Amazon will acquire the rest of Lovefilm

Online retail giant Amazon brought an end to months of speculation by announcing that it was to buy DVD-to-games rental and download service LOVEFiLM.

Amazon already owns a 42% minority stake in LOVEFiLM International, which operates in the UK, Germany, Sweden and Denmark. It will now buy the remaining 58% share for an undisclosed sum. The deal is expected to close in the first quarter of this year and may mean international expansion for LOVEFiLM in line with Amazon’s own European operations.

LOVEFiLM, which has been operating for seven years, offers its 1.6m members a choice of more than 70,000 titles via DVD, Blu-ray, video games, and digital streaming through the LOVEFiLM player, which is used through the PC, PlayStation3 and streamed direct to TV.

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Kindle app becomes available at the Mac App Store

Amazon has revealed that its Kindle app is now available from the Mac App Store, the relatively new application store for Apple computers.

The Kindle app may feel more at home on a portable device, but it seems that it is popular on other devices too, being that it is already the fifth most popular app on the store.

Amazon has been strengthening its Kindle brand for some time now. The physical ebook reader is the best-selling product ever on Amazon and its app has found its way onto many a mobile device.

Macs have had access to the Kindle service since last year but it has now been given a home on the Mac App Store and can lay claim to being the first ebook reader available on Jobs' shiny new service.

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Best Buy to open online store in U.K.

The US electricals giant Best Buy will launch an online shop in the UK within the next fortnight to take the fight to its rivals Currys, Comet and Argos on to the web.

Best Buy, which opened its first UK store in May and now has five, will deliver across the UK, but not in the Channel Island or the Isle of Man. The electricals retailer will offer thousands of products online, including all those available in its stores, as well as additional lines.

The online move by Best Buy – which first revealed its intention to enter the UK market with the £1.1bn acquisition of 50 per centof Carphone Warehouse in May 2008 – will shake up the lucrative online consumer electronics market which is populated by the high street stalwarts, as well as the online specialists, such as Amazon, Dixons and Play.com.

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Verizon, Google 'Net Neutrality' Debate

Google Inc. and Verizon Communications Inc. called for equal treatment of most Internet traffic while at the same time saying fast-growing cellular networks and yet-to-be-developed broadband services should be exempt from such restrictions.

Google and Verizon released a proposal arguing that broadband providers shouldn't be able to discriminate against Internet content providers.

The ideas outlined in the proposal put forth by the Internet search giant and one of the largest broadband providers stand in contrast to the Federal Communications Commission's recent proposals on "net neutrality" rules, which would prevent companies from giving preferential handling to certain types of online traffic.

The joint endorsement of exempting wireless services from net neutrality is a significant victory for cellular broadband providers such as Verizon, which have said that excessive regulation of those services would stifle their investments.

Cellular Internet access is becoming an increasingly important profit center for telecommunications companies as more consumers adopt mobile Web tools such as smart phones like the iPhone and phones based on Google's Android software.

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Sony Unveils Amazon eReader Rival

Sony unveiled the wireless Reader Daily Edition (the 3rd member of its reader family), that could be the strongest competitor to Amazon.com's Kindle. Sony was first to indroduce a digital/electronic reader; however, Amazon has dominated the market since introducing the 2007 Kindle.

Although higher priced at $399 ($100 more than the basic Kindle), the Sony Reader Daily Edition has a touch-sensitive screen and accessibilty to a large range of sources including one million free public domain books from Google. In addition, Sony is partnering with OverDrive Inc. to let users enter their Zip Codes and library card number to see what e-books are available from their local library. Current Kindle users are largely limited to Amazon's online bookstore.

"The Reader Daily Edition gives consumers wireless access via AT&T’s 3G mobile broadband network to Sony’s eBook store from just about anywhere in the U.S. Book lovers will be able to browse, purchase and download books as well as select newspapers and magazines when and where they want. There are no monthly fees or transaction charges for the basic wireless connectivity and users still have the option to side load personal documents or content from other compatible sites via USB." (Sony, 082509 Press Release)