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E-Commerce Minute: Tuesday -- March 20, 2012
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The E-Commerce Times -- E-Business Means Business
http://www.ecommercetimes.com
Part of the ECT News Network
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Headline Scan
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1. Amazon Hires Robots to Ship Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger
2. Mass Effect 3 Gamers Demand Satisfaction
3. Google's Great New Adventure
4. Federal Telework Initiative Not Quite There Yet
5. iPhone Gamble May Send Sprint Into Financial Shock
6. Newspapers May Find Salvation in Mobile Apps
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Podcast
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The Software Distribution Generation Gap (33:03 minutes)
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"Software vendors are so focused on building the next great application
and on features and functions in that application that they've lost
sight of what really matters, which is making sure that the application
that you build gets used, gets in the hands of the users, and that they
get their work done," said Embarcadero CEO Wayne Williams.
http://www.ectnews.com/shared/audio/ect-gardner-2012-03-19.mp3
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Story Highlights
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1. Amazon Hires Robots to Ship Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger
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Amazon has moved to acquire Kiva Systems, a maker of robotic equipment
that services warehouses. The purchase will be Amazon's biggest since it
bought Zappos.com in 2009. Amazon agreed to pay $775 million for Kiva,
which creates equipment, handling technology and software that helps
large-scale vendors control inventory and orders.
See the Full Story:
http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/74676.html
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2. Mass Effect 3 Gamers Demand Satisfaction
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Normally, the resolution of a video game's story line -- even one as
popular as "Mass Effect 3" -- would not be news outside the gaming
sector. In this case, however, some fans are so disgruntled that they've
lodged a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission alleging that
Electronic Arts and BioWare engaged in false advertising.
See the Full Story:
http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/74668.html
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3. Google's Great New Adventure
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Today we would say that the first implementation of PageRank was a form
of crowdsourcing. The crowd was early webmasters, and they helped
determine the relevancy of Web pages by linking to them. It didn't take
long for "search engine specialists" to figure out how to game the
system for fun and profit. For more than a decade, these self-styled SEO
specialists have been manipulating search engine results with all sorts
of tactics.
See the Full Story:
http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/74672.html
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4. Federal Telework Initiative Not Quite There Yet
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The notion that the U.S. government workforce is a huge, deskbound
bureaucracy is the typical stereotype, but that vision is only part
true. The federal workforce is huge, and it may be well be bureaucratic
-- but federal workers are not always deskbound. Many federal jobs
require mobility. Agricultural and industrial inspectors, Border Patrol
agents, tax and financial examiners come to mind.
See the Full Story:
http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/74673.html
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5. iPhone Gamble May Send Sprint Into Financial Shock
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Sanford C. Bernstein has downgraded Sprint Nextel to underperform from
market perform, citing concerns it won't sell enough iPhones to pay for
its "punishing" commitment to Apple. Worse, from Sprint's perspective,
is that there's a strong chance Sprint may have to declare bankruptcy at
some point, Bernstein analyst Craig Moffett said in a research note.
See the Full Story:
http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/74671.html
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6. Newspapers May Find Salvation in Mobile Apps
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Despite 17 percent growth in monthly unique users at the top news sites
in 2011, revenue remained an issue, according to a new report from the
Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism, which cites
data from Nielsen Online. Online advertising grew by 23 percent in 2011,
but just five big tech companies now account for about half of all
display ad revenue, notes Pew in "The State of the News Media 2012."
See the Full Story:
http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/74669.html
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About the E-Commerce Times
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The E-Commerce Times is a free online publication that provides
daily news, special reports and success stories in addition to an
e-commerce products and services guide. The publication's tagline
is "E-Business Means Business," and its content includes
information on a wide variety of e-business topics, such as data
storage, network security, databases, B2B and B2C e-commerce, the IT
job market and the maneuvers of high-tech businesses.
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