Apple ranked in the top five electronics retailers in all of 2009, with both its brick-and-mortar retail stores and commercial Web site among the top revenue earners.
Amazon is being forced to rethink many of the design decisions of its Kindle e-book reader after the introduction of Apple's iPad.
Amazon and publisher Macmillan finalized their agreement for higher-priced e-books over the weekend. The deal is expected to serve as a template for other publishers, and the new prices should take effect in March, when Apple's iPad goes on sale.
Joining the other publishers who, after striking content deals for Apple's iPad, have looked to increase standard e-book prices beyond $9.99 will be Hachette Book Group, the company announced this week.
Amazon has purchased touch-screen startup Touchco, with plans to incorporate it into the Kindle's hardware division.
Days after Macmillan essentially forced Amazon to accept higher prices for its Kindle e-book titles, Rupert Murdoch, chairman of News Corp., said his publishing company HarperCollins is also in talks to increase titles beyond $9.99.
Days after Apple CEO Steve Jobs introduced the iPad and implied e-book prices would go up, Amazon gave in to a standoff with book publisher Macmillan, raising prices to between $12.99 and $14.99.
Amazon stopped selling print and e-books from publisher Macmillan this weekend over a price dispute, just days after Apple introduced the iPad and its own iBookstore for e-books.
After Apple unveiled its iPad and iBookstore, Amazon announced its fourth quarter earnings this week, with sales increasing 42 percent and Kindle e-book sales accounting for more than a third of total book sales.
Apple co-founder Steve Jobs revealed after Wednesday's iPad unveiling that the device will offer "the same" prices on e-books as Amazon's Kindle, the Pages app can export documents in Microsoft Word format, and it will offer nearly 6 days of continuous music playback.
Amazon announced Wednesday that its share of revenue from some content sold for its Kindle e-reader will be more akin to Apple's iPhone App Store business model, with a 70-30 split in favor of the content provider.
In a recent survey of customer experience, Apple ranked above its main competitors in the personal computing space, but consumers found iTunes to be behind rivals Barnes & Noble and Amazon.
Hearst Corp. plans to launch a service sometime in 2010 to sell digital subscriptions of magazines and newspapers intended to be viewed on e-readers, cell phones, and tablets.
Though it didn't crack the top 20 overall retail Web sites, Apple's online store saw a massive 71 percent spike in Internet traffic for Cyber Monday, placing it well above the competition.
Amazon Kindle customers will have the ability to read their content on the Mac when the official application is launched in the future; and Google Chrome inches closer to release with its developer preview.
New software recently released on Apple's App Store could help iPhone users legally obtain doctor-prescribed marijuana, read electronic copies of books on the go, or easily record telephone conversations.
Responding to popular request, Amazon on Monday announced a version of its Kindle electronic book store formatted specifically for Apple's multi-touch devices and designed to supplement the recently released Kindle for iPhone application.
Amazon on Tuesday introduced the Kindle DX, a new multi-purpose version of its digital eBook reader that, thanks to a 2.5 times larger screen, is garnering the support of several universities, newspapers and textbook publishers who've announce pilot programs around the device.
Amazon.com is expected to introduce later this week a version of its Kindle digital eBook reader with a larger display screen fitted for presentation of newspapers, magazines and textbooks in a more traditional format, according to reports.
Online mega-retailer Amazon.com has purchased the development firm behind the most popular eBook reader application for Apple's iPhone in a bid to extend its reach of the digital book market beyond its Kindle device.
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Sam Oliver
Prince McLean
Slash Lane
Brian Garner
Neil Hughes
Katie Marsal
