Amazon

Amazon posts strong quarter, but margin woes emerge

Amazon's third quarter topped projections and its fourth quarter revenue outlook is better than expected. The company's fourth quarter operating profits, however, look light.

The company reported net income of $231 million, or 51 cents a share, on revenue of $7.56 billion, up from $5.45 billion a year ago (statement). Wall Street was expecting earnings of 48 cents a share on revenue of $7.36 billion.

Meanwhile, the company also delivered a healthy fourth quarter outlook. Amazon projected revenue of $12 billion to $13.3 billion. That's a wide range, but Wall Street was expecting … Read more

VC firm Kleiner Perkins launches social-app fund

Facebook, Amazon, and Silicon Valley bank Allen & Co. are among the high-profile investors in sFund, a $250 million social-application fund launched by venture capital stalwarts Kleiner Perkins Caulfield & Byers today. Kleiner Perkins partner John Doerr spearheaded the announcement, which was held at Facebook's headquarters in Palo Alto, Calif.

"We're in a third wave of incredible and disruptive innovation," Doerr said of the current climate of digital development, which he sees following in the footsteps of the initial rise of PCs and then the Internet and browser revolution in the 1990s. These new entrepreneurs are &… Read more

Digital Dead Sea Scrolls

Links from Wednesday's episode of Loaded:

HP announces the Palm Pre 2 and a new operating system WebOS 2.0

Xbox.com gets a makeover with some new features

Microsoft launches Office 365

Target lets you print your Facebook photos at the store

Barnes and Noble may be getting a new Nook ready to launch

Pandigital launches a new eReader called the Novel

Google is tasked with digitizing the Dead Sea Scrolls

And don't miss CNET's live blogging of the Apple conference today where we believe new MacBooks are on the way! If you do miss it, … Read more

Buzz Out Loud 1328: Molly predicts new PowerBooks! (podcast)

It's a special episode of Buzzed Out Loud, where Darren Kitchen is high on pain meds and refusing to get a car and we're high on good news--from Chilean mine rescues to Google do-gooding. Also, Digg is hoping that the Coke Classic approach will help stop the bleeding. --Molly

Pocket Amazon

If you're looking for one-stop shopping on your iPhone, Amazon's app is about as representative of a Web site as one can find in a mobile app. You'll need a strong data or Wi-Fi connection to troll Amazon's vast database of merchandise, but if you do, you'll be be able to easily find anything you need that the retail giant can sell. Deals, recommendations, and other tools you find on the online site have also made it into this app, and you can log in to see your wish lists and shopping cart. Moreover, you … Read more

Amazon's iPhone bar code scanner takes impulse buying to a new level

As if it weren't already a breeze to spend money on Amazon, the retail giant's updated Amazon for iPhone app just made it even easier to instantly shell out for wares.

The latest version of Amazon Mobile, 1.2.8, contains a bar code scanner in its search screen. As with bar code scanners in other mobile apps, Amazon Mobile uses your iPhone's camera to take in a product's zebra-striped bar code. Amazon's servers then find a match, and after you select the item, you can sign in to your account to purchase the product … Read more

Buzz Out Loud 1327: Have a little Gap-bone (podcast)

On today's show, all the ways Google is going to take over the world (even though some of them might be good), and Amazon is bringing back the short story, the essay, and the self-published manifesto. I'm working on mine as we speak. Plus, lawyers get rich, and why on earth would people get excited about a Gap logo, and even worse, why would Gap cave? --Molly

Amazon app market

Links from Friday's episode of Loaded: Amazon plans to open app store for android Yahoo revamps search Google Latitude website Wolfram Alpha on Android Adobe AIR for Android

Amazon launching mini e-book section: Kindle Singles

In an interesting move, Amazon today announced that it will launch a category in the Kindle Store called Kindle Singles that features works longer than a typical magazine article or "as much as a few chapters of a typical book."

The company says this shorter art form will be offered at lower prices than full-length books.

"In many cases, 10,000 to 30,000 words (roughly 30 to 90 pages) might be the perfect, natural length to lay out a single killer idea, well researched, well argued and well illustrated--whether it's a business lesson, a political … Read more

Staples to sell Kindle starting Sunday

Staples will start selling the Amazon Kindle at its stores starting this Sunday, the office supplies company announced today.

Staples said that its stores will have the Kindle and Kindle 3G for $139 and $189, respectively. The company will be selling the 9.7-inch Kindle DX for $379 starting in mid-November. In addition, Staples will be selling a variety of Kindle accessories, but it didn't say exactly what would be available.

Staples is joining a growing number of brick-and-mortar retailers selling Amazon's Kindle, including Best Buy and Target.

Amazon's e-reader continues to enjoy success. The Kindle is … Read more