Amazon & Wal*Mart Drop Prices to Lure Holiday Customers: MediaBytes with Shelly Palmer November 24, 2009

Amazon & Wal*Mart Drop Prices to Lure Holiday Customers: MediaBytes with Shelly Palmer November 24, 2009
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Wal-Mart and Amazon are in the midst of an epic Holiday season rivalry. Both retailers are holding massive holiday sales, with both companies dropping prices of popular gifts after the competitor. In the cautious market, Amazon and Wal-Mart are trying to take advantage of their ability to create lower prices, a benefit for all consumers.

Sony announced that it will open a digital store to sell books, digital music and movies. Currently dubbed Sony Online Service, the virtual store will be able to be accessed via Sony's internet connected Bravia televisions, as well as other web connected devices. The new service will also be compatible with the PS3.

A new report says that while Lady Gaga's "Poker Face" has been played over a million times on Spotify, the artist has only collected $167 from the service. The meager royalty check from the Swedish copyright organization STIM is another logisitcal step back in the advancement of free, streaming media. Expect publishers to work long and hard to figure out how to properly get paid before Spotify opens up shop in the US.

AT&T is offering customers the chance to buy prepaid data plans. The DataConnect Pass will offer several subscriptions, the cheapest being a 75MB/daily pass for $15. While the packages are available, it is still cheaper for customers to purchase data with their wireless plan.

Shelly Palmer is a consultant and the host of MediaBytes with Shelly Palmer a daily show featuring news you can use about technology, media & entertainment. He is Managing Director of Advanced Media Ventures Group LLC and the author of Television Disrupted: The Transition from Network to Networked TV. Shelly is also President of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. You can join the MediaBytes mailing list here. Shelly can be reached at shelly@palmer.net For information about Get Digital Classes, visit www.shellypalmer.com/seminars

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