E-Commerce Blog

Getting reliable and reasonably priced tech support for an ailing computer is time-consuming and frustrating. PC users at home, school and work face malfunctions caused by human error, software failure and hardware configuration glitches. On top of these problems are the increasing daily threats posed by malware and virus infections. The typical home or office user has no IT support to rescue them. A recent report from research firm IDC concludes that although technology is now deeply entwined in consumers’ lives, consumer support options have not kept pace with needs.

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PC Fixer Lassos Customers the Old Fashioned Way: Free Services

Profits at the three largest U.S. phone carriers are being squeezed by steep discounts on advanced cell phones, triggered by AT&T’s hefty subsidy for the iPhone. AT&T, Verizon Communications and Sprint Nextel are expected to show a drop in wireless profit margins when they report third-quarter results in coming weeks, also feeling the pinch from consumers holding off on buying add-on services like data to lower their phone bills in the weak economy.

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The iPhone and the Incredible Shrinking Carrier Margin

Online auctioneer and retailer eBay has banned the sale of ivory products on its Web site to help protect African and Asian elephants. The policy goes into effect in December, and eBay will begin enforcing it in January. The decision to ban ivory items outright from its site is eBay’s second attempt to fight the trade of such merchandise in the last year. In 2007, the company banned the cross-border sales of ivory products, but that move apparently had little effect.

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eBay Slams Door on Ivory Traders

“Metamarketing” may not exist in Merriam-Webster’s files, but for a visual definition, all one has to do is check out the latest Apple ads that are all about — the latest Microsoft ads. If you’re a fan of the “I’m a PC, and I’m a Mac” ads featuring actor/writer John Hodgman as the Microsoft whipping boy and actor Justin Long as the epitome of Apple coolness, then you may have been waiting for this latest shot across Microsoft’s bow from Steve Jobs ever since the world’s largest software company pulled its expensive Jerry Seinfeld/Bill Gates commercials out of network rotation.

Apple’s New Ads Ridicule Microsoft’s New Ads

Lala.com relaunched its services Tuesday, now billing itself as the first free fully licensed provider of instant, anywhere access to personal music catalogs as well as a full music library with tracks backed from major labels. Cooperating record companies include EMI Music, Sony BMG, Universal Music Group, Warner Music and more than 170,000 independent music labels. Rather than use a CD player or a media player that keeps music data on the physical device, with Lala, users keep their tunes online — in the so-called cloud.

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Lala Starts New Life as Jukebox in the Cloud