unit HarperCollins, Lagardere SCA's Hachette Livre, and Verlagsgruppe Georg von Holtzbrinck, the owner of German company Macmillan, made the proposal to the European Commission in September.
The move came after the EU antitrust authority opened an investigation into the companies' e-book pricing model, which critics say prevents Amazon and other retailers from undercutting Apple.
Pearson Plc's Penguin group, which is also under investigation, did not take part in the offer.
The Commission, which in September asked for feedback from rivals and consumers regarding the proposal, has not asked for more concessions, said one of sources.
'The Commission is likely to accept the offer and announce its decision next month,' the person said. (Writing by Luke Baker)
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Apple, Simon & Schuster, News Corp unit HarperCollins, Lagardere SCA's Hachette Livre, and Verlagsgruppe Georg von Holtzbrinck, the owner of German company Macmillan, made the proposal to the European Commission in September.
The move came after the EU antitrust authority opened an investigation into the companies' e-book pricing model, which critics say prevents Amazon and other retailers from undercutting Apple.
Pearson Plc's Penguin group, which is also under investigation, did not take part in the offer.
The Commission, which in September asked for feedback from rivals and consumers regarding the proposal, has not asked for more concessions, said one of sources.
'The Commission is likely to accept the offer and announce its decision next month,' the person said. (Writing by Luke Baker)
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TV networks to staff: watch what you tweet on Election Day
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - U.S. television networks face a new challenge in covering this year's excruciatingly close presidential election: prevent closely guarded exit poll results from leaking onto Twitter, Facebook and other social media platforms.
The major TV news networks agreed to shield early exit poll data suggesting who is leading in a state until the state's polls close. That means no tweeting exit polls, posting on Facebook, or re-tweeting figures reported by others.
'We will not either project or characterize a race until all the polls are scheduled to have closed in that state,' said Sheldon Gawiser, director of elections for NBC News.
Election officials worry that leaks could discourage people from voting if they think the race in their state is already decided, depressing the vote count and distorting the results. In 1985, Congress extracted a promise from the major TV networks to refrain from using exit polls to project a winner in a particular state, or to characterize who is leading, while voting continues in that area.
The closeness of this year's election between President Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney has focused attention on key battleground states - such as Ohio, Virginia and Florida - and what their exit polls might signal about who will win the White House.
It has resurrected memories of the disputed 2000 election between Republican George W. Bush and Democrat Al Gore - some media outlets projected a Gore victory in Florida while polls in the western part of the state remained open. The networks later pulled back, leaving doubt about who won and leading to a month of recounts and court battles.
If early results become public, 'it can be a real problem,' said Jeff Berkowitz, a Republican strategist who runs Berkowitz Public Affairs. 'For somebody who's got seven things on their list to do that day, and if they're already being told the election is over, are they really going to prioritize voting over the other six?'
Exit poll data is collected by New Jersey-based Edison Media Research on behalf of the National Election Pool, a consortium of Walt Disney Co's ABC, News Corp's Fox, Time Warner Inc's CNN, Comcast Corp's NBC, CBS Corp's CBS and the Associated Press. The media companies use the findings to help them call results in each state, and to inform post-election analysis.
Reuters is not a member of the consortium and collects exit data with market research firm Ipsos. The news organization will not share any exit data before polls close, a Thomson Reuters Corp spokeswoman said.
Smaller news outlets and Internet blogs are not bound by the commitment made by members of the National Election Pool, and could post any exit poll numbers they get their hands on.
In 2004, for example, The Drudge Report posted early results that favored John Kerry. U.S. stocks dipped, and Kerry eventually lost the race, highlighting that early and incomplete results can prove wrong. A representative for The Drudge Report could not immediately be reached by e-mail.
There is no evidence that exit poll results influence voters, but the rise of social media means any leaked data could spread like wildfire.
After leaks in past elections, the big TV networks have taken steps to keep a tighter lid on information. While some findings previously were available as early as 1 p.m. Eastern time, news staff are not to be given an initial look until 5 p.m. - still two hours before the earliest poll closings.
Following a template used in the last three elections, six analysts - one from each news organization in the National Election Pool - will be locked in a 'quarantine room' from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Eastern time on Tuesday with no phone or e-mail access, Gawiser said. They will conduct preliminary analysis of the data before it is released to staff at the news outlets.
