2007

Having made book-buying easier, Amazon.com is now seeking to do the same thing for databases…

“Companies can now go ahead and fire their expensive database administrators -- those engineers who keep the Oracle or IBM databases humming…”

Amazon has added an enterprise-class database to its collection of “cloud computing” tools for developers. The new service dubbed as “SimpleDB,” offers developers a database on pay-as-use basis, which, as Dave Winer points out, is good news for those with scalability concerns.

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Silicon Valley startup Ribbit launched a new platform that promises to bridge traditional telephony and the Web…

Ribbit, a Silicon Valley startup, promises to open up voice communications to a software-as-a-service (SaaS) model, announcing a Web-based technology platform that allows developers to create voice applications and services.

The company has built a telephony switch that can connect Web-based phone calls to a variety of phone networks, including voice over Internet Protocol, or VoIP, services like Skype.

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Amazon.com is the mystery buyer of an auctioned book by Harry Potter author JK Rowling…

“A handwritten book of fairy tales by the creator of the “Harry Potter” series fetched nearly $4 million from Seattle-based Amazon.com in a Sotheby’s auction Thursday…”

New York -- Amazon.com Inc., the Web retailer known for selling books, said it had paid about $4 million to buy a handwritten, illustrated book of wizardry by “Harry Potter” author J. K. Rowling.

“J. K. Rowling created seven handwritten, leather-bound copies of a book called “The Tales of Beedle the Bard.”

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First group gets access to online file storage and sharing space, but full public beta is weeks, possibly months, away…

“With Google Docs, Zoho, and others beating them to the punch, Microsoft’s Office Live Workspace, the company’s latest foray into the world of Web-based office productivity, is going live…”

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Google has kicked off a project to create an authoritative store of information about any and every topic…

“Search engine has unveiled “knol,” an online, user-generated reference work that will seek to usurp Wikipedia … Beta Version of Knol Includes Identified Authors, Rankings and Ads…”

New York -- Web search leader Google Inc. is testing an Internet site for sharing knowledge about any subject under the sun, one that could eventually compete with the popular user-edited encyclopedia Wikipedia.

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CNBC has picked Microsoft to be the exclusive provider of display and contextual advertising in the U.S. for the CNBC.com Web site…

“Microsoft Corp., competing with Google Inc. for online advertising sales, struck an exclusive agreement with business news channel CNBC to provide ads for its Web site…”

Seattle -- Microsoft Corp. and CNBC on Monday announced a strategic alliance in which the two companies will collaborate to bring relevant advertising to more than 2.6 million unique monthly visitors to CNBC.com.

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“When Google developed OpenSocial, it was intended to obviate the need for developers to reprogram the same social networking applications for separate platforms, but not for long…”

In a direct shot across the bow of Google Inc. and its OpenSocial project, Facebook Thursday announced plans to allow other social networks to license its technology so that Facebook applications can run on those sites. (more…)

Microsoft rolls out ads tailored for its MSN Mobile portal vying with Google, Yahoo, AT&T and Verizon Wireless…

“Microsoft began displaying advertisements to mobile users of its MSN site with premier advertisers…”

Redmond, Wash., -- Microsoft on Monday began displaying mobile advertising to MSN Mobile customers for the first time, in hopes of generating additional revenue from the budding business.

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Yahoo’s push to bolster its B2B offerings continues: It has got a new content deal with CNBC.com…

Yahoo! Finance, the most popular business news Web site, on Wednesday announced that it will begin to show about 20 video segments each day covering the current action in the market from the business news channel CNBC.

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“Microsoft is growing its global footprint again, this time putting a geographic stamp on Europe by buying Multimap, a leading British online mapping company, for an undisclosed sum…”

New York -- Continuing an ongoing string of acquisitions, Microsoft on Wednesday announced that it snapped up “Multimap,” one of Britain’s top providers of location and mapping services for Europe, North America, and Australia.

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