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Category: Retail & eCommerce

eCommerce, Online Retail & Retail News

  • Travel Deals: A Cure For the Common Christmas

    “Next year we’re not doing a Christmas tree or gifts at all! We’re all just going to go to Hawaii!”

    Each year since my youth my mom has hollered this through a straitjacket of stringed lights as if it was a threat. Meanwhile, my siblings and I kept waiting with bated breath for her to make good on delivering this punishment in paradise. After almost three decades, I’m still waiting – but you don’t have to.

    You don’t have to wait for another year to go by either.

    In fact, if that holiday malaise is setting in as you sip your Starbucks and stroke the screen of your smartphone, keep in mind that holiday travel deals are still in progress – and just a tap away thanks to innovations introduced by online travel businesses. A few CEOs of the top OTAs (online travel agencies) sat down with USA recently and explained how staying ahead of their competition means simultaneously simplifying your booking process and saving you money:

    CEO of Priceline.com North America, Christopher Soder said, “Mobile has grown very fast. One example for using your phone will allow you to search for hotels near you. A lot of our mobile bookers book for check-in that night within a mile of their location. On our iPad app you can define the neighborhood by just drawing on the map and saying, ‘Show me hotels in this area.’”

    Dara Khosrowshahi (CEO of Expedia) also spoke about applications, “An interesting new feature on the Expedia app is itinerary sharing. If I share my itinerary with you, it will show up on your Expedia app, and you will get updates on gate changes, arrival time, etc. It is updated live.”

    Regarding travel deals, he added, “We negotiate with hoteliers for same-day and last-minute bookings on the mobile app. They’re sometimes 50% off.”

    Barney Hartford (CEO of Orbitz Worldwide) agreed, “The use of mobile for same-day bookings is huge,” adding, “Orbitz Inside Deals has killer deals on properties that are only available for 72 hours, and we will send some of our members a heads-up about them before they go on the website. We also have destinations where we offer a promo code that is good just for 24 or 48 hours.”

    Between ease of access and discounts, travel agencies are making a getaway sound awfully alluring. So, if a holiday at home is falling short of earth shattering this year – why not salvage what’s left of your leave, hop on a plane (or cruise ship), and go Instagram some island memories?

    After all, nobody’s dreaming of a trite Christmas.

    Image via Youtube

  • Amazon Has Reportedly Acquired Gopago

    Amazon Has Reportedly Acquired Gopago

    Update: It looks like Amazon only bought certain technologies and hired certain talent from Gopago, while Doublebeam actually acquired the rest.

    According to reports, Amazon has acquired Gopago, a PoS solutions company.

    The reports (later picked up by TechCrunch) appear to have originated in the Italian press.

    Gopago’s slogan is “modern commerce now affordable.” It offers mobile and tablet PoS solutions associated apps.

    According to reports, the terms of the deal were not disclosed and co-founder Vincenzo di Nicola will not be joining Amazon, though that may also be true for others at the company.

    It’s unclear when the acquisition actually took place. Gopago has been pretty quiet lately. The company blog has’t been updated since June.

    Image: Gopago

  • Amazon Prime Members Get Free Holiday Shipping Until Dec. 22

    Are you still trying to decide what to get your family and friends this Christmas? Well, your deadline to find a gift has just been extended if you happen to have an Amazon Prime membership.

    Amazon announced today that all Amazon Prime members can get free holiday shipping as long as they purchase the item before midnight EST on Sunday, December 22. While free two-day shipping is a hallmark of Amazon Prime, this is one of the few times throughout the year when the perk goes from convenient to necessity.

    “This is a unique holiday season. With so few shopping days between Thanksgiving and Christmas, this weekend can be hectic for many holiday shoppers – fighting crowds while struggling to find just the right gift,” said Greg Greeley, Vice President Amazon Prime. “We would like to make your weekend just a little easier. Prime members can order anytime this weekend, as late as midnight on Sunday, Dec. 22, and still receive unlimited free two-day shipping in time for Christmas. This allows members to enjoy the same fast, free shipping and convenient online shopping experience they have come to expect from Amazon.”

    If you’re running really late this year, you can still place an order through December 23 and have it arrive on Christmas Eve if you choose one-day shipping at checkout. For Amazon Prime members, this will cost you $2.99 per item.