'They cannot talk to us. We don't know anything about it. We can't see any of these data until five o'clock,' Gawiser said.
These kinds of restrictions helped keep exit data under wraps in 2008, when Obama defeated John McCain. The race also was not as close as in the two previous elections, or indeed this year's vote, reducing demand for early information.
This year, the tight race and prevalence of social media increases the risk that data will spread quickly if it leaks, said Tom Rosenstiel, director of the Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism.
'If that were to happen today, with Internet penetration and the speed of social media, that (data) would be known pretty widely,' he said.
(Reporting By Lisa Richwine; Editing by Ronald Grover and Steve Orlofsky)
This news article is brought to you by SAVING MONEY BLOG - where latest news are our top priority.
The major TV news networks agreed to shield early exit poll data suggesting who is leading in a state until the state's polls close. That means no tweeting exit polls, posting on Facebook, or re-tweeting figures reported by others.
'We will not either project or characterize a race until all the polls are scheduled to have closed in that state,' said Sheldon Gawiser, director of elections for NBC News.
Election officials worry that leaks could discourage people from voting if they think the race in their state is already decided, depressing the vote count and distorting the results. In 1985, Congress extracted a promise from the major TV networks to refrain from using exit polls to project a winner in a particular state, or to characterize who is leading, while voting continues in that area.
The closeness of this year's election between President Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney has focused attention on key battleground states - such as Ohio, Virginia and Florida - and what their exit polls might signal about who will win the White House.
It has resurrected memories of the disputed 2000 election between Republican George W. Bush and Democrat Al Gore - some media outlets projected a Gore victory in Florida while polls in the western part of the state remained open. The networks later pulled back, leaving doubt about who won and leading to a month of recounts and court battles.
If early results become public, 'it can be a real problem,' said Jeff Berkowitz, a Republican strategist who runs Berkowitz Public Affairs. 'For somebody who's got seven things on their list to do that day, and if they're already being told the election is over, are they really going to prioritize voting over the other six?'
Exit poll data is collected by New Jersey-based Edison Media Research on behalf of the National Election Pool, a consortium of Walt Disney Co's ABC, News Corp's Fox, Time Warner Inc's CNN, Comcast Corp's NBC, CBS Corp's CBS and the Associated Press. The media companies use the findings to help them call results in each state, and to inform post-election analysis.
Reuters is not a member of the consortium and collects exit data with market research firm Ipsos. The news organization will not share any exit data before polls close, a Thomson Reuters Corp spokeswoman said.
Smaller news outlets and Internet blogs are not bound by the commitment made by members of the National Election Pool, and could post any exit poll numbers they get their hands on.
In 2004, for example, The Drudge Report posted early results that favored John Kerry. U.S. stocks dipped, and Kerry eventually lost the race, highlighting that early and incomplete results can prove wrong. A representative for The Drudge Report could not immediately be reached by e-mail.
There is no evidence that exit poll results influence voters, but the rise of social media means any leaked data could spread like wildfire.
After leaks in past elections, the big TV networks have taken steps to keep a tighter lid on information. While some findings previously were available as early as 1 p.m. Eastern time, news staff are not to be given an initial look until 5 p.m. - still two hours before the earliest poll closings.
Following a template used in the last three elections, six analysts - one from each news organization in the National Election Pool - will be locked in a 'quarantine room' from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Eastern time on Tuesday with no phone or e-mail access, Gawiser said. They will conduct preliminary analysis of the data before it is released to staff at the news outlets.
'They cannot talk to us. We don't know anything about it. We can't see any of these data until five o'clock,' Gawiser said.
These kinds of restrictions helped keep exit data under wraps in 2008, when Obama defeated John McCain. The race also was not as close as in the two previous elections, or indeed this year's vote, reducing demand for early information.
This year, the tight race and prevalence of social media increases the risk that data will spread quickly if it leaks, said Tom Rosenstiel, director of the Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism.
'If that were to happen today, with Internet penetration and the speed of social media, that (data) would be known pretty widely,' he said.
(Reporting By Lisa Richwine; Editing by Ronald Grover and Steve Orlofsky)
This news article is brought to you by SAVING MONEY BLOG - where latest news are our top priority.
