Amazon cedes to Macmillan with Apple looming
Sunday, January 31st, 2010
Amazon in an unusual weekend update revealed that it has accepted Macmillian's pricing terms for e-books on the Kindle store. The online retailer said it would involuntarily agree to Macmillan's price increase requests and accept the publisher's agency model, which will raise the prices of popular titles from Amazon's previously insisted-upon $10 to a typical $13 or $15. Amazon in its defense argued that it was strongarmed by its dependence on publishers and made the unusual claim that Macmillan had a "monopoly" on its own books, letting it dictate the terms of how...
Apple tonight took advantage of the Grammy Awards to surprise the audience with an appearance by an iPad (viewable below). Taking action on Stephen Colbert's mock demand for an iPad on his show, Apple gave the host an iPad for his presentation of the "Song of the Year" award. He teased that even Jay-Z didn't get the device in his gift basket and asked his daughter Madeleine if she thought it made him "cool."...
More details have emerged from the post-iPad Apple town hall meeting hosted by Steve Jobs. In addition to setting up Android as a main rival, Jobs promised "aggressive updates" to the iPhone that would beat Android. He also teased that the next iPhone would be an "A+" update....