Beth Cox

RealNetworks, which just last month launched a digital media universal server called Helix for the enterprise, released a new version of its RealOne Player, upgraded to offer playback of every major digital media format. The Seattle-based company said the new version plays RealAudio, RealVideo, MP3, Windows Media and Apple’s QuickTime MPEG-4, and more than 50 […]

Online travel company Expedia, which took a giant step into the corporate travel arena last month with the acquisition of Seattle-based business travel firm Metropolitan Travel, is following up with the formation of a business travel advisory board. The Bellevue, Wash.-based company said that its new Expedia Corporate Advisory Board (ECAB) is aimed at getting […]

The TV ads have this retro ’70s look, and the online image is almost sepia-tone, but the pitch methodology is as up-to-date as the latest developments in nanotech. The TV and online campaign for Kraft Foods’ new Altoids Sours (think citrus, not mint, round tins, not rