Category: News and Views

Amazon Launches Amazon Business Marketplace, Will Close AmazonSupply | Forbes

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downloadIn 2012, Amazon.com AMZN -1.01% quietly launched AmazonSupply, the e-commerce company’s foray into the unsexy but hugely lucrative world of B2B wholesale.

By 2014, when Forbes covered the burgeoning business, AmazonSupply was already offering 2.2 million products for sale in 17 categories, from tools and home improvement to janitorial supplies, stocking everything from 12-packs of Hawaiian Punch to schedule-40 stainless steel pipe.

Industry insiders were already concerned about the potential impact of AmazonSupply on America’s 35,000 distribution companies, almost all of which are regional and family-run. Could they compete with AmazonSupply’s infrastructure and deep cache of consumer data?

Now Amazon is taking its quest to win over the $7.2 trillion B2B sector a step further. On Tuesday, the Seattle-based web giant is launching Amazon Business, a new platform aiming to do for business customers what Amazon.com has done for everyday shoppers.

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ESPN Sues Verizon Over Its TV Packages Aimed At Cord Cutters | TechCrunch

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Verizon has apparently hit a snag with regard to its efforts aimed at cord cutters. The cable TV provider recently introduced a way to purchase TV channel packages via à la carte bundles. But today, ESPN filed a breach-of-contract lawsuit against which argues that Verizon’s move to break out ESPN’s channels into a separate sports tier that isn’t a part of the core package is not authorized by existing contracts.

ESPN had previously declared its unhappiness with Verizon’s new channel packages earlier this month, shortly after they went live for Verizon’s cable customers. The network a little over a week ago released a statement which claimed that Verizon didn’t have the right to release packages that removed ESPN from the core lineup.

With its new “cord cutter” bundles, Verizon is offering a $59.99 base package which consumers can add extra content on top of, as they choose.

According to Verizon, these TV packages are aimed at offering traditional cable subscribers more options when it comes to constructing the sort of channel lineup they want. It’s meant to stave off those who would otherwise want to drop their cable TV subscriptions entirely, or drop down to basic cable in an effort to save money.

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Google Is About to Make Your Wireless Carrier a Lot Less Relevant | WIRED

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GOOGLE’S NEW WIRELESS phone service, Project Fi, offers a long list of modern day perks. It automatically moves phones between traditional cellular networks and the WiFi wireless networks inside homes and businesses. Once on WiFi, you can still make calls and send texts. And you can pay for all this in small, flat, monthly fees—avoiding the sort of inflated, strings-attached pricing that so often accompanies our cell services.

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Comcast abandons $45bn Time Warner Cable deal | BBC News

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“Today, we move on,” said Comcast chairman Brian L Roberts.

“We structured this deal so that if the government didn’t agree, we could walk away.”

In March last year, the US Department of Justice (DoJ) launched an antitrust probe into the deal.

“The companies’ decision to abandon this deal is the best outcome for American consumers,” said Attorney General Eric Holder in a statement.

“This is a victory not only for the Department of Justice, but also for providers of content and streaming services who work to bring innovative products to consumers across America and around the world.”

The deal was also being scrutinised by the Federal Communications Commission, and had been criticised by some politicians and various consumer and industry groups.

Shares in Comcast declined slightly on the news, whereas Time Warner Cable’s were up slightly.

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Mobile Ads Skyrocketed 76% in 2014, Making Digital Advertising a $50 Billion Business | Adweek

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The digital advertising space grew 16 percent last year compared to 2013 and totaled $49.5 billion in sales, according to an Interactive Advertising Bureau report released today.

A key driver in that growth was the burgeoning mobile space, which the IAB found to have skyrocketed by 76 percent—from $7.1 billion in 2013 to $12.5 billion last year.

“High double-digit growth in mobile advertising is a reflection of the continued shift in consumer behavior away from desktop and towards mobile devices,” stated David Silverman, a partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers U.S., which prepared the data for the IAB

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Google, Microsoft Join Obama to Fight Climate Health Woes | Bloomberg

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download (1)President Barack Obama is warning that climate change will start affecting Americans’ health in the near future and he’s recruiting top technology companies to help prepare the nation’s health systems.

The administration unveiled a series of initiatives Tuesday to help moderate the effects it says a warming planet will have on increasing smog, lengthening allergy seasons and increasing risks of extreme weather-related injuries.

“The challenges we face are real, and they are clear and present in people’s daily lives,” said senior presidential adviser Brian Deese in a telephone conference call with reporters on Tuesday. Seven in 10 doctors are seeing effects on their patients’ health from climate change that is “posing a threat to more people in more places,” Deese said.

The White House plans meetings this week with medical professionals, academics and other stakeholders. Later this spring, Surgeon General Vivek Murthy will host a climate change and

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Beehive raises a record-breaking $10 million | CNN Money

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150311152222-cedar-anderson-honey-780x439Turns out, lots of people want honey on tap. Nearly 30,000 people have contributed to the Indiegogo campaign for the Flow Hive, making it the most successful crowdfunding operation in the site’s history.

Flow Hive has raised just over $10 million, with six days still left to go. The founders were originally trying for $70,000, which it reached in 477 seconds. More than 6,100 people paid $600 for the full hive, which is expected to start shipping in December.

Cedar Anderson and his dad Stuart worked on the concept for the last decade. The family has been keeping bees for generations, and Cedar started his first hive when he was just six years old.

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Google shaking up search results on smartphones | LA Times

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downloadGoogle is about to change the way its influential search engine recommends websites on smartphones in a shift that’s expected to sway where millions of people shop, eat and find information.

The revised formula, scheduled to be released Tuesday, will favor websites that Google defines as “mobile-friendly.” Websites that don’t fit the description will be demoted in Google’s search results on smartphones while those meeting the criteria will be more likely to appear at the top of the rankings — a prized position that can translate into more visitors and money.

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Most 20-Somethings Can’t Answer These 3 Financial Questions. Can You? |Time Money

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A new study finds that young Americans could use some help when it comes to managing their money.

Just in time for financial literacy month, a new San Diego State University study of young Americans has found that they are lacking when it comes to financial knowledge and behavior.

Out of these three questions measuring basic financial knowledge, the average respondent could answer only 1.8 correctly—and only a quarter got all three right. (Answers are at the bottom of this story.)

(1) Do you think that the following statement is true or false? Buying a single company stock usually provides a safer return than a stock mutual fund.

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