    Here’s the full holiday ordering deadline schedule:

  • Dec. 18: Free Shipping and Standard Shipping
  • Dec. 22: Two-Day Shipping (order as late as midnight EST; varies by item; free with Amazon Prime)
  • Dec. 23: One-Day Shipping (order as late as midnight EST; varies by item; as low as $2.99/item with Amazon Prime)
  • Dec. 24: Local Express Delivery (while available; select cities; $3.99/item with Amazon Prime)
  • Dec. 25: Email and printable Amazon Gift Cards can be sent immediately, at any time

    • Besides holiday shipping deadlines. Amazon also wants you to know that it still has a number of holiday deals that will last throughout Friday. You can find more here.

    [Image: Amazon]

  • Amazon’s Best-Selling Book of 2013 Is Dan Brown’s ‘Inferno’

    If you’re thinking about buying Dan Brown’s new thriller Inferno for the voracious reader in your family, you’re not alone. Amazon has just published their 2013 Best-Selling books list, and Brown’s 6th novel sits at the top.

    Apparently, it was a big year for mysteries and thrillers across the board.

    “Last year’s best seller list was filled with Fifty Shades and contemporary romance, but in 2013 Mysteries & Thrillers captured readers attention, with 11 of the top 20 books falling in that category,” said Sara Nelson, Editorial Director of Books and Kindle at Amazon.com.

    This list also features books by notable authors like John Grisham, Stephen King, and Bill O’Reilly.

    Here’s Amazon’s complete top 20 best-selling books of the year (taking into account both Kindle and print):

    1. Inferno by Dan Brown
    2. And the Mountain Echoed by Khaled Hosseini
    3. The Cuckoo’s Calling by Robert Galbraith
    4. The Husband’s Secret by Liana Moriarty
    5. Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead by Sheryl Sandberg
    6. The Hit by David Baldacci
    7. Sycamore Row by John Grisham
    8. Entwined with You by Sylvia Day
    9. Never Go Back by Lee Child
    10. The Storyteller by Jodi Piccoult
    11. Alex Cross, Run by James Patterson
    12. Doctor Sleep by Stephen King
    13. 12th of Never by James Patterson
    14. Damaged: The Ferro Family by H.M. Ward
    15. Killing Jesus: A History by Bill O’Reilly
    16. Second Honeymoon by James Patterson
    17. Whiskey Beach by Nora Roberts
    18. The Billionaires’ Obsession: The Complete Collection by J.S. Scott
    19. Surrender Your Love by J.C. Reed
    20. Six Years by Harlan Coben

    Kindle ruled the bestseller list, with 19 of the top 20 selling more digital copies than print. The only book in the top 20 to sell more in print than on Kindle was Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg’s Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead.

    Amazon has set up a dedicated hub for some additional best-of lists, including specific ones for Kids & Teens.

    Switching away from books for a sec – last week, Amazon announced their best-selling albums of all time. Unsurprisingly, Michael Jackson’s seminal classic Thriller topped that list.

    Image via Dan Brown.com

  • A Friendly Reminder That You Actually Don’t Own Your Digital Content (Christmas Edition)

    Here’s a scenario: It’s Christmas Eve and you’ve gathered the entire family around the TV to watch your favorite Christmas classic. You thought ahead and purchased the video through Amazon Instant Video just for this very occasion. Good thinking on your part, right? Unfortunately, all that good thinking is for naught as the video is not in your collection, and it’s not even showing up as available for sale on Amazon. What gives?

    This scenario may seem like something of a joke, but it has become a very real situation for Bill this holiday season. Writing into Boing Boing, he says he purchased the second episode of Disney’s Prep & Landing last year and wanted to watch it again this year. He soon found that the video was removed from his account, and is even listed as unavailable on Amazon Instant Video.

    Seriously, what gives?

    When Bill wrote in to Amazon about his legitimate purchase being removed, he’s told that it’s just all part of the licensing agreement they have with Disney. The company reserves the right to remove any video content offered for sale on Amazon.com at any time for any reason. The reason this time is that Disney wants to keep this particular show exclusively for itself this holiday season to broadcast on its channels. To rub salt in the wound, Disney won’t make the content available to those who purchased it on Amazon again until July – well after the holiday season is over.

    This is just another reminder that everything we purchase in the digital world doesn’t actually belong to us. We are simply buying a license to view the content, but the company, in this case Disney, still fully owns it. Think of it like buying a car, but you’re merely indefinitely renting it instead of owning it. That means the manufacturer or dealer could show up at any time and take the car back without any prior warning.

    In the car example, we wouldn’t stand for it if the manufacturer suddenly showed up and took away our car. Why do we stand for it when it happens to digital content then? For starters, this is still a relatively rare occurrence. It’s not often that a rights holder makes content unavailable after putting it on sale. After all, it seems kind of counterintuitive to stop making money on something, especially when people are more likely to buy it.