Monday, November 5, 2012
U.S. judge tosses Apple vs. Google lawsuit over patents
(Reuters) - An Apple lawsuit against Google's Motorola Mobility unit over alleged patent abuse was thrown out on Monday just hours before trial, a setback for the iPhone maker in its efforts to gain leverage in the smartphone patent wars.
The two rivals were set to square off in a Madison, Wisconsin federal court over the library of patents Google Inc acquired along with Motorola for $12.5 billion in May. Apple Inc claimed Motorola's licensing practices were unfair.
However, late last week District Judge Barbara Crabb questioned whether she had the legal authority to hear Apple's claims, and on Monday she dismissed the case.
A Google spokeswoman said the company was pleased with the order, while an Apple representative declined to comment. In a legal brief filed after Crabb's ruling, Apple contended that the judge does indeed have the authority to hear its claims.
Lea Shaver, an intellectual property professor at Indiana University School of Law, said a ruling against Google would have diminished Motorola's patents as an effective bargaining chip in settlement negotiations.
'This puts Apple back into the position it was before,' Shaver said.
Apple and Microsoft Corp have been litigating in courts around the world against Google and partners like Samsung Electronics Co Ltd, which use the Android operating system on their mobile devices.
Apple contends that Android is basically a copy of its iOS smartphone software, and Microsoft holds patents that it contends cover a number of Android features. Microsoft is set for a trial against Motorola in Seattle next week in a case with similar issues as the Apple matter in Wisconsin.
Apple and Microsoft accuse Google of demanding too high a royalty for some of its so-called standard essential patents. Motorola promised to license those patents on fair terms, they argue, in exchange for Motorola technology being adopted as an industry standard.
In Wisconsin, Crabb had ruled during the run-up to trial that she might decide what a fair royalty for Motorola's patents should be.
However, in a court filing last week, Apple argued that it would not consider itself bound by Crabb's rate if it exceeded $1 per Apple phone.
Given Apple's position, Crabb questioned whether she had the power to issue merely an advisory opinion. 'It has become clear that Apple's interest in a license is qualified,' Crabb wrote on Friday.
Microsoft, by contrast, has agreed to live with whatever terms U.S. District Judge James Robart sets at the Seattle trial.
In Wisconsin, the trial was scheduled to begin Monday afternoon in Madison, but Crabb dismissed the case during a morning hearing. If Apple cannot convince Crabb to reconsider, then the matter could be appealed.
In its statement, Google said Motorola has long offered licensing at reasonable rates. 'We remain interested in reaching an agreement with Apple,' the company said.
The case in U.S. District Court, Western District of Wisconsin is Apple Inc. v. Motorola Mobility Inc., No. 11-cv-178.
(Reporting By Alexei Oreskovic in San Francisco; Additional reporting by Dan Levine in San Francisco; Editing by Leslie Adler and Tim Dobbyn)
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The two rivals were set to square off in a Madison, Wisconsin federal court over the library of patents Google Inc acquired along with Motorola for $12.5 billion in May. Apple Inc claimed Motorola's licensing practices were unfair.
However, late last week District Judge Barbara Crabb questioned whether she had the legal authority to hear Apple's claims, and on Monday she dismissed the case.
A Google spokeswoman said the company was pleased with the order, while an Apple representative declined to comment. In a legal brief filed after Crabb's ruling, Apple contended that the judge does indeed have the authority to hear its claims.
Lea Shaver, an intellectual property professor at Indiana University School of Law, said a ruling against Google would have diminished Motorola's patents as an effective bargaining chip in settlement negotiations.
'This puts Apple back into the position it was before,' Shaver said.
Apple and Microsoft Corp have been litigating in courts around the world against Google and partners like Samsung Electronics Co Ltd, which use the Android operating system on their mobile devices.
Apple contends that Android is basically a copy of its iOS smartphone software, and Microsoft holds patents that it contends cover a number of Android features. Microsoft is set for a trial against Motorola in Seattle next week in a case with similar issues as the Apple matter in Wisconsin.
Apple and Microsoft accuse Google of demanding too high a royalty for some of its so-called standard essential patents. Motorola promised to license those patents on fair terms, they argue, in exchange for Motorola technology being adopted as an industry standard.
In Wisconsin, Crabb had ruled during the run-up to trial that she might decide what a fair royalty for Motorola's patents should be.
