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<title>Haaze.com / yeroppy / All</title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com</link>
<description>Test Web 2.0 Content Management System</description>
<pubDate>Mon, 25 Apr 2011 07:10:17 +0000</pubDate>
<language>en</language>
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<title><![CDATA[Cobra Tag finds your lost keys, phone, other junk]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=cobra-tag-finds-your-lost-keys-phone-other-junk</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=cobra-tag-finds-your-lost-keys-phone-other-junk</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 25 Apr 2011 07:10:17 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>yeroppy</dc:creator>
<category>Technology</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=cobra-tag-finds-your-lost-keys-phone-other-junk</guid>
<description><![CDATA[The Cobra Tag sensor ties your keys and your phone together via Bluetooth.(Credit:Cobra Electronics)For some odd reason, I put my keys in a different place every time I take then out of my pocket at night. The problem is that I can never remember these unique locations when the time comes to retrieve those keys. The simple solution would be to change my behavior, but I'd rather solve my problems with technology and apps. Enter the Cobra Tag by Cobra, a two-part hardware and software solution to finding your misplaced stuff.The first part of the system is the Cobra Tag sensor, a small electronic dongle that can be attached to a keychain, purse, backpack, or other valuable item that you'd like to keep track of. The second part is the Cobra Tag app foriPhone, Android, or Blackberry that allows your smartphone to communicate with the Cobra Tag hardware via Bluetooth connection.Now, when you lose your keys, simply launch the Cobra Tag app on your phone and activate an audible chime from your keychain. The connection is bidirectional, so in the event that you misplace your smartphone, you can tap a button on the Cobra Tag sensor to ring your phone. Of course, the phone and the tag have to be within Bluetooth range to communicate. However, the extra paranoid can also activate a function called Phone Halo to automatically lock down the smartphone when it gets outside of the range of the Cobra Tag sensor.Of course, if you misplace both your keys and your phone, you'll be without a way of finding either. Plus, you'll have lost the $59.95 Cobra Tag sensor. So, you won't be completely absolved of the responsibility of keeping up with your stuff when the Cobra Tag by Cobra debuts in July 2011.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Toyota to accept priority registration for Prius Plug-In preorders beginning Friday]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=toyota-to-accept-priority-registration-for-prius-plug-in-preorders-beginning-friday</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=toyota-to-accept-priority-registration-for-prius-plug-in-preorders-beginning-friday</comments>
<pubDate>Tue, 19 Apr 2011 07:10:57 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>yeroppy</dc:creator>
<category>Eco</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=toyota-to-accept-priority-registration-for-prius-plug-in-preorders-beginning-friday</guid>
<description><![CDATA[The Prius Plug-in will offer electric-only driving for about 13 miles and an anticipated 50 MPG hybrid driving.(Credit:Toyota)Folks who want to preregister for online ordering of the Prius Plug-in hybrid will get a chance on Friday.Toyota today revealed that Earth Day will kick off preregistration for the Prius Plug-in on the company's Web site.This is just the first step in ordering Prius Plug-in. A new online ordering system will launch later this year, which will offer customers the ability to configure their own vehicle online, select their dealership within 15 launch states (Arizona, California, Connecticut, Hawaii*, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, and Washington), and track their order through production, distribution, and delivery.The Prius Plug-in will begin arriving at Toyota dealerships in the launch states in spring 2012, with a nationwide rollout the following year, the automaker said in a release.&quot;The Prius Plug-in Online Ordering System was inspired by the success and positive customer feedback we had to similar online ordering systems for the first two generations of Prius,&quot; said Bob Carter, Toyota Division group vice president and general manager. &quot;We feel the Prius Plug-in target customer will expect a purchase experience that is as advanced and convenient as the product itself. The Online Ordering System is designed to meet those expectations.&quot;*Although Hawaii is a launch state, the online ordering service will not be available.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Sony mulls plans similar to Facebook-Warner deal]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=sony-mulls-plans-similar-to-facebook-warner-deal</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=sony-mulls-plans-similar-to-facebook-warner-deal</comments>
