E-commerce

Car-hire app startup Uber is expanding service to the well-heeled Hamptons this week ahead of the Independence Day holiday, a little more than two months after New York gave it the green light as the first taxi-hailing app to operate in city.

And to celebrate, Uber would be pleased to offer a $3,000 helicopter lift to the tony stretch of Long Island.

Starting Wednesday and running through Labor Day weekend, New Yorkers can summon a private driver to the Hamptons using the startup's iPhone or Android apps, or its mobile site at m.uber.com. One-way flat rates … Read more

Summer cleaning starts today at Yahoo which revealed a dozen projects that are shutting down. In a note announcing the list, Jay Rossiter, the vice president in charge of platforms, said the moves will free Yahoo to sharpen its focus and thus "continue to focus on creating beautiful products that are essential to you every day." (Did you know Alta Vista was still kicking around? Well, no longer.)

From Rossiter's memo:

Yahoo! Axis (June 28, 2013)

If you installed the browser plug-in, it will no longer work. If you downloaded the app, it will continue to work, … Read more

Amazon is developing a virtual art gallery that could give patrons an opportunity to buy expensive works of art online starting this summer, according to media reports.

The Art Newspaper reported Thursday that Amazon has reached out to "at least 125 galleries" with the goal of offering more than 1,000 art objects on its site. So far, according to one unnamed dealer, Amazon has lined up 109 galleries.

An Amazon spokesman declined comment, saying "We have not made any announcements about art."

Last month, another art Web site, GalleristNY, reported that Amazon has reached out … Read more

Amazon now has a new bookstore for both readers and writers of fan fiction.

The Kindle Worlds Store opened its virtual doors on Thursday with more than 50 commissioned, original stories based on familiar series such as "The Vampire Diaries," "Gossip Girl," and "Pretty Little Liars." Kindle Worlds stories typically cost between 99 cents and $3.99 and will be exclusive to Kindle devices and apps.

The goal of Kindle Worlds is to reward both writers and the original rights holders for new fiction based on existing stories and characters.

Kindle World's Self-Service … Read more

Young entrepreneur Lucas Duplan said his startup, Clinkle, has figured out a way for people to pay for things in a physical store without using cash or credit card. And, it doesn't require a mobile card reader, the hardware popularized by payments company Square.

"No one has really cracked the nut," Duplan said, adding that none of the apps currently available can really help people leave their physical wallets behind. He leaves the door open for other benefits, like how to use consumer's shopping habit data to create other features.

"Our product is fundamentally a … Read more

Apple has made good on its promise to bring its official online store to Russia.

The online marketplace became available recently, allowing Russian consumers to buy Apple's Macs, iPhones, iPads, and accessories. Apple offers free shipping and returns and asks for payment by cash on delivery.

For months, Apple has been rumored to be working on bringing its store to Russia. The company's devices have been floating around the country's gray market for years, with some devices, like the iPhone 5, fetching as much as $3,700.

Apple's first step toward an official presence was the … Read more

Square, the mobile payments startup best known for its credit card readers, is branching into e-commerce to take on the likes of eBay and Amazon.

The company on Tuesday launched Square Market, an online marketplace that allows merchants to sell their wares online without the expense of building and maintaining their own sites.

"Creating an online marketplace is our next step in making commerce easy for everyone," Ajit Varma, Square's director of discovery, said in a statement. "Square Market makes local businesses accessible to customers down the block and across the country."

The marketplace allows … Read more

It's pretty well established that torrent files can be used for downloading pirated music, movies, games, and more. But, the company BitTorrent wants it to be known that it has nothing to do with such piracy.

The company's vice president of marketing Matt Mason penned a blog post on Tuesday saying that while BitTorrent built the open-source, peer-to-peer technology used for content sharing, it does not endorse piracy in any shape or form.

"We don't host infringing content. We don't point to it. It's literally impossible to 'illegally download something on BitTorrent,'" Mason … Read more

Los Angeles is the newest in a long line of cities to pick a fight with ride-sharing apps. Uber, Lyft, and Sidecar all received cease-and-desist letters from the Los Angeles Department of Transportation on Monday.

The Department of Transportation claims the companies are operating "unlicensed commercial transportation service in the City of Los Angeles in violation of Los Angeles Municipal Code." The Department is demanding that the companies halt all vehicle operations "immediately."

"In the interest of public safety, your company and all drivers and vehicles dispatched via your mobile app sysem [sic] are hereby … Read more