Pogie awards for the brightest ideas of 2012

Good evening, and welcome to The Dalles, Ore.! Here in the cafetorium of the James A. Garfield Middle School, we meet every year for the biggest event in technology the Pogie awards!

Online shopping touched new heights in 2012, garnered $14 billion in revenue

People turned to the Internet to buy everything from diapers to books, houses and even groceries this year, pushing e-commerce revenues in the country to $14 billion with the possibility of even higher earnings in 2013.

Love your smartphone? Protect it with an airbag!

US technology giant Amazon has devised a new motion-sensor technology for an airbag that can protect your gadgets including smartphones, cameras and tablets from cracking when dropped.

Amazon launches Kindle store in China, could pave way for Kindle

Amazon.com Inc has launched a Kindle store for China, the company said on Thursday, selling Chinese electronic books for the mobile Kindle application, in a move that could soon see the device launched in China.

Amazon wins EU ebook pricing battle with Apple

European Union regulators ended an antitrust probe into e-book prices on Thursday, accepting an offer by Apple and four publishers to ease pricing restrictions on Amazon and other retailers.

Amazon and Google start e-book sales in Brazil

Amazon.com Inc and Google Inc both opened their digital bookstores in Brazil on Thursday, hot on the heels of e-book offerings by local booksellers in a fast-growing online retail market.

The simultaneous introduction of the two services highlighted the wide-open nature of Brazil's $12 billion e-commerce market. Low Internet penetration and a swelling middle class have spurred bets on strong growth for years to come.
Amazon will begin selling its Kindle e-book reader in Brazil in coming weeks for 299 reais, the e-commerce powerhouse said, ending months of speculation that it could arrive by acquiring a major competitor.
Brazil's biggest bookstore chain, Saraiva, is trying to sell its online business, but a person familiar with Amazon's strategy told Reuters in October that the U.S. company would stick to its focus on organic growth in foreign markets.
In Brazil, the Kindle will take on Samsung and Apple tablets that often cost as much as twice their U.S. retail prices due to import tariffs, steep taxes and inflated local production costs. Local bookseller Livraria Cultura sells its Kobo e-reader for 399 reais.
The rival Google Play service will offer e-books and movie rentals on computers and mobile devices running Google's Android operating system.
© Thomson Reuters 2012

Amazon launches Kindle content service for kids

Amazon is launching a subscription service for children's games, videos and books aimed at getting more kids to use its Kindle Fire tablet devices.
Amazon.com Inc. plans to announce Wednesday that the Kindle FreeTime Unlimited service will be available in the next few weeks as part of an automatic software update.
Amazon said subscribers will have access to "thousands" of pieces of content, though the company did not give a specific number. Kids will be able to watch, play and read any of the content available to them as many times as they want. Parents can set time limits, however.
The service, aimed at kids aged 3 to 8, will cost $4.99 per month for one child. It'll cost $2.99 per child for members of Amazon Prime, the company's premium shipping service. Amazon Prime costs $79 per year for free shipping of merchandise purchased in the company's online store.
Family plans for up to six kids will cost $9.99 per month and $6.99 for Prime members.
The Kindle already allows for parental controls through its FreeTime service. Parents can set up profiles for up to six children and add time limits to control how long kids can spend reading, watching videos or using the Kindle altogether. With the content subscription service, kids can browse age-appropriate videos, games and books and pick what they want to see. They won't be shown ads and will be prevented from accessing the Web or social media. Kids also won't be able to make payments within applications.
Amazon is launching the service as competition heats up in the tablet market among Apple, Barnes & Noble, Microsoft and Samsung. Amazon's strategy is to offer the Kindle at a relatively low price and make money selling the content.
Offering a subscription service aimed at kids helps set the Kindle apart from its many competitors.
"We hope that our devices are really, really attractive for families," said Peter Larsen, vice president of Amazon's Kindle business.