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Google has signed an accord with France’s biggest book publisher Hachette Livre on the scanning and sale of out-of-print books, which grants the publisher wide control over pricing and content. Get the full story »
Chicago-based digital mapping company Navteq said Wednesday it has acquired a California company that specializes in 3D urban modeling. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Get the full story »
Google Inc.’s Voice calling application has won approval to be on the iPhone after more than a year of haggling with Apple Inc.
The breakthrough announced Tuesday resolves a stand-off that triggered a Federal Communications Commission inquiry into whether Apple and AT&T Inc., the iPhone’s exclusive U.S. service provider, were trying to stifle competition by keeping the app off the popular device. Get the full story »
The United States faces a major threat in the future from cyber technologies that will require civil-military coordination to shield networks from attack, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said on Tuesday. Get the full story »
Yahoo! is jumping into the online deals space with a new program called Local Offers that aggregates deals from a number of companies, including Chicago-based Groupon.
The Sunnyvale, Calif.-based company said it wants to be “the largest and most comprehensive repositories of local offers on the Internet.” With the explosion of daily deal sites following Groupon’s success, a number of deal aggregator start-ups have also emerged. Yahoo! is aiming for an even broader scope by signing up companies specializing in direct mail marketing, such as Valpak. Get the full story »
Google Inc. is taking another stab at designing a game-changing mobile phone, this time by including a built-in payment system that could eventually enable the devices to replace credit cards. The new phone got a brief preview Monday when Google CEO Eric Schmidt took the stage to kick off the Web 2.0 summit, a technology conference held annually in San Francisco.
Schmidt confirmed that Google has been working on a sophisticated new computer chip and an upgrade of its Android mobile operating system that will include a payment processing tool. He showed off the new phone with the device’s name and manufacturer concealed. Get the full story »
Amazon.com shares tumbled as much as 4 percent Monday on concerns that offers of free shipping by Wal-Mart Stores Inc and other retailers could challenge the online company’s results. Get the full story »
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg talks about the 350 million active users daily of Facebook messaging in San Francisco, Nov. 15, 2010. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)
In a bid to become the junction box for people’s digital communications, Facebook announced Monday it plans to launch a new communication platform intended to unify e-mail, instant messaging, text messaging and the social network’s existing message system through a single “social in-box.”
While each of the social network’s more than 500 million users will have the chance to get an @facebook.com e-mail address as the new service gradually rolls out to members in coming months, CEO Mark Zuckerberg said the goal was not to create the world’s largest e-mail network, but to merge external e-mail, text messaging, instant messages and Facebook’s existing internal messaging service into a new kind of seamless communication system. Get the full story »
Apple Inc. is set to make a major announcement Tuesday about iTunes, amid speculation about a possible Web-based version of the dominant digital music store.
Apple posted a message Monday on the iTunes Web site, teasing an announcement to be made at 10 a.m. Eastern Time Tuesday, but it gave few clues. Get the full story »
Amazon.com Inc. said Friday that it is hiring more than 15,500 people to fill temporary holiday jobs at shipping centers around the country, more than it hired last year.
The online retail giant said in news releases that it will hire more than 5,000 people in Phoenix and Goodyear, Ariz., and 4,000 in Pennsylvania at locations including Allentown, Hazleton and Lewisberry. Get the full story »
Orbitz Worldwide Inc. has launched free mobile applications for the iPhone and Android platforms that allow users to book hotels, flights and rental cars.
In addition, the Chicago-based online travel company has updated its mobile Web site, which has been live since July but whose debut went unannounced. Get the full story »
Newsweek, a 77-year-old magazine that once helped set the national news agenda, is linking its future with The Daily Beast, a startup just two years in the making. Beast editor Tina Brown, who led both Vanity Fair and The New Yorker before deciding to give Web publishing a try, will be the editor of both publications.
The Postal Service wants to test the idea of letting greeting card companies preprint postage on the envelopes they include with their cards, hoping that by making it easier to send cards it will win back some of the business it has been losing to the Internet.