However, in a court filing last week, Apple argued that it would not consider itself bound by Crabb's rate if it exceeded $1 per Apple phone.
Given Apple's position, Crabb questioned whether she had the power to issue merely an advisory opinion. 'It has become clear that Apple's interest in a license is qualified,' Crabb wrote on Friday.
Microsoft, by contrast, has agreed to live with whatever terms U.S. District Judge James Robart sets at the Seattle trial.
In Wisconsin, the trial was scheduled to begin Monday afternoon in Madison, but Crabb dismissed the case during a morning hearing. If Apple cannot convince Crabb to reconsider, then the matter could be appealed.
In its statement, Google said Motorola has long offered licensing at reasonable rates. 'We remain interested in reaching an agreement with Apple,' the company said.
The case in U.S. District Court, Western District of Wisconsin is Apple Inc. v. Motorola Mobility Inc., No. 11-cv-178.
(Reporting By Alexei Oreskovic in San Francisco; Additional reporting by Dan Levine in San Francisco; Editing by Leslie Adler and Tim Dobbyn)
This article is brought to you by CHEAP COMPUTERS.
Google says Apple patent lawsuit dismissed
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A federal judge has thrown out a lawsuit by Apple Inc alleging that Google Inc-owned Motorola's patent licensing practices were unfair, Google said on Monday.
Apple had been set to square off against Motorola on Monday in a trial in U.S. District Court in Madison, Wisconsin, involving Google's use of the library of patents it acquired along with Motorola for $12.5 billion in May.
'We're pleased that the court has dismissed Apple's lawsuit with prejudice,' a Google spokeswoman said in an emailed statement on Monday.
Dismissal of a case with prejudice means the case is over at the trial court level, though it can be appealed.
Apple could not immediately be reached for comment.
'Motorola has long offered licensing to our extensive patent portfolio at a reasonable and non-discriminatory rate in line with industry standards,' Google said in its statement. 'We remain interested in reaching an agreement with Apple.'
(Reporting By Alexei Oreskovic; Editing by Leslie Adler)
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Apple had been set to square off against Motorola on Monday in a trial in U.S. District Court in Madison, Wisconsin, involving Google's use of the library of patents it acquired along with Motorola for $12.5 billion in May.
'We're pleased that the court has dismissed Apple's lawsuit with prejudice,' a Google spokeswoman said in an emailed statement on Monday.
Dismissal of a case with prejudice means the case is over at the trial court level, though it can be appealed.
Apple could not immediately be reached for comment.
'Motorola has long offered licensing to our extensive patent portfolio at a reasonable and non-discriminatory rate in line with industry standards,' Google said in its statement. 'We remain interested in reaching an agreement with Apple.'
(Reporting By Alexei Oreskovic; Editing by Leslie Adler)
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EU boosts radio spectrum for superfast mobile services
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Commission is to release a swathe of radio spectrum to give mobile and internet companies more space for rolling out faster fourth-generation (4G) wireless services.
Monday's announcement means an extra 120 MHz of spectrum will be available for 4G from 2014 at the latest to try to accommodate a sharp rise in the use of such services on mobile devices.
The radio spectrum, used by all wireless technologies for sending and receiving information, is becoming increasingly crowded as mobile demand adds to TV and radio broadcasting in using a resource also needed by emergency services and military telecommunications.
Industry estimates put growth in global mobile data traffic at 26 percent annually by 2015. According to networking firm Cisco Systems, mobile data traffic volumes in the European Union are expected to increase by more than 90 percent each year for the next 5 years.
Superfast 4G mobile communications allow the use of data-heavy services such as video conferencing.
'This extra spectrum for 4G in Europe means we can better meet the changing and growing demand for broadband,' said Neelie Kroes, European Union Commissioner for digital policy.
Freeing up additional spectrum would also help the EU address competition from countries such as the United States and Japan, where wireless services are among the world's fastest.
'The EU will enjoy up to twice the amount of spectrum for high speed wireless broadband as in the United States,' the Commission said in a statement.
Companies that own parts of the radio wave spectrum bought after liberalization in the 1990s consider the resource among their most valuable assets and many are reluctant to share.
But in September the Commission pushed telecoms firms to share the radio frequencies they use for mobile and broadband services as space runs out.
(Reporting By Claire Davenport; Editing by Louise Heavens)
This news article is brought to you by SPACE AND ASTRONOMY NEWS - where latest news are our top priority.