    All of this really boils down to the fact that consumers just aren’t educated on their digital rights. They think that the digital marketplace is the same as a physical marketplace. Once they purchase something, they think it belongs to them forever. It should work like that in the digital marketplace, but it doesn’t. It’s a despicable practice, but it will continue happening until people realize just how awful it is and demand change.

    If there’s any good news to be had out of this, it’s that Amazon realizes Disney is being an absolute Scrooge with the abuse of its licensing policy. The online retailer gave Bill “a very generous credit” to pick up some other holiday films for the family this year.

    Speaking of which, might I suggest The Muppet Christmas Carol. What’s that? TorrentFreak says it’s also been pulled? Well, what about the sub-standard, but still kind of enjoyable, Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas? That’s been taken away too? Well, I hope Disney’s happy that it has singlehandedly killed Christmas for the few potential customers who wanted to buy these movies through Amazon Instant Video.

    [Image: Amazon]

  • Amazon Really Wants You To Buy A Kindle Fire HDX, Will Let You Pay It Off In Installments

    Over the years, Amazon has used various deals and promotions to increase sales of its Kindle Fire tablet line. Those promotions seemingly work as the tablets remain the best-selling items on Amazon. Now the online retailer is trying a new method to get more Kindle Fires into the hands of even more customers.

    Amazon announced over the weekend a new payment plan that will let customers buy either a Kindle Fire HDX or Kindle Fire HDX 8.9″ for a quarter of the price. After the initial down payment, customers will then pay back another quarter of the device’s price every ninety days.

    For example, the Kindle Fire HDX, which normally costs $229, can now be yours for only $57.25. After purchasing the tablet at this price, you’ll be automatically billed $57.25 every 90 days until the device is paid off in full. As for the Kindle Fire HDX 8.9″, you’ll pay $94.75 upfront and then pay that same amount three more times over the course of the next 270 days.

    What’s interesting about this latest ploy is that everyone can take part. For these kind of deals, most retailers would want to apply interest or credit checks. Amazon is having none of that, however, as this is strictly a no strings attached kind of deal. The only thing you’ll have to look out for is that the payments will be automatically billed to your card every 90 days.

    That being said, you will want to read the fine print as there are some rules you’ll need to be aware of. For example, the above deal is only available until midnight on December 24. Amazon notes that you customers must use a credit card to make the initial down payment, but a debit card is fine for the remaining payments. You can also pay back the full remaining balance at any time, but the same can’t be said of the installments.

    If all of that sounds good to you, you can check out the promotion page here. If you’d rather pay for the entire device upfront, Amazon will most likely put the Kindle Fire HDX on sale one last time before Christmas.

    [h/t: Engadget]
    [Image: Amazon]

  • ‘Pokemon Bank’ Subscription App Announced For 3DS

    ‘Pokemon Bank’ Subscription App Announced For 3DS

    The release of Pokemon X & Y earlier this year ushered in the first 3DS Pokemon title. Veteran Pokemon fans now have the opportunity to expand their Pokemon collections with dozens of new creature types.

    Today, Nintendo announced that it will be releasing a 3DS app to help Pokemon players keep track of and manage their caught Pokemon. Called the Pokemon Bank, the app will show up on the 3DS eShop on December 27.

    Though the app will be free to download, it will require a subscription to use. Using the app will cost players $5 per year, though players who download the app between its release and the end of January will receive a free 30 days of the app.

    The Pokemon Bank will allow players to manage up to 3,000 Pokemon. A companion app called the Poke Transporter, which comes with the download of the Bank, will allow players to transfer Pokemon from Pokemon X & Y, Pokemon Black and White, and Pokemon Black 2 and White 2. Pokemon can also be transferred between multiple copies of Pokemon X & Y using the apps.

    A preview of the Pokemon Bank and its functions was released today. It shows off how Pokemon will be sorted and how they can be moved easily between games. It also teases a filtering feature that will certainly be useful for Pokemon fans that really have caught ’em all:

  • Amazon’s Best-Selling Album of All Time Shouldn’t Surprise You Too Much

    It’s hard to believe that this is the first time that Amazon has ever compiled all the data on total sales to bring us the most-purchased albums and songs of all time, but that’s what they’re saying. Today, on a dedicated hub, you can browse through the best-selling albums, CDs, mp3s, and songs of all time – and maybe luck out on some ideas for that hard-to-shop-for music lover.

    Without further ado, here’s Amazon’s best-selling album of all time (both digital and physical formats):

    Yeah, not too shocking, right? The King of Pop’s Thriller has sold more digital and physical copies on Amazon than any other album in history.

