FEATURED VIDEO
Sponsored By:
SLIDE SHOWS
As if they needed more stress, organizations are facing evolving and increasingly stringent compliance regulations from the Payment Card Industry, as well as Sarbanes-Oxley, HIPAA and others. Here are a few security compliance products that can make the audit process less excruciating.
Here are 10 of the distributor's hottest new offerings winning over solution providers.
New smartphones from Sony, Motorola and the first-ever Twitter-only mobile device -- the TwitterPeek -- headline a busy week for handset makers as the holiday shopping season heats up.
INSIDE CHANNELWEB

Amazon's Kindle A Textbook Case?


By Michele Masterson, ChannelWeb

2:29 PM EDT Tue. Aug. 26, 2008
Amazon is dipping its toes into the college textbook market, and is set to release a new version of its electronic book reader targeting the higher education crowd, according to reports. Separately, Amazon confirmed it acquired the social networking book site Shelfari.

Amazon is working on a new version of the Kindle, and sees a big opportunity to market its e-book reader to college students," reported The Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Amazon did not respond to calls seeking comment. The newspaper said its information is based on an e-mail from McAdams Wright Ragen equity research analyst Tim Bueneman, who previously met with Amazon management.

"There are already several new, improved versions of the Kindle in the works," Bueneman told The Seattle PI. "But Amazon has no plans, however, for an MP3 music audio version. We guess the new version will have improved interface operating controls. This has been an issue with some buyers. "

Amazon also told Bueneman and other analysts that speculation about the number of Kindle units sold were "extremely high and were not run by the company," The Seattle PI said.

Earlier this month TechCrunch reported that "240,000 Kindles have been shipped since November, according to a source close to Amazon with direct knowledge of the numbers."

Amazon does not break out separate retail numbers for Kindle units. Kindle may have become more attractive since May when it s price tag was lowered to $359 from $399.

In May, Citigroup equity analyst Mark Mahaney estimated that Amazon could sell $750 million in Kindles by 2010, said TechCrunch. Additionally, Scott Devitt, a Stifel, Nicolaus & Co., equity analyst estimated that Kindle is a $1 billion business for Amazon.

Separately, Amazon announced that it had acquired Seattle-based Shelfari, a two-year old social media site about books. Amazon made an investment in the company last year. The site lets users build virtual bookshelves and interact with other readers, acting as a kind of online book club. Shelfari was founded by three technology veterans from RealNetworks: Josh Hug; Kevin Beukelman; and Mark Williamson.

Last year, Shelfari released a new application that allows Facebook users to view their books on a virtual bookshelf, import books already added on Shelfari.com, rate and review their books and share ratings and reviews automatically through Facebook's personal newsfeeds.

 
Channelweb : Promofinder
FEATURED PROMOTIONS
CYA - Cover Your Apps
Cover your customers' apps and earn an additional 20% instantly when selling ARCserve® Backup, XOsoft™ and ERwin® products wi...
More Deals, More Dollars
Make more money with lower minimum deal registration thresholds for ARCserve Backup and XOsoft product deals.
RELATED BLOG >>
Photo
Canonical is bringing Linux to the mass market by way of its partnerships with major OEMs and via word of mouth within the Ubuntu Server user community.
ADVERTISEMENT




CHANNEL SERVICES >>

techcareers logo Search Jobs:


  

Post Resume|Employers

Recent Post:


Network Engineer
Lawrence Berkeley National Lab seeking Network Engineer in Berkeley, CA
spacer