TechFlash: Seattle's Technology News

Could we see a color-screened Kindle?

The New York Times suggests that a color screen and Wi-Fi might be in the works for the next generation Kindle, citing the job descriptions at Amazon.com's hardware unit. The Times -- which last week reported that Amazon had purchased touch-screen technology provider Touchco -- now reports that the online retailer is looking for a hardware display manager.

Among the requirements are a "deep knowledge of current display technology and potential future technologies." The description goes on to say: "Significant exposure to high volume manufacturing environments; you will know the LCD business and key players in the market."

The stalemate between Amazon.com and Macmillan appears to be coming to an end. Late Friday, Amazon started to restore titles from the publishing house to its virtual shelves.

Paperback and hardcover copies of Macmillan books such as "Texas Sunrise" by Elmer Kelton and "How the World Makes Love" by Franz Wisner were back on the site as of Saturday morning. The Kindle versions also were back, though the prices were not consistent. "How the World Makes Love" was available for $9.78, while "Texas Sunrise" could be purchased for $14.97. Meanwhile, The New York Times Bestseller, "Sarah's Key," was priced at $9.99 for the Kindle.

Despite Amazon's recent statement that it would eventually have to "capitulate" to publishing house Macmillan over electronic book prices, the online retailer has continued to disable the buy button on Macmillan titles, both hardcover and digital, on its website. Today, Macmillan fired back, taking out a full page ad in the New York Times for one of its top titles, "The Checklist Manifesto," by Atul Gawande. The ad says the book is "Available at booksellers everywhere except Amazon."

Amazon.com appears to be beefing up its Kindle development. The online retailer is reportedly acquiring a New York company called Touchco that specializes in touch screen technology — a feature widely expected to be part of future Kindle readers. The news follows an earlier report that Amazon nabbed Microsoft Windows executive Mike Nash for its Kindle team. Amazon is expanding its Kindle unit as Apple's new iPad threatens its hold over the emerging electronic book market.

Microsoft confirmed today that Mike Nash is leaving the company. The longtime Microsoft executive worked most recently as corporate vice president in charge of Windows 7 platform strategy.

But here's the interesting part: Nash is going to Amazon.com to work on the Kindle, as reported by Mary Jo Foley of ZDNet. We're hearing the same thing, independently, and we've contacted Amazon to find out more about Nash's new role.

It's been nearly two days since Amazon.com backed down in its dispute with Macmillan, one of the big six publishing houses, over electronic book prices. The online retailer said that "ultimately" it would have to "capitulate and accept Macmillan's terms" for higher retail prices on e-books. But Amazon, which removed the buy button on all Macmillan books (both hardcover and digital) from its website as part of the dispute, has yet to restore many of the titles. Given Amazon's role as the dominant online bookseller, that could be causing Macmillan some serious pain — and be a sign that Amazon will play hardball with other publishers on the e-book issue.

Mercent, a Seattle startup that helps big brand retailers sell and market products online on Amazon, Google, and other sites, saw its customer count double in 2009 and plans to add 15 employees this year, bringing its total headcount to 60.

"As the e-commerce market grows — in particular as companies like Amazon and Google continue to capture market share — Mercent has been able to capitalize on that growth," said Mercent CEO Eric Best. "We have also been able to significantly increase our customer base over the last 12 months."

Amazon is putting out a new Firefox add-on called AmazonAssist that lets people doing web searches to find related products on the Amazon.com website at the same time. Once installed, AmazonAssist shows up in a panel at the bottom of the web browser window, and presents Amazon.com products that match a person's search terms. Amazon is putting out this new search tool at at a time when Google and Microsoft Bing are beefing up their ecommerce profile with new shopping features.

Blue Origin vehicle test launch day, west Texas, November 13, 2006. Courtesy Blue Origin.

Amazon.com CEO Jeff Bezos' project to take paying passengers into space is lining up a big potential customer: NASA. The U.S. space agency is giving $50 million in federal stimulus funds to five companies — including Bezos' firm, Blue Origin — to develop systems to transport astronauts to the International Space Station. The Obama administration is pushing a major revamp of NASA programs that would include shifting some transport duties to private space contractors.

Blue Origin, which is based in Kent, Wash. and operates a launch pad in West Texas, will get $3.7 million to develop "system concepts, key technologies, and capabilities that could ultimately be used in commercial crew human space transportation systems," according to a NASA press release.

Amazon stock year to date. Source: Google Finance.