<pubDate>Wed, 09 Mar 2011 08:10:49 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>yeroppy</dc:creator>
<category>Marketing and advertising</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=sony-mulls-plans-similar-to-facebook-warner-deal</guid>
<description><![CDATA[A Sony Pictures executive said today that the film studio is &quot;looking into&quot; new Web distribution methods similar to the one announced yesterday by rival Warner Bros. Studios. John Calkins, Sony Pictures digital exec.(Credit:Greg Sandoval/CNET)Warner Bros.' home-entertainment division said Monday that it will start renting movies via Facebook, starting with the 2008 hit &quot;Batman: The Dark Knight.&quot; The offer is among the first attempts by a major media company to test the social network's potential as a distribution outlet. Speaking on a panel during the Media Summit conference in New York, John Calkins, executive vice president of Sony Pictures' digital division, said distributing films through Facebook is a &quot;great first step&quot; in testing the power of social networks to sell films. &quot;Our view is that Facebook is certainly a viable pool for people interested in media content,&quot; Calkins told the audience. &quot;If you can have fans do the marketing, that's a great idea...we're looking at things like that.&quot; The reaction to the Warner Bros. announcement was similar to that in the forehead-slapping &quot;could've had a V8&quot; commercials. To some observers, the idea of trying to sell films to Facebook's 600 million worldwide monthly users is so obvious that one of the big questions raised is why it hadn't been tried before. The deal even inspired some pundits and Wall Street investors to question whether Facebook could threaten Web-video services from Netflix, Amazon, and Apple. Calkins seemed hesitant to put Facebook in Netflix's league just yet, as did some of his other panel members. Some on the panel, which included executives from Yahoo and MTV, said that they doubted the studios would risk distributing $100 million films on a social network for a long time to come. One person called Facebook a &quot;backstop&quot; for more traditional distribution means. John Penney, executive vice president for strategy at Starz, the pay TV channel that was one of the first to license content for Netflix's streaming content, said he sees the studios renting and selling movies through Facebook and other Internet services following the initial period when DVD sales are hottest. &quot;For the post-DVD window, that's where these new platforms [such as social networking] are becoming interesting,&quot; Penney said. &quot;Batman is a library product. These will be mechanisms to offset the drop in DVD sales.&quot; Sony's Calkins got the audience laughing by responding: &quot;Why so negative&quot; In truth, those who run the six major film studios, Warner Bros., 20th Century Fox, Disney, Sony, Paramount, and Universal, are sensitive about all the media attention around waning interest in discs. Last week, some studio executives met with CNET and they conceded that DVD sales are in decline. But that tells only part of the story, they said. This isn't an easy time for them as they navigate the transition from DVDs to Internet distribution. It's a razor-edge walk between giving consumers the wide access to content and lower prices they now demand and maintaining healthy revenue and profits. Consider that the music industry has been fighting the same digital battle for much longer than the film sector, for over a decade now, and the results are mixed at best. Nonetheless, the studio managers I spoke with said they believe they can find profitable Internet-distribution models but that it will take time.At Wednesday's conference, Calkins joked that he attended on the condition that he be allowed to talk about UltraViolet. That's the technology standard that all the major studios are backing save for Disney. By creating standards, such as common file formats, for participating consumer-electronics manufacturers and distribution services to follow, the studios intend to provide consumers with a means to play their films across a wide range of devices and services, just like the DVD does today. The No.1 priority is to entice film fans to start buying and collecting movies again. Sony is one of the studios leading the UV charge. &quot;You'll have seamless access to your content, Calkins said. &quot;You can make the argument that it's better than the DVD because you can watch your movies from a hotel in Taipei and you didn't have to travel with your discs.