    Here’s the rest of the top 10:

    2. Eagles – Their Greatest Hits
    3. Billy Joel – Greatest Hits Vol 1-2
    4. Pink Floyd – The Wall
    5. Led Zeppelin – Led Zeppelin IV (ZOSO)
    6. AC/DC – Back in Black
    7. Garth Brooks – Double Live
    8. Shania Twain – Come on Over
    9. The Beatles – The White Album
    10. Fleetwood Mac – Rumours

    Just FYI, Hootie & The Blowfish’s Cracked Rear View cracks the top 20 at #17.

    Moving along to the best-selling CDs of all time, Adele’s 21 takes the top spot, followed by Susan Boyle’s I Dreamed a Dream.

    Images via Amazon, Thinkstock

  • Amazon To Target Sam’s Club, Costco With ‘Pantry’ [Report]

    Amazon To Target Sam’s Club, Costco With ‘Pantry’ [Report]

    Amazon is really cranking out the new initiatives these days. I’m sure you heard about Amazon Prime Air. This week, the company expanded its grocery delivery service AmazonFresh into its third market.

    Now, we learn that Amazon is headed into Sam’s Club/Costco territory with a service called Pantry. This is according to USA Today, which cites three people familiar with the effort.

    According to the report, the service, which would be run by Billy Hegeman, will launch in 2014, and will target existing Amazon Prime customers with about 2,000 grocery products initially. Customers, the report says, will be able to “put as many of these items into a set sized box, up to a specific weight limit,” and “if the products fit and they don’t exceed the maximum weight, Amazon will ship the box for a small fee.”

    Don’t expect these boxes to be delivered by drones anytime soon, as Amazon says it could be a few years before it’s able to start that service up, due to regulations. Some are very skeptical about whether Prime Air will really even be able to exist.

    But targeting businesses like Sam’s Club and Costco is much more realistic, and probably the next logical step in Amazon’s business. We expect AmazonFresh will be expanding more rapidly in the coming year as well.

    Image: Amazon

  • Blockbuster Is Shutting Down in the UK As Well

    After administrators Moorfields Corporate Recovery failed to secure a buyer for Blockbuster UK’s 91 remaining stores, the company has announced that they will be all be shut down next week.

    All remaining Blockbuster stores in the UK will be closed, forever, on December 16th. This is a move that will cause a loss of 808 jobs. All remaining stock will be sold off on Sunday the 15th at huge discounts.

    On November 11th, Simon Thomas and Nicholas O’Reilly of Moorfields Corporate Recovery LLP were appointed Joint Administrators.

    “It is with regret that we have to make today’s announcement, we appreciate this is a difficult time for all concerned and would like to thank staff for their professionalism and support over the past month. Unfortunately, we were unable to secure a buyer for the group as a going concern and as a result had to take the regrettable action to close the remaining stores,” said Thomas and O’Reilly

    Of course, Blockbuster UK’s closure comes a little more than a month after Blockbuster shuttered all domestic retail operations in the US. Its corporate owner, DISH Network, closed the final 300 company-owned Blockbuster US stores in early November. Franchised and licensed stores in the US remained open for business.

    And exactly one month ago today, someone rented the last movie ever from a company-owned Blockbuster store – and it was just perfect.

    Image via Blockbuster UK

  • You Can Now Gift Amazon Coins To Your Kindle-Owning Friends And Family

    Earlier this year, Amazon got into the digital currency game with Amazon Coins. In essence, Kindle users can use Coins to buy games, apps and in-app purchases on mostly everything in the Amazon Appstore. Now those same Kindle users can gift Amazon Coins to other Kindle users.

    Amazon announced today that it’s now letting users gift Amazon Coins to others just in time for the holidays. It’s being billed as an easy, yet effective, gift for those in among your family and friends that own a Kindle or use the Amazon Appstore on their Android device.

    So, how does this all work? You simply buy Amazon Coins as you normally would, but choose to gift them at the store page. From there, you put in the email address of the person receiving the coins and Amazon takes care of the rest.

    “Customers love using Amazon Coins in the Amazon Appstore and on Kindle Fire to purchase apps and games,” said Mike George, Vice President of Apps and Games at Amazon. “We know that during the holidays finding that perfect gift can be hard. So, we’re making it easy for you to give the game-playing kids or app-savvy friends and family in your life just what they want – great apps and games to use on their phones and tablets. And remember, if you are a Kindle Fire owner, we automatically deposited 500 Coins in your account. So, if you haven’t used them yet, happy shopping.”