Monday's announcement means an extra 120 MHz of spectrum will be available for 4G from 2014 at the latest to try to accommodate a sharp rise in the use of such services on mobile devices.
The radio spectrum, used by all wireless technologies for sending and receiving information, is becoming increasingly crowded as mobile demand adds to TV and radio broadcasting in using a resource also needed by emergency services and military telecommunications.
Industry estimates put growth in global mobile data traffic at 26 percent annually by 2015. According to networking firm Cisco Systems, mobile data traffic volumes in the European Union are expected to increase by more than 90 percent each year for the next 5 years.
Superfast 4G mobile communications allow the use of data-heavy services such as video conferencing.
'This extra spectrum for 4G in Europe means we can better meet the changing and growing demand for broadband,' said Neelie Kroes, European Union Commissioner for digital policy.
Freeing up additional spectrum would also help the EU address competition from countries such as the United States and Japan, where wireless services are among the world's fastest.
'The EU will enjoy up to twice the amount of spectrum for high speed wireless broadband as in the United States,' the Commission said in a statement.
Companies that own parts of the radio wave spectrum bought after liberalization in the 1990s consider the resource among their most valuable assets and many are reluctant to share.
But in September the Commission pushed telecoms firms to share the radio frequencies they use for mobile and broadband services as space runs out.
(Reporting By Claire Davenport; Editing by Louise Heavens)
This news article is brought to you by SPACE AND ASTRONOMY NEWS - where latest news are our top priority.
Friday, November 2, 2012
Twitter CEO lobbied against exiling Dorsey in 2008: investor
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Twitter CEO Dick Costolo lobbied against exiling Executive Chairman Jack Dorsey in a 2008 power struggle, according to an early investor who shed new light on the management turmoil that for years roiled one of Silicon Valley's drama-ridden companies.
Chris Sacca, a former Google executive turned investor, said Costolo - another Twitter investor in 2008 - urged the board to keep hold of Dorsey, who is widely credited with inventing the 140-character messaging service.
Costolo told board members that 'you can't just send the f- inventor of the product on his way,' Sacca said during a five-minute, expletive-laced monologue at a talk hosted in Los Angeles on Thursday by PandoDaily, a technology blog.
'Twitter did not respond to a request for comment.'
Dorsey's successor as CEO, Ev Williams, also left the company under political pressure in late 2010, said Sacca. Costolo assumed the top role after Williams's departure, and brought Dorsey back to Twitter as executive chairman in March, 2011.
'I'm sure Jack still holds grudges, and he should,' said Sacca, who served as a middleman last year when he connected investors with Twitter shares in deals worth hundreds of millions dollars.
Dorsey, who founded payments company Square Inc in 2010, became chatter fodder in the Valley earlier this month when the New York Times reported that he had been pushed out of Twitter for a second time after employees complained that he was difficult to work with.
Dorsey responded publicly by saying he had trimmed his role at Twitter as part of a transition process pre-arranged with Costolo.
(Reporting By Gerry Shih; Editing by Bernard Orr)
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Chris Sacca, a former Google executive turned investor, said Costolo - another Twitter investor in 2008 - urged the board to keep hold of Dorsey, who is widely credited with inventing the 140-character messaging service.
Costolo told board members that 'you can't just send the f- inventor of the product on his way,' Sacca said during a five-minute, expletive-laced monologue at a talk hosted in Los Angeles on Thursday by PandoDaily, a technology blog.
'Twitter did not respond to a request for comment.'
Dorsey's successor as CEO, Ev Williams, also left the company under political pressure in late 2010, said Sacca. Costolo assumed the top role after Williams's departure, and brought Dorsey back to Twitter as executive chairman in March, 2011.
'I'm sure Jack still holds grudges, and he should,' said Sacca, who served as a middleman last year when he connected investors with Twitter shares in deals worth hundreds of millions dollars.
Dorsey, who founded payments company Square Inc in 2010, became chatter fodder in the Valley earlier this month when the New York Times reported that he had been pushed out of Twitter for a second time after employees complained that he was difficult to work with.
Dorsey responded publicly by saying he had trimmed his role at Twitter as part of a transition process pre-arranged with Costolo.
(Reporting By Gerry Shih; Editing by Bernard Orr)
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