&quot; Hopes are high for UV, but the studios aren't wedding themselves to any one Internet distribution service. They still plan to deliver movies directly into homes even while the films are still in theaters with Premium Video on Demand (PVOD). They will distribute through the Internet services of the cable companies, theXbox, and thePlayStation. They will sell and rent films through services such as Netflix, Amazon, Apple, Vudu, and yes, Facebook. Click photo to read about Hollywood&amp;39's shifting attitudes towards Netflix. (Credit:Screenshot by Greg Sandoval/CNET)The fact that Warner Bros. was the first to stick a toe into Facebook waters wasn't an accident. The studio is among the most aggressive of the big six to test and adopt new technologies. In 2006, the studio was the first to sign a distribution deal with the creators of the BitTorrent software. Last year, Warner Bros. struck a groundbreaking agreement with Netflix that gave the Web's top video-rental service access to more streaming content in exchange for a 28-day moratorium on rentals of new releases. The move was designed to protect Warner Bros. DVD sales. More recently, the studio began making some catalog titles available as iPad andiPhone apps. Thomas Gewecke, president of Warner's digital distribution and the man who approved the Facebook project, is a big supporter of making content available online. Some of his ideas were likely shaped by his experiences at Sony Music, where he worked before moving to Warner Bros., in 2007. During a speech he made in 2008, Gewecke said that when he started in music, CD sales were healthy and piracy wasn't a factor.&quot; He added: &quot;We know how that changed.&quot;  <br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Control, play torrents via uTorrent on Android]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=control-play-torrents-via-utorrent-on-android</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=control-play-torrents-via-utorrent-on-android</comments>
<pubDate>Fri, 04 Feb 2011 08:10:01 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>yeroppy</dc:creator>
<category>Mobile &amp; Electronics</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=control-play-torrents-via-utorrent-on-android</guid>
<description><![CDATA[uTorrent Remote for Android(Credit:BitTorrent, Inc.)Bandwidth caps are only part of the reason that torrenting has yet to hit mobile devices in a big way, but that hasn't stopped them from trickling into the portable world. Today BitTorrent, Inc. announced remote control app uTorrent Remote that lets you manage your desktop's torrents from your Android device, and stream completed audio and video torrents back to your device. Originally mentioned last month at CES, uTorrent Remote will only work with the next generation version of uTorrent, currently available only as a rough alpha.The Android app adds basic torrent remote controls to your phone. You can check the status of a download or upload, and add, start, pause, or remove torrents, including torrents from RSS feeds. The big feature that makes this app a must is that it allows you to transfer, save, and play back any completed file from your PC to your Android device. In other words, there goes your data cap.To use it, after installing uTorrent 3.0 alpha you must go to the Web section of the uTorrent preferences and choose a username and password, then enter those in to the uTorrent Remote app. The app comes with buttons for viewing all your torrents, and then filtering by active downloads, currently seeding, and completed torrents. You can customize labels for your torrents, and add RSS feeds--an excellent way to stay on top of podcasts, for example.Tap on a torrent and you're provided with a detailed list of torrenting information, including status, download and upload speed, size of the files, and the amount downloaded. Controls at the bottom are for canceling the torrent, pausing it, and viewing the files. Tapping the folder icon takes you to a list of the files in the torrent, and you can select on the fly which ones to copy to your phone. Once you've copied it to your phone, a process that depends heavily on signal strength and the size of the file, the icon changes to a playback arrow.uTorrent Remote QR CodeNote that just because you can transfer the file to your phone doesn't mean that your phone has the ability to play it back, and uTorrent doesn't include a file conversion tool.As a side note, uTorrent's parent company, BitTorrent, has also been promoting its free content site Vodo as a place where people can get legally distributed torrents. All this combined with hardware partners for later in the year indicates a strong push from BitTorrent to convert the torrent from a tool of theft in the eyes of many to an expedient way to get content.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[CES: Verizon readies smart home service for 'nominal' fee]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=ces-verizon-readies-smart-home-service-for-nominal-fee</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=ces-verizon-readies-smart-home-service-for-nominal-fee</comments>
<pubDate>Thu, 06 Jan 2011 08:10:48 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>yeroppy</dc:creator>
<category>Eco</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=ces-verizon-readies-smart-home-service-for-nominal-fee</guid>