Amazon.com shares are down more than 7 percent in early trading Monday, following the company's weekend skirmish with Macmillan, one of the big six publishing houses. Late Friday, it emerged that Amazon had removed all Macmillan books — hardcover and digital — from its website, to punish Macmillan for demanding that Amazon set a higher retail price for Kindle electronic books. Then on Sunday, Amazon did an about-face, saying it "will have to capitulate and accept Macmillan's terms."

Update: Amazon shares ended the day down 5.21 percent to close at $118.87. Meantime, Macmillan books are still missing from Amazon, and it was not immediately clear when they would be restored.

Amazon.com has been battling with publishers over its $9.99 price for electronic books. Now the online retailer is caving to publisher demands to go higher — signaling it will raise the price of some e-books to between $12.99 and $14.99.

Amazon's concession capped a remarkable showdown with Macmillan, one of the big six publishing houses. Amazon on Friday removed all books — digital and physical — published by Macmillan from its website, after the publisher made clear it was moving to a higher-price model on e-books.

But today, Amazon in a message to customers, backed down, saying "we will have to capitulate and accept Macmillan's terms because Macmillan has a monopoly over their own titles, and we will want to offer them to you even at prices we believe are needlessly high for e-books."

It was a huge week in the technology industry. Amazon.com and Microsoft posted strong earnings. Apple released its highly-touted iPad. And, to top things off, there was even a sex scandal involving the co-founder of Bellevue's Intelius. Here's a look at the past week through the eyes of reader comments.

After Apple unveiled the iPad, many dubbed the device a Kindle killer. Reader Darren Erik Vengroff said he probably wouldn't buy an iPad, but he saw trouble ahead for Amazon's electronic reader: "When Amazon ports the Kindle iPhone app to the larger screen size it's over for the DX."

But Madrona Venture Group's Scott Jacobson -- an Apple customer who previously worked at Amazon -- wasn't so sure. He offered five reasons why the Kindle would survive, which prompted Wetpaint CEO Ben Elowitz -- who had previously written a post on TechCrunch citing 10 reasons why it would die -- to note: "Kindle may have a niche - but it's a specialty device for a specialty audience, while Apple is going after changing consumers' behaviors and lives."

Technology executive John Arnold allegedly lied to a grand jury about having sex with dancers at a Seattle strip club, which prompted several readers to refer to the past legal troubles at the Bellevue company he co-founded. Reader Web 3.0 wrote: "Here is a clue, don't lie to a grand Jury or bad things happen." But some readers also noted that the government shouldn't meddle in these types of activities. Nonamesnomas wrote: "Just because he broke the law, doesn't mean he did anything morally wrong. What right does a government in a free society have to ask, even in a court of law, about what a person does privately?"

Our story -- "Old-school Classmates.com forced to face up to Facebook" -- led to comments from people who had abandoned Classmates and others who found the company's mission misguided. Wrote George Anderson: "Classmates has never realized that people resent being forced to pay for information that they themselves entered. Social media must be free because the content is generated by the users, not the companies that control the website."

The appearance of Bill Gates on The Daily Show this past week prompted one reader to suggest that the world's richest man needed a wardrobe overhaul. (Perhaps someone should nominate him for "What not to Wear"). Janet remarked: "I liked how relaxed Mr. Gates appeared to be and totally admire the work his foundation is doing. However, can we take a moment to talk about his clothing? He was wearing a shirt that was at least two sizes too big. I'm all for frugality, but he can surely afford one tailored shirt."

Is Amazon.com's clash with publishers over its discount pricing of electronic books entering a new, more high-stakes phase? As VentureBeat reports, books from publishing house Macmillan have gone missing from Amazon's website.

Macmillan is part of a group of major publishers providing digital titles for Apple's new iPad tablet computer. Apple is reportedly letting publishers set higher prices on Kindle e-books ($12.99 and $14.99). Amazon has set a standard of $9.99 for new release e-books — a price that many publishers fear will eat into hardcover sales and lower the value of books in the minds of consumers.

Source: Amazon.com SEC filings

Amazon.com's overall employee count continues to grow, according to the company's annual 10K filing. The online retailer reported 24,300 full-time and part-time employees at the end of 2009, up from 20,700 the previous year. The company, which just reported a sharp jump in fourth-quarter revenue and profit, has been steadily increasing its headcount since 2003, even through the current economic turmoil.

Rumors that Amazon wants to acquire Netflix have cropped up a couple times over the past year. Now they're making the rounds again, after the Wall Street Journal's Deal Journal wrote that "Netflix is becoming a lot more attractive to Amazon." The reason? Netflix's success with building its streaming video business. The DVD-rental company recently said 48 percent of its customers watched more than 15 minutes of a streaming TV episode or movie in the fourth quarter, up from 28 percent in the same period a year ago.