News Byte

Amazon Boosts Financial Support for Employee Education Program

Amazon plans to announce today that it is raising the maximum amount of tuition reimbursement it pre-pays to some of its employees from $2,000 to $3,000 a year for up to four years. The program, dubbed Amazon Career Choice, gives financial support toward tuition and related expenses to full-time hourly employees who pursue associate degrees or vocational certifications in fields that entities such as the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics have deemed in demand and well-paying. Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos first announced the Amazon Career Choice program in a big way last summer with a letter on Amazon’s homepage.

Amazon Kills Zombies, Keeps John Goodman as It Plans First Season of Web Series

Amazon starts ordering its first set of TV series. It says you helped them decide.
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As Google+ Pushes Hard Into Photos, the Race Is On to Own Your Memories

Your baby pictures are far more valuable than you’d think.
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News Byte

Amazon Picks Up More NBCUniversal Shows

Amazon is boosting its Web video catalog via a deal for reruns of several shows from NBC and other channels owned by Comcast. Amazon’s “Prime Instant Video” customers will get exclusive access to shows including “Grimm,” “Suits” and “Hannibal”; as with almost all deals Amazon and competitor Netflix sign for TV reruns, the Web retailer won’t get its hands on them until months after they air.

Here’s That Steve Jobs E-Book Email to James Murdoch

“Heck, Amazon is selling these books at $9.99, and who knows maybe they are right and we will fail even at $12.99.”
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Apple’s E-Book Argument: Deals With Publishers Improved Competition

By negotiating for an agency pricing model with publishers, Apple says, it was simply seeking to enter a new market and offer competitive prices.
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DOJ Filing Calls Apple “Ringmaster” of E-Book Pricing Rise

The gist: “Apple knew that the plan it was proposing involved a ‘dramatic business change’ for publisher defendants.”
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Netflix Still Eats a Third of the Web Every Night; Amazon, HBO and Hulu Trail Behind

Everyone’s watching more video, on every device, everywhere. But no one is really cutting into Reed Hastings’s lead.
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