<description><![CDATA[LAS VEGAS--Verizon atCES is showing off a home energy and security service it expects to roll out later this year priced for the &quot;mass market.&quot;Starting later this quarter, Verizon will start a trial of the Home Monitoring and Control service to its broadband customers in New Jersey, followed by a broader rollout, a company executive said here yesterday.Verizon's home monitoring and control service (photos) View the full galleryThe company will offer a couple of starter kits, with one focused on home security and the other on energy. An associated monthly fee will be &quot;nominal&quot; and priced for broad usage, said Hassane Bouhia, group manager at Verizon Broadband Solutions. With the service, consumers can go to Verizon's portal and get information on home energy use and set up different modes, such as &quot;home,&quot; &quot;away,&quot; or &quot;night.&quot; From the TV, smart phone, or PC, people can choose one of the settings to adjust the thermostat, security settings, or other networked appliances, such as lights.To make it work, people will need to purchase Z-Wave-enabled equipment, such as a wireless thermostat, Z-Wave to Wi-Fi gateway, and a dongle that lets consumers control a plugged-in appliance. The security kit will include a Wi-Fi Webcam. To get the whole home's electricity use, Verizon will also be selling a clamp that fits onto a home's circuit breaker box. With that installed (typically by a professional electrician), people can view their electricity usage over different periods and, from the portal, access home efficiency tips from sources such as the Department of Energy or the EPA, explained Bougia.Consumers can purchase many of the hardware components from other companies already but Verizon has tested them and is designing its Web portal to make it easy to configure them, he added. Verizon expects that the energy service will appeal to energy-conscious consumers, but the services will be customizable.The smart or connected home already appears to be a strong theme here at CES. Although there are a number of smart grid companies trying to bring home energy management to customers through utilities, making these services available through broadband providers could end up being an easier path to market. <br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Apple support company sues customer for complaining]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=apple-support-company-sues-customer-for-complaining</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=apple-support-company-sues-customer-for-complaining</comments>
<pubDate>Sun, 02 Jan 2011 08:10:01 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>yeroppy</dc:creator>
<category>Mobile &amp; Electronics</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=apple-support-company-sues-customer-for-complaining</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Returning to my inbox after the New Year's break, I found it full of Greeks bearing rifts.The national press, the tech blogosphere, even normal, ordinary human beings on Twitter are railing against Systemgraph, a support company officially approved by Apple to be its reseller and authorized service provider.Dimitris Papadimitriadis, a physician in Greece, was apparently having a little trouble with his iMac, so he took it to Systemgraph in order to enjoy its authorized servicing skills.According to the Greek newspaper Proto Thema, Papadimitriadis discovered dark patches on the screen of his machine. As Papadimitriadis describes the story, Systemgraph recommended an interior and exterior cleaning, as well as a replacement of the LCD panel. However, when he came back to pick up his computer, he felt it was in an even worse state.There were, allegedly, now spots of moisture behind the screen and the LCD panel wasn't, according to Papamitriadis, fixed either. Systemgraph allegedly offered to perform another service, although Papadimitriadis felt he had lost confidence in Systemgraph's servicing abilities.So, in his words (translated by Yahoo): &quot;I insisted that such computer ceases to be credible and relied on Article 540 of the Civil Code and section 5 of Act 2251, pursuant to which I have legal right to ask for a refund or replacement with my new PC under warranty.&quot;(Credit:Screenshot: Chris Matyszczyk/CNET)He claims Systemgraph refused because the iMac wasn't bought there. Papadimitriadis insisted he had followed the procedures set out at Apple.com. And he says he took his case to the consumer ombudsman, although that is a lengthy process. Clearly, there wasn't going to be accord here. But it was what transpired next that has captured Greece's imagination.Papadimitriadis posted his story on a forum, something that seems to have upset Systemgraph. For the company has sued him for 200,000 euros (about $267,000), claiming he damaged its reputation. His post, as translated by Google, does not seem to offer harsh or emotive language. The most anyone who has reported on the case claims is that Papadimitriadis described Systemgraph as &quot;dodgy.&quot;However, there were clearly human emotions involved here. Systemgraph reportedly claims that Papdimitriadis was &quot;rude and aggressive.&quot; And yet there is reportedly to be a court hearing on January 19. The company reportedly claims in its complaint that, given that the issue has spread to the Web, this is &quot;an organised attempt to slander and insult&quot; its very fine name.This will be, I am told by Greek correspondents, the first time a Greek company has taken a customer to court for something written online.Papadimitriadis is currently enjoying huge sympathy on Twitter, where the Systemgraph is extremely active with mentions of the Streisand Effect. One poster, Marq Riley, even offered: &quot;In defense of Systemgraph, their feelings were very hurt. 200,000 Euros is a bargain considering how hurt their feelings were.