Tag archive: ebay

Some people enjoy speculating about celebrity romances, some people enjoy speculating about corporate mergers. Every once in a while, we sit down with a beer and talk about cool mergers that will never happen, but might be really interesting to watch. This week I figured I’d share some of the more interesting ones with you. Disney + Apple It wouldn’t matter which one bought the other, but this could be a really cool combination. In many ways,… Read More

As metioned by Kotaku earlier today, Microsoft is reported to be testing a software or hardware method on the next version of the Xbox hardware designed to halt the ability to play used games. While this report doesn't indicate that this feature will definitely be included in the next version, the appeal to developers and publishers is likely incredibly high. This type of solution would make it vastly more difficult for retailers like… Read More

Announced during a press event in San Francisco earlier today, Facebook has pushed out support for 60 new applications that will allow friends of users to join in on the activity through Facebook. For instance, a Facebook user could be using Foodily to cook a recipe for lemon chicken. If a friend sees that activity within the feed, they can join and try cooking the same recipe. Another example mentioned at the press event would entail a… Read More

Those of you that missed out on HP's firesale—get ready. December 11 marks the beginning of another round of $99 HP TouchPad tablets for sale, as long as you don't mind refurbished models. According to an internal memo snagged by TechCrunch, HP will be making 16GB and 32GB Touchpads available on the Hewlett-Packard eBay store at $99 and $150 respectively. Get your PayPal accounts primed, the tablets will be available for purchase at… Read More

Earlier this week, both Amazon and eBay had a public debate in Washington in front of the House Judiciary Committee about the creation of a standard Internet sales tax that could be adopted by any state seeking increased tax revenue according to CNNMoney. Recently on the opposite side of the argument, Amazon is currently arguing in favor of a standardized tax in order to simplify the tax collection process. It's likely that Amazon wants… Read More

The holiday shopping season has begun, and now that Black Friday has come and gone, Cyber Monday is in full swing. We’ve already gotten the full feedback on this weekend’s numbers (which revealed most people decided to shop from the couch), but here’s an early peek at how online retailers’ favorite day of the year is shaping up. According to an IBM Benchmark report, e-sales are up 20-percent for this same time period from Cyber Monday 2010. Most… Read More

Shopping on eBay is about to get more personal: the online auction and retail giant announced today that it has purchased Hunch, a “recommendation engine,” which delivers customized results based on a series of questions it asks of the user.  According to Michael Arrington, who broke the story early this morning, eBay paid around $80 million for Hunch, which first launched in 2009. According to eBay's press release, the… Read More

Nine giants of the Internet — Google, eBAy, AOL, Facebook, Yahoo, Zynga, LinkedIn, Mozilla and Twitter — placed a full-page ad in The New York Times as part of their efforts to fight back against the “Stop Online Piracy Act” (SOPA) and the “PROTECT IP Act.” Update: A Google spokesperson has just informed us that, in addition to The New York Times, this ad ran in the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, and the… Read More

Recounted in full detail at the Bygone Bureau blog, Eric Smith found himself devastated after his long-time girlfriend confessed to cheating and broke up with him. At the time, Smith was prepared to propose to his now ex-girlfriend and had even obtained her perfect image of an engagement ring. Specific to her description of the perfect ring, the diamond was shaded canary yellow and set on a white gold band. After the breakup, the engagement… Read More

In an attempt to make it easier to purchase all the gifts customers want to buy this holiday season, online auction giant eBay has built in the ability to purchase new items directly from local retailers, reports Daniel Terdiman at CNet. The feature is not available on eBay.com, however, nor through the eBay mobile app, but through the eBay-owed bar code QR code scanner app, RedLaser. RedLaser has long allowed users to view local retailers that… Read More

Yesterday in an eBay earnings call, CEO John Donahoe said that PayPal will make its way in-store for the holiday shopping season. While details haven’t been released yet, it appears that the integration into brick-and-mortar retailers will include location-based deals, more flexible transactions, and improved inventory access. Earlier this month, PayPal introduced a pop-up shop in New York, self-titled PayPal’s Shopping Showcase. “Image a… Read More

It's a rare occasion, but eBay has made the news. The online commerce site, one of the Web's oldest and most stable, is holding its X.commerce conference in San Francisco Oct 12-14. The company is set to announce a new PayPal service called “PayPal Access” and possibly a partnership with Facebook at the conference, Reuters and Bloomberg report.  PayPal Access From what we understand, PayPal Access will turn the PayPal… Read More

PROTECT-IP (Preventing Real Online Threats to Economic Creativity and Theft of Intellectual Property) supporters were on Capitol Hill yesterday discussing web sites trafficking in pirated and counterfeited products. One proponent of PROTECT-IP at the discussion was David Tognotti, General Counsel of Monster Cable. Tognotti indicated that “rogue Web sites” stole hundreds of millions in sales through selling counterfeit goods… Read More

Yesterday was the best day to sell your iPhone in hopes of upgrading to the next-gen model, what we now know as the iPhone 4S. But if you were cautious (and rightly so) about selling your current model when the next generation remained up in the air, you still have options. And surprisingly, you might be able to cash in for nearly as much — or in some cases more. Cash-for-gadgets outfit Gazelle tells us that today has been the biggest… Read More

The United States Postal Service is a perfect example of technology eradicating human jobs. The organization’s current state brings to mind age-old conspiracy theories about robots replacing grocery clerks, bus boys, tailors, and of course, postmen. And now it looks like that prophecy might be coming true: The USPS recently announced that email has been its death sentence. “Mail volume declined by more than 43 billion pieces in the past five… Read More