EBay takes aim at Amazon with new seller fees

Amazon.com faces a new challenge from Internet rival eBay for the hearts and minds of online merchants.
EBay said Tuesday it’s overhauling its seller fees to make them less expensive and easier to understand. Starting next month, eBay will do away with its complex, tiered pricing and introduce flat-rate fees based on the types of products sold. EBay also said it will stop charging listing fees for most sellers.

The move comes as sellers on Amazon’s marketplace criticize the world’s largest Internet retailer for raising fees and holding up payments. Amazon sellers filed a class-action lawsuit Friday in U.S. District Court in Seattle, accusing the company of holding their money for more than 90 days in violation of its own terms.

Source: The Seattle Times

EA: Games provides must adapt for connected TV rewards

Games providers face a number of challenges in addressing the connected TV market but there are huge opportunities if they approach the market in the rights way, according to Richard Hilleman, chief creative officer at games provider Electronic Arts (EA).

The key is for games providers to respect the time and money available to this consumer segment, and to develop games features that appeal to the market, said Hilleman, giving the opening keynote at the TV Connect event in London. He said EA will build games that have cross-platform appeal, with the ability for devices such as tablets and TVs to interact.

Games can be delivered to connected TVs via apps, browsers and streaming. Streaming delivery is currently the primary route to market for connected TV games, said Hilleman. He said the use of HTML5 would also help transform the gaming experience on TVs. However, gaming companies would have to make the software stack on connected TVs work to its maximum capability to deliver a compelling experience.

Source: Digital TV, March 19, 2013

Forrester says U.S. Online Retail Sales To Rise To $370bn By 2017 (10% CAGR) As Ecommerce Motors On With Help From Tablets & Phones

• Forrester is projecting online retail sales will reach $370 billion by 2017, up from $231 billion in 2013 — a 10% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) over the next five years.
• In the U.S. Forrester notes that online retail will continue to outpace the growth of physical retail stores — something the category has done since its inception, so no change there.
• The analyst notes two “notable changes” have helped prop up ecommerce growth in recent years: firstly the rise of smartphones and tablets, which it says are boosting the amount of time consumers spend online and generating more buying opportunities.
• Forrester notes that traditional retailers have invested heavily in their web divisions — including by offering hybrid online/offline capabilities such as in-store pickup for online purchases — which it says is also helping to grow ecommerce.

 

Open Data and the Move to a Smart Government Transformation

The U.S. CTO Todd Park and CIO Steven VanRoekel announced a new initiative within the government to open up data that was previously locked up in government documents and arcane backend systems. This will allow developers to create new applications and services based on that data and decrease inefficiency in government.

The digital road map brings in the following five ideas:

• Open Data as the new default
• Anywhere, anytime on any device
• Everything should be an API
• Make government data social
• Change the meaning of social participation

The major five projects announced as part of the initiative include launch of a portal called MyGov and 20% Campaign, introduction of RFP-EZ program, Blue Button app development program, and Open data for access from new industries, including energy, education, non-profits, and safety.

Analysis –

The new digital strategy released on 5/23/2012 will drive a more efficient and coordinated delivery of federal services on mobile devices. In reality this would mean expansion in public access to government data, from healthcare and education to energy and public safety, which the federal administration hopes will boost jobs along the way by encouraging innovation. There will also be projects that are aimed at making information readable in digital formats so they can be incorporated into other information systems and services. The updated plan the federal agencies have also include trying to identify Big Data policies and programs related to large collections of data and analytics to extract more value from the data. The challenges in large data management and analytics will force government organizations to explore investments in Big Data technologies. The real challenges as well as opportunity for government and IT service providers are to leverage the Big Data technology and approaches through appropriate plans to transition from an open to a smart government transformation.

Data Center Power Usage Reducing – 2010

A new study by Jonathan G. Koomey, Ph.D. found that data center power consumption increased by 36 percent from 2005 to 2010, a much smaller increase than the 100 percent gain projected in an influential study Koomey prepared in 2007.

Reasons for moderating pace of data center energy use cited are:

• Lower than Expected Adoption of Servers
• Lower Infrastructure Spending due to Economic Slowdown
• Increased Use of Virtualization

Full report can be accessed though this link: Koomey – Data Center Electricity Use 2005 to 2010

iCloud.com Changes to CloudMe.com

iCloud.com an online computer, like an operating system running in the cloud with an AJAX-based remote web desktop. The service is owned and developed by Xcerion, a Swedish company. The cloud computing service was launched in public beta in April 2009 and a premium version with 100 GB storage was launched in December 2009. The cloud service was provided through the SaaS model and offered a free version of 3 GB storage and a premium version without advertisements for 100 GB storage.

Apple Inc. who have been aiming for a cloud-based music service have entered into a definitive agreement with iCloud.com to acquire the lucrative domain name. Xcerion who previously owned the domain have now transferred the domain to Apple for approximately $4.5 million. The company has since changed their service name to CloudMe.com.

CloudMe features a cloud-based storage with a desktop-like remote management interface. The services of CloudMe include Desktop, file sharing, Cloud Drive, CloudMe Social community, and open server API for developers. Further, the services also includes several web-based applications, including an integrated office suite, media player, photo editor, calendar software, web mail, instant messenger and IDE. Also, users can also add new applications through a feature known as the “Marketplace”.

Yahoo! to Acquire 5to1: Aims to Extend Advertising Leadership

Yahoo Inc. has agreed to buy online advertiser 5to1 Holding Corp. for $28 million in cash. The deal is aimed at expanding the Internet giant’s inventory of premium ads and publisher partnerships. 5to1 is an online advertising alliance consisting of an exclusive group of major media publishers.

The 5to1 capability is built on a proprietary publisher controlled platform, offering top brand advertisers premium inventory at mass scale. The acquisition of 5to1 will enable Yahoo to build upon its publisher partnerships and expand its premium inventory. 5to1 Holding Corp. has a market cap of $36 million.

Microsoft Acquires Skype for $8.5 Billion

Microsoft has acquired Skype for $8.5 Billion in a all cash deal as confirmed by the Wall Street Journal. With Facebook and Google aggressively bidding for acquiring Skype, the market was expecting a buy out from either of these two companies. Microsoft was a late entrant into the market but has finally walked away with the prize. For Microsoft, this will be a major boost for its voice and video communication capabilities. Also, the acquisition will  enable the company to leverage its enterprise collaboration market which it is loosing to companies like Google and Cisco. Further, this deal will enable Microsoft to utilize the capabilities on its Windows Phone 7 (Mobile OS) which it needs for competing with major vendors like Apple and Google as well as to gain more share in the emerging mobile communication market.

Will Google Acquire Twitter?

There is recent buzz that Google is trying to acquire Twitter to become more Social!!!

But at the same time there are lots of questions stills unanswered.
1. What will be the new service called?
2. How much will Google pay for Twitter?
3. Will it really make Google more social?
4. Whether it will be linked to an existing product of Google?

Lets wait and watch!!!

NB: This news is purely based on personal observations and not based on any direct information from Google or Twitter.