&quot;Yet one can hardly imagine that this would have happened had the friction not been exacerbated even more than that between the fans at your average Greek basketball game.Perhaps Systemgraph believes that it will somehow manage to clean its already tarnished reputation slightly better than Papadimitriadis claims it cleaned his iMac, with the help of a kindly judge. However, hasn't the damage largely been done If the company succeeds in squeezing 200,000 euros from Papadimitriadis, will people rush to have their iMacs serviced there Or will they avoid Systemgraph just in case one of its no doubt talented service personnel is having a very bad dayAnd what if you're Apple Do you enjoy the spectacle of one of your authorized servicing companies attempting to sue one of its customers out of its last stethoscope Or might you suggest that, given that your company ethos is all about delighting its customers no matter what, you don't want to be associated with such a leaden-headed course of legal actionI have contacted Apple to hear their perspective on matters and will update, should I hear from them.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Week in review: Apple increases 2011 iPhone shipments]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=week-in-review-apple-increases-2011-iphone-shipments</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=week-in-review-apple-increases-2011-iphone-shipments</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 30 Nov -001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>yeroppy</dc:creator>
<category>Latest News</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=week-in-review-apple-increases-2011-iphone-shipments</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Herea4a4s our roundup of the weeka4a4s tech business news (shorter than usual since therea4a4s not exactly a flood of news between Christmas and New Yeara4a4s). First, the most popular stories VentureBeat published in the last seven days:Apple increases Q1 2011 iPhone shipments, includes Verizon-ready CDMA iPhone &amp;8212' Apple expects to ship 1 to 2 million more iPhones in the first quarter of 2011 than it originally planned, including those ready for Verizona4a4s cellular network, according to Taiwan-based component suppliers.6 social media business trends to watch out for in 2011 &amp;8212' Social media is a field that changes almost constantly. NetProspexa4a4s Gary Halliwell writes that 2011 will be just as turbulent, but hea4a4s put together six trends that should help entrepreneurs make the most of this marketing opportunity.Meet the HTC Thunderbolt, Verizona4a4s first LTE 4G phone &amp;8212' It looks like we wona4a4t have to wait until next weeka4a4s Consumer Electronics Show to check out Verizona4a4s first 4G phone. HTCa4a4s Thunderbolt Android smartphone was outed this week.Y Combinator-backed Humble Bundle sells $1.8M worth of indie games &amp;8212' The second Humble Indie Bundle, a batch of games that players can purchase for whatever amount they want to pay, has raked in a not-quite-so-humble $1.82 million after being on sale for a little more than a week a4&quot; and its host might be looking at a nice $90,000 tip for its efforts.And here are four more posts we think are important, thought-provoking, fun, or all of the above:VentureBeata4a4s top 10 VC startup fundings in 2010 &amp;8212' It was the best of times, it was the worst of times a4&quot; at least for Silicon Valley startups in 2010.Gain Fitness wants to start your gym resolution early &amp;8212' VentureBeata4a4s Owen Thomas has been on a serious fitness kick, and he says he has a new problem: His current set of fitness apps, geared around watching calories and tracking workouts, dona4a4t seem ready to take him to the next level. Enter Gain Fitness.Winklevoss twins on Facebook lawsuit: Ita4a4s not about the money &amp;8212' Recent coverage of Cameron and Tyler Winklevossa4a4 dispute with Facebook sheds some light on why the company hasna4a4t managed to make the lawsuit go away. It looks like the dispute is less about money and more about credit.Tesla stock drops 16 percent, analysts pile on worries &amp;8212' As VentureBeat suggested, the entry of new shares onto the market Monday has caused Teslaa4a4s stock to drop.Previous Story: Entrepreneur Corner: A look ahead to 2011PrintEmailTwitterFacebookGoogle BuzzLinkedIn      DiggStumbleUponRedditDeliciousGoogleMore&amp;8230'          Tags: HTC Thunderbolt, Humble Indie Bundle, iPhoneCompanies: Apple, Facebook, Gain Fitness, HTC, Humble Bundle, NetProspex, Tesla Motors, VerizonPeople: Cameron Winklevoss, Tyler Winklevoss          Tags: HTC Thunderbolt, Humble Indie Bundle, iPhoneCompanies: Apple, Facebook, Gain Fitness, HTC, Humble Bundle, NetProspex, Tesla Motors, VerizonPeople: Cameron Winklevoss, Tyler WinklevossAnthony is a senior editor at VentureBeat, as well as its reporter on media, advertising, and social networks. Before joining the site in 2008, Anthony worked at the Hollister Free Lance, where he won awards from the California Newspaper Publishers Association for breaking news coverage and writing. He attended Stanford University and now lives in San Francisco. Reach him at anthony@venturebeat.com. (All story pitches should also be sent to tips@venturebeat.com) You can also follow Anthony on Twitter.VentureBeat has new weekly email newsletters.  