    It goes without saying, but the practice of gifting Amazon Coins won’t be restricted to just the holidays. You will get 20 percent off your Coins purchase, however, if you buy them before January 5. You can start giving Amazon Coins here.

    [Image: Amazon]

  • While It’s Not Using Drones Yet, Amazon’s Grocery Delivery Service Is Expanding

    While It’s Not Using Drones Yet, Amazon’s Grocery Delivery Service Is Expanding

    Update: AmazonFresh has now officially launched in San Francisco. You can browse here.

    It looks like AmazonFresh, Amazon’s grocery delivery service, is expanding into its third city – San Francisco.

    The service initially launched in Seattle a few years ago, but expanded into the Los Angeles area earlier this year. Soon, San Francisco residents will be able to order groceries online, and have them delivered to their home right from the Internet retail giant.

    And no, these groceries will not be delivered by drones. At least not yet.

    All Things D is reporting that a launch may come next week, and that AmazonFresh trucks have already been spotted in the area. As further confirmation, a job posting in October indicated a coming Bay Area launch for the service.

    AmazonFresh provides Amazon Prime members with free same-day and early morning delivery on orders over $35 of more than 500,000 Amazon items, including fresh grocery and local products (including from restaurants).

    Rival Google Shopping Express is already available in San Francisco:

    And its best-sellers are simple grocery items:

    Best-sellers

    We imagine that drones, robots and self-driving cars will eventually be doing a lot of the delivery for both services if everything goes according to plan.

    Images: Amazon, Google

  • MakerBot Now Offers 3D Printer Services At Its Retail Stores

    MakerBot Now Offers 3D Printer Services At Its Retail Stores

    MakerBot, one of the most successful 3D printing startups of all time, has three retail stores in the Northeast from which it peddles its wares. Not everybody can afford a Replicator 2, however, so MakerBot is now going to let you use the printers they have in store for a small fee.

    MakerBot announced this week that its three retail stores in New York, Boston and Greenwich, Conn. are now offering 3D printer services. In other words, you can bring in a flash drive with a 3D design on it and have it printed at the store for a small fee.

    MakerBot notes that all designs will be printed in the company’s PLA filament. Objects can be printed in a variety of colors, including white, black, transluscent red, warm gray or natural. There are more colors than that available, but they will cost extra.

    So, how much is this going to cost? While most places charge based on the amount of material used, MakerBot is pricing prints on the amount of time it takes to complete them. For a print that takes less than 30 minutes, it will cost $10. The price goes up exponentially from there with two hours costing $35 and six hours costing $100. If the print takes more than six hours, you’ll have to get a quote from MakerBot.

    It should be noted that you’re not required to stay in the store while your item is being printed. In fact, the store may not be able to get around to it when you first put your order in. Instead, MakerBot will give you an estimate of when your print will be finished and contact you when it’s done.

    If you aren’t anywhere near a MakerBot retail store, you can still get your 3D printing on at any of the numerous maker spaces that are popping up all over the world. For locations, check out Makerspace or 3D Hubs.

    [h/t: 3ders]
    [Image: Wikimedia Commons]

  • Is Amazon’s Drone Delivery a ‘Long-Term Fantasy’?

    Is Amazon’s Drone Delivery a ‘Long-Term Fantasy’?

    Although Amazon claims that one day unmanned delivery drones will be “as normal as mail trucks,” one high-profile CEO isn’t really buying into it yet. eBay CEO John Donahoe is skeptical, and thinks that delivery drones are a “long-term fantasy.”

    In an interview with Bloomberg TV, Donahoe was asked about Amazon’s recent announcement that they want to start delivering small packages to customers’ doors with unmanned delivery drones (as soon as possible, pending FAA approval). After a quick chuckle, Donahoe responded with a pretty clear dismissal.

    “Now, Amazon made a lot of headlines a few days ago talking about delivery by drone – they’re working on octocopters. Are you gonna show me an octocopter today? I was sorta hoping I’d see one,” said Bloomberg TV’s Emily Chang.

    “No, we’re not really focusing on long-term fantasies – we’re focusing on things that will change consumers’ experience today,” said Donahoe.

    “So you think it’s a long-term fantasy?” said Chang.

    “We’ll see.”

    But to Amazon, the tech is no fantasy.

    “It looks like science fiction, but it’s real. From a technology point of view, we’ll be ready to enter commercial operations as soon as the necessary regulations are in place,” says Amazon.

    Other companies would disagree with Donahoe – take UPS for instance. They’re testing drone delivery. You know who else is interested in drone delivery? Pizza chains.

