News Byte

@WalmartLabs Goes Shopping, Comes Back With Two Startups

@Walmart Labs, the tech arm of the retail giant’s e-commerce unit, announced a pair of acquisitions today. Now on board are OneOps, which brings its platform-as-a-service technology, and social-software outfit Tasty Labs, along with its founders, Mozilla vet Nick Nguyen, del.icio.us creator Joshua Schachter and HousingMaps creator Paul Rademacher.

Microsoft, Nokia Target Low End in Effort to Crack Tough U.S. Market

The Lumia 521, which goes on sale at Walmart and Microsoft stores next week, sells for around $150 without a contract.
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Taking Cues From the Valley, Walmart Brings the Shotgun Approach to E-Commerce

The 50-year-old retail giant makes inroads in its digital strategy — the Silicon Valley way.
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Walmart to Test In-Store Locker Service

The brick-and-mortar giant dips its toe into delivering physical goods for in-store pickup — just like a number of Internet companies.
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Walmart Expanding iPhone Checkout System to More Stores and Android

Walmart figures that about half the customers who have shopped with Scan & Go have done so more than once.
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News Byte

Yahoo COO De Castro Joins Target Board

Yahoo COO Henrique De Castro has joined the board of Target Corp., the Minneapolis-based retailer said in a press release. The former Google exec has also worked at Dell and McKinsey. The appointment means that the top two execs at the Silicon Valley Internet giant are directors at two of the top U.S. retailers — CEO Marissa Mayer is on the board of Walmart Stores of Bentonville, Ark.

eBay Contends That Sales Tax Proposal Will Hurt Small Businesses

EBay is against a bill that would require more online retailers, like Amazon, to pay local taxes.
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Amazon’s Love Note to Senate Backs Sales-Tax Proposal

Amazon thanked the U.S. Senate today for a proposal that could put to rest the company’s long-standing sales-tax issues.
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CEO John Donahoe Says eBay Is Building the Uber for Delivery

The company is experimenting with pilot programs in San Francisco and New York City.
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Walmart’s Cloud Movie Service Shapes Up

“Disc to digital” didn’t make much sense last year, but the retailer is making some key improvements.
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