Stay on top of the news, and don't miss a beat.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[With Amazon Tote, Amazon.com wants to set a weekly shopping date]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=with-amazon-tote-amazon-com-wants-to-set-a-weekly-shopping-date</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=with-amazon-tote-amazon-com-wants-to-set-a-weekly-shopping-date</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 30 Nov -001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>yeroppy</dc:creator>
<category>Latest News</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=with-amazon-tote-amazon-com-wants-to-set-a-weekly-shopping-date</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Jeff Bezos, the CEO of Amazon.com, goes on and on about how much he loves his customers. But he&amp;'d like you to up your commitment level.That&amp;'s the rationale behind the apparently planned expansion of AmazonTote, a weekly free delivery service, as reported in the Financial Times and elsewhere. Even today, the bulk of Amazon&amp;'s customers turn to Amazon.com for holiday gift-giving and purchases of physical media, as its financials show. Amazon.com wants to expand customers&amp;' online shopping into everyday household goods, like diapers, paper towels, and laundry detergent.Because AmazonTote has only been operating in the Seattle area, there are a lot of misconceptions out there, leading to faulty reporting. AmazonTote offers doorstep deliveries, but not of perishable groceries like milk, as Mashable has suggested. New Yorkers, predictably, have compared it to FreshDirect, a local meat-and-produce delivery service. And those with long memories have said it&amp;'s Webvan 2.0, recalling the famous flameout of a nationwide online grocery-delivery service.Adding to the confusion, AmazonTote is managed by AmazonFresh LLC, an Amazon.com subsidiary which also happens to deliver perishable food items in the Seattle area.But groceries are the wrong way think about AmazonTote. What it really is: another way to get items to customers faster, cheaper, and more reliably, like Amazon Prime, its free-shipping subscription plan, or Super Saver Shipping, where most purchases over $25 can get shipped slowly for free. With AmazonTote, customers are assigned a delivery day, and at some point during the course of the day, they&amp;'ll get their orders delivered in velcro-sealed tote bags. It&amp;'s pretty obviously not designed for perishable items, since you can&amp;'t pick a time slot.What&amp;'s really interesting is the expansion of AmazonTote in connection with Amazon.com&amp;'s purchase of Quidsi, the parent of Diapers.com and Soap.com, which offers free shipping of frequently consumed household items. Before buying Quidsi, Amazon.com introduced Amazon Mom, a competing free-shipping program for similar merchandise.Besides expanding the kind of items customers purchase and upping the frequency of their buys, AmazonTote could ultimately give Amazon a better handle on shipping costs, a major expense. In the Seattle area, Amazon uses its own trucks to fulfill AmazonTote deliveries, bypassing the postal service, UPS and FedEx. It also doesn&amp;'t pack items in boxes, reducing another cost.The one question, as Amazon.com expands its own delivery services, is whether it will have to collect sales taxes where it rolls trucks, a burden it has so far escaped. (States can impose sales taxes on out-of-state deliveries, but can&amp;'t force retailers to collect them, and most consumers don&amp;'t bother to pay voluntarily.) Amazon may conclude that some kind of sales-tax reform is inevitable. And with the likes of Walmart expanding in-store pickup of online orders, Amazon will face more competition on the convenience front. That will be Amazon&amp;'s new sales pitch: What are you buying this weekNext Story: Facebook CTO: 2011 is all about mobile and HTML5 Previous Story: On the GreenBeat: Zero builds electric motorcycle plant, SmartSynch debuts prepaid electricityPrintEmailTwitterFacebookGoogle BuzzLinkedIn      DiggStumbleUponRedditDeliciousGoogleMore&amp;8230'          Tags: AmazonFresh, AmazonTote, e commerceCompanies: Amazon.com, Quidsi, WalmartPeople: Jeff Bezos          Tags: AmazonFresh, AmazonTote, e commerceCompanies: Amazon.com, Quidsi, WalmartPeople: Jeff BezosOwen Thomas is the executive editor of VentureBeat. Have news to share Launching a startup Email: tips@venturebeat.comVentureBeat has new weekly email newsletters.  Stay on top of the news, and don't miss a beat.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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