    Donahoe isn’t scoffing at innovation or anything. In fact, he says that “moonshot” ventures and technical innovation are important.

    “I think bold innovation is important,” he says. “But our focus on our bold innovation is around commerce. So the notion of making a storefront window a touchscreen? I’d call that bold innovation. The notion of saying you can get a product delivered to you within an hour? I’d call that a bold innovation.”

    Donahoe is referring to a couple of recent eBay experiments – Shoppable Windows in New York City and eBay Now, which first began in San Francisco a little over a year ago and has since expanded.

    What do you think? Are Amazon’s drones a pipe dream? Are they the future of delivery?

    Image via Amazon

  • Fast Food and Retail Workers Strike Over Low Wages

    Fast Food and Retail Workers Strike Over Low Wages

    Americans employed in the fast food and retail industries have stated their disdain for their low wages several times in the past. However, this time, they’ve decided to take things a step further in an effort to get their point across. Thursday, thousands of workers from both sectors went on strike across the United States to signal the growing demand for income equality. Low wage workers in over 100 cities around the country went on organized protests. Major cities like including Los Angeles, New York City, Boston, Detroit, Oakland, and St. Louis were among the targeted demographics for protests.

    While yesterday’s strike wasn’t the first this year, it may be a foreboding that there will be many more to come in the near future, as the number of protesters continue to swell. With economic support from the likes of President Obama to wealthy, republican Silicon Valley conservative, Ron Unz, fast food and retail workers have garnered much more tenacity in voicing their demands.

    At around 6:15 a.m. yesterday morning, the first of 9 Chicago strikes began at a local McDonald’s restaurant. Workers employed  atMcDonald’s, Wendy’s, Walgreen’s, Sears, and Macy’s locations around the country were expected to walk off shift as well. A number of workers affected by the grief-stricken financial ailment of what most refer to as ‘poverty wages’ also weighed in with their sentiments and deficiencies as a result of being under-paid.

    According to the Guardian, Akilarose Thompson, 24, was a fast food worker on strike at the McDonald’s location in Chicago’s West Town area. The publication reports that Thompson has been employed at the location, working as a cashier at the counter and drive-thru window,  for almost a year. She currently makes an hourly rate of $8.28, which is actually only three cents above Illinois minimum wage.  Thompson also works at second job at a local Red Lobster restaurant. However, the wages for both jobs still don’t equate to an adequate income as she still has to rely on the assistance food banks of food banks to feed her 15-month-old daughter.

    “Sometimes two or three a month. Lots of times you can only go to the same one once a month, so I find different ones to go to. I have to in order to put food on the table,” explained Thompson. “It is so depressing. You put a smile on because you’re in customer service and you have to. But on the inside it really breaks you down when you’re always at work but you’re always broke.”

    “It’s the Christmas holiday, and I can’t buy presents. I actually had to choose between buying my baby a coat and starting her Christmas shopping. That’s my biggest thing right now – I’m afraid I won’t be able to provide her her first proper Christmas because I have so many checks coming.” Thompson was actually in school pursuing a career in natural medicine, but she was forced to place her aspirations on hold due to financial obligations which forced her to take on the second job.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons | Fast Food Workers Strike

  • Windows 7 May Have Left Retail, But It’s Still Alive In PCs

    Windows 7 May Have Left Retail, But It’s Still Alive In PCs

    Are you looking for a new Windows PC, but don’t want to get into Windows 8? Well, you’re out of luck if you were hoping to find a copy of Windows 7 through retail as Microsoft stopped selling individual copies of the operating system back in October. Now your only choice is to buy a PC that comes with the OS.

    ZDNet reminds us today that Windows 7 is still alive and well in PCs sold by OEMs and retailers. In other words, one of the only ways to get your hands on a copy of Windows 7 these days is to buy an entirely new PC that has the OS pre-installed.

    While Microsoft may have stopped selling Windows 7 discs at its own retail locations and in stores, you can still find copies of it at online specialty stores, like Newegg. If you’re in the market for a new PC, you might just want to go with that as copies of Windows 7 are still exorbitantly expensive.

    If you do manage to get your hands on Windows 7, you’ll be happy to know that it has years of official support from Microsoft left in it. According to the Windows lifecycle Web site, Microsoft will continue mainstream support of Windows 7 through January 13, 2015. After that, security fixes will still come to Windows 7 through extended support until January 14, 2020.

