WebProNews

Best Buy To Launch Online Movie Service

Best Buy said today it is partnering with online video provider CinemaNow to create a movie download service that would be built into most of the electronic devices it sells that can be connected to the Internet. Best Buy said it has entered into a multi-year agreement to license Sonic Solutions' Roxio CinemaNow technology. Under terms of the agreement, Best Buy acquired warrants enabling it to purchase shares of Sonic Solutions common stock.

Opera Turns Your Computer Into a Server

Update: Opera has released the beta version of Opera Unite in Opera 10.10 beta. Original Article: Today Opera has released a product (as promised), which it claims reinvents the web. That may seem like an exaggerated statement, but it's an interesting concept nonetheless.

Amazon Introduces PayPhrase

Amazon.com has introduced "PayPhrase," a new shortcut for making purchases at the online retailer and other websites. PayPhrase works by allowing users to choose their own phrase along with a PIN and then set up their shipping information, which is stored at Amazon. Amazon customers can use PayPhrase to make purchases at any websites that offers Checkout by Amazon, such as DNKY, Patagonia, Buy.com and J&R Electronics.

UPS Launches App For iPhone Users

UPS has introduced a new application for iPhone and iPod touch users that ships and tracks packages and also uses built-in GPS features to find the closest UPS store. Available at the APP Store, the new UPS Mobile APP for iPhone allows users to track shipments, create shipments using the My UPS address book, calculate shipping rates and time-in-transit.

Online Retailers To Have Better Holiday Season

Overall retail sales are expected to show no gain this holiday shopping season, while online retail sales in the U.S. will reach $44.7 billion during the holiday season, an eight percent increase over last year, according to a new report by Forrester Research. The growth rate represents an increase from 2008, when, on the heels of the global financial crisis, online holiday retail sales in the U.S. grew just five percent. Forrester defines the holiday shopping season as months of November and December.

Microsoft Partners With OpenX On Ad Deal

Microsoft has entered into a partnership with advertising start-up OpenX, focused on promoting each other's products to their respective customer base. Under the terms of the multiyear agreement, OpenX will expand its distribution of its technology for delivering ads on websites. In addition, OpenX will promote Microsoft's Content Ads monetization products.

Mobile Phone Market Shows Signs Of Improvement

The global mobile phone market saw slight growth in the third quarter, according to IDC's Worldwide Mobile Phone Tracker. Year-on-year growth remained negative, but improved from the first half of 2009. Mobile shipments totaled 287.1 million units worldwide in Q3, down from 6 percent from the previous year, but up 5.6 percent from the second quarter.

ICANN Approves International Domains

The first Internet addresses with non-Latin characters will soon be online after today's approval of the new Internationalized Domain Name Fast Track Process by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). "The coming introduction of non-Latin characters represents the biggest technical change to the Internet since it was created four decades ago," said ICANN chairman Peter Dengate Thrush.

Usage of Mobile Web and Apps Doubles in 2 Years

According to AdMob, which claims it is the world's largest mobile advertising platform, mobile web and application use has doubled over the past two years. In September, the firm received over 100 million ad requests from 14 countries, and over 10 million ad requests from 64 countries. AdMob released its Mobile Metrics report for September, which highlights the rapid growth in usage of mobile web sites and apps on new devices in the past year.

Customer Satisfaction With ISPs Rises

Overall consumer satisfaction with high-speed Internet service providers (ISPs) has increased from 2008, mainly due to improvements in performance and reliability, according to a new report by J.D. Power and Associates. The study measures customer satisfaction with high-speed Internet service based on five factors: performance and reliability; cost of service; customer service; billing; and offerings and promotions.