Commerce

Follow @ATDmoney

News Byte

Still Waiting on Office for iPad? OnLive’s New Subscription Service Has Office, Flash and More.

Lauren Goode in News on February 22 at 4:55 pm PT

For those of you still holding your breath while you wait for an official Microsoft Office app to come to iPad, here’s something that might help in the interim: OnLive Desktop Plus, a premium, $4.99-a-month version of the OnLive Desktop app for iPad and other tablet devices. The newest version of the app offers a cloud-based Internet Explorer 9, Adobe Flash, and PDF capabilities, in addition to the full Office suite and the “accelerated browsing experience” that OnLive created for fast pushing and pulling of data on a remote-access desktop.

News Byte

Sony PlayStation Vita Launches in U.S., Europe

Lauren Goode in News on February 22 at 5:53 am PT

Sony’s new handheld gaming product, the PlayStation Vita, goes on sale today in Europe and the U.S. Following its initial launch in Japan in December, the device was plagued by some reported bugs, including crashes and gameplay lags, but Sony quickly issued a software update to address the issues. As The Wall Street Journal’s Katie Boehret notes in her review of the Vita, the 3G and Wi-Fi capable Vita costs $299; the Wi-Fi-only version costs $249.

News Byte

Samsung Spins Off LCD Business

Lauren Goode in News on February 21 at 5:47 am PT

Samsung, currently the biggest LCD panel maker in terms of sales, will spin off its unprofitable LCD operations on April 1 into a new firm, called Samsung Display Co. As The Wall Street Journal notes, analysts had widely expected the spinoff, as the LCD industry shrinks and the Korean electronics giant focuses more on higher-margin OLED screens for TV sets and tablets.

News Byte

Groupon Buys Local Database-Maker Hyperpublic

Peter Kafka in Commerce on February 17 at 3:23 pm PT

Groupon has acquired Hyperpublic, a New York-based start-up that provides location-based information developers can use to build their own applications. Hyperpublic, which raised a $1.15 million seed round in 2010, announced the deal on its own site, but didn’t disclose a purchase price. CEO Jordan Cooper says some of the company’s 10 employees will move on to Groupon, and that he’ll work for the daily deals company in some capacity. But he says he’ll also continue on at his other job, as a general partner at Lerer Ventures.

News Byte

Citi: Positive Trends Ahead for E-Commerce

Lauren Goode in News on February 17 at 11:50 am PT

According to a brief from comScore, total U.S. online spending in January — including retail and travel — grew 13 percent year over year to $23 billion, compared to 11 percent in December. Both months were pointing slightly downward from fourth-quarter online spending, which saw 14 percent year-over-year growth, but Citi analyst Mark Mahaney said in a note that he sees overall positive trends ahead in e-commerce, with the possibility of seeing pre-recession 20 percent growth rates. Key segments contributing to January’s overall growth included online sales of computer software, jewelry and watches, and home electronics.