    Speaking of extended support, those who are still rockin’ Windows XP will want to upgrade soon as extended support for the decade old operating system is set to end on April 8, 2014. It’s already been pushed back a few times now, but it looks like Microsoft is finally ready to sever its ties with XP. You’ll want to upgrade to Windows 7 or Windows 8 before that happens.

    [Image: Christian Zibreg/YouTube]

  • Kindle Fire Tablets See Record Sales on Amazon

    Amazon’s line of Kindle Fire tablets saw record-breaking sales over the weekend, as the second-generation Kindle Fire HD, and the third-generation Kindle Fire HDX 7″, were the two top-selling items this holiday season for the world’s largest online retailer.

    A report released by Amazon detailing the success of Kindle Fire tablets from Black Friday through Cyber Monday says that they saw the best sales numbers for Kindle tablets of all time. The site offered extra savings this year, with a $50-off rebate on Kindle Fire tablets. The price for an HD model was just $119 and the HDZ 7″ was reduced to the lowest-ever price of $179.

    The announcement from Amazon came yesterday just after the 2013 IBM Holiday Benchmark report was released, indicating that Black Friday’s 2013 sales had dropped to their lowest since 2009.

    Many retailers offered extra savings this year, as well as longer store hours, and had record-breaking sales numbers, despite the information that sales were the lowest in five years.

    Amazon Kindle Vice-President, Neil Lindsay, said, “We’re excited that so many customers have chosen Kindle this holiday season—and it’s just getting started! Our new Kindle Fire tablets and Kindle e-readers are the best we’ve ever built, and we can’t wait for customers to unwrap their gifts this holiday.”

    Main image courtesy @amazon via Twitter.

  • Amazon Has Worked With Vendors To Eliminate 24.7 Million Pounds Of Packaging

    Amazon Has Worked With Vendors To Eliminate 24.7 Million Pounds Of Packaging

    Back in 2008, Amazon announced its “Frustration-Free Packaging” initiative, working with nineteen manufacturers, including Fischer-Price, Mattel, Microsoft and Transcend, to make product packaging easier to get into so the whole buying-and-receiving process is less annoying.

    The phrase “first world problems” comes to mind, but even still, who doesn’t want opening a new toy to be as easy as possible?

    The following year, Amazon launched the Frustration-Free Packaging certification program aimed at convincing more manufacturers to participate. Apparently it worked.

    The company announced this morning that it now offers 200,000 items that are delivered in “smaller, easy-to-open, recyclable cardboard boxes that reduce the overall amount of packaging used while still protecting what’s inside”.

    Others now participating include Unilever, Seventh Generation, Belkin, Victorinox Swiss Army and Logitech, to name a few.

    “We’ve all experienced the frustration of trying to remove a product from nearly impenetrable packaging like plastic clamshell cases and products bound by dozens of wire ties,” said CEO Jeff Bezos. “We’ve worked with both manufacturers and customers to design Frustration-Free Packaging that is easy-to-open, protects the product and reduces waste. We now have more than 2,000 manufacturers in the program.”

    As a result of the program, Amazon says it has eliminated waste to the tune of 58.9 million square feet of cardboard, 24.7 million pounds of packaging, and 14.5 million cubic feet of box size.

    Amazon is encouraging other vendors to participate, and consumers can shop for certified frustration-free products at this destination.

    Image: Amazon (YouTube)

  • Kindle Fire HDX Was Best Selling Item On Amazon Over The Black Friday Weekend

    For the past few years, the Kindle line of eReaders and tablets have been the best selling electronic devices on Amazon during Black Friday and Cyber Monday. If you thought that was going to change this year, think again.

    Amazon announced today that the Kindle family had its best holiday weekend ever thanks a number of sales across Black Friday and Cyber Monday. In fact, the retailer notes that more people bought Kindle eReaders and Kindle Fire tablets this past weekend than any other weekend on record, and that the Kindle Fire HDX and Kindle Fire HD were the best selling items on Amazon all weekend long.

    “We’re excited that so many customers have chosen Kindle this holiday season—and it’s just getting started!” said Neil Lindsay, Vice President, Amazon Kindle. “Our new Kindle Fire tablets and Kindle e-readers are the best we’ve ever built, and we can’t wait for customers to unwrap their gifts this holiday.”

    If you missed out on the Kindle holiday weekend rush, you will probably have more chances to score one on the cheap before Christmas. Amazon is known for its absurd holiday sales, and the retailer will undoubtedly put its Kindle Fire devices on sale again before Christmas. If not, you can always see if retailers like Best Buy, Radio Shack or Staples will put Kindle Fire devices on sale.

    It will be interesting to see just how well Barnes & Noble Nook did over the holiday weekend as the retailer dropped the prices of its Nook Simple Touch and Nook HD to $39 and $79 respectively. While the low prices were certainly attractive, was it enough to give a boost to the bookseller’s ailing consumer electronics business? We won’t know for sure until the company’s next quarterly report, or if they had a good enough holiday weekend to gloat like Amazon has.

    [Image: Amazon]

  • PayPal Opens Online Store For Digital Gift Cards

    PayPal Opens Online Store For Digital Gift Cards

    PayPal announced the launch of its new Digital Gifts store, which is a destination where people can purchase digital gift cards from a variety of merchants.

    For now, there are only iTunes gift cards from Apple, but PayPal says it will be adding more soon.

    PayPal Digital Store

    “Gift cards are the most popular presents this holiday season and generally one of the most sought after gifts for anyone in your life,” says Patrick Gauthier, Head of Emerging Retail Services at PayPal. “Last year, more than half of the gift cards received by US consumers were purchased for the Holidays, according to Blackhawk Network.”

    “Buying a digital gift from PayPal is as easy as one-two-three: select a gift and denomination, enter your PayPal ID and Password, send the gift to a loved one or redeem it on the spot,” explains Gauthier. “Simple, convenient and secure. To help open the digital doors we have just started offering iTunes codes. This year our clients can get more music, more apps, more fun, with a few clicks on their smart phones.”

    PayPal announced last week that it now accepts prepaid gift cards, and that these can be used anywhere that accepts PayPal. The company also recently added support for gift cards to PayPal Wallet.

    Image: PayPal

  • Headphones For Holiday Gifts, Which Ones Are the Best?

    Its no surprise that headphones are considered one of the hottest holiday gift items of the year. According to the ‘Black Friday’ sales records, headphone purchases were through the roof. With the vast number of brands on the market, headphones are no longer just for easy listening. They’ve definitely become a fashion statement. So, in addition to sound quality, buyers are looking for a certain visual appeal to compliment the listening experience.

    While headphones have always been vastly popular, nowadays that popularity depends solely on the brand. In most cases, Beats by Dre headphones are the first that come to mind. However, they aren’t the only ones listeners are running to grab during the holiday season.

    According to Forbes, the going rate for headphones can range from ‘a few bucks’ to well over $2K. However, there are a couple ways buyers can make a great purchase decision without spending ‘an arm and a leg.’  There are actually a few brands that top the list where quality and affordability are concerned. So, here’s the top three:

    Skull Candy Crushers:

    Style, appearance, quality, and affordability are all factors in the attraction to the Skull Candy Crushers. The Crushers feature a built-in amplifier, microphone,  bass enhancing control, and a smart circuit power switch. When the headphones are unplugged from the playback source, the headphones will shut off in approximately 10 seconds. Another drawing card is the overall look, durability and flexibility. The Crushers can be folded, for storage without the possibility of being broken. They come in black, red, and white. The going rate for the Crushers is only $99.99.

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    Beats by Dre Studio Headphones:

    When it comes to fashion, Beats by Dre headphones come in a variety of colors and styles to meet the needs of consumers. They’re also heavily favored in the music world by artists, athletes, and public figures. Beats headphones come in seven different styles: Wireless, Pro, Mixr, Solo, Studio Wireless, Studio, and Executive. Unlike Skull Candy and SOUL headphones, one particular style may not be all- purpose. For example, the Solo and Studio Wireless headphones are more appropriate for personal usage, while the Pro and Executive styles are more beneficial for sound engineering and music production. But nevertheless, all styles bare the same impeccable adaptive noise cancelling capability, along with premium bass boost, sound clarity and balance. Another attractive factor is that all styles coming in an array of colors. From lime green, orange and hot pink, to the ever-popular red, black and grey, Beats aim to please consumers. The only drawback for some consumers may be the price. Beats by Dre headphones range from $199.99 up to $449.99.

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    SOUL by Ludacris (SL150CB Edition)

    While they may not receive as much notoriety as the Beats by Dre and Skull Candy brands, don’t rule out the SOUL headphones when making your decision. SOUL headphones are known for ‘professional high definition’ sound, high-precision audio balance and superb bass. The headphones are also made for all types of usage. So, regardless of whether they’re for personal or professional use, the SOUL headphones will get the job done. The only drawback may be the sound clarity. Depending on the playback device, the audio balance may not be as proficient. The SL150CBs come in blue, black and white for a retail price of $149.00

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    Image(s) via Twitter | Beats by Dre    Twitter | Skull Candy  (2)   Twitter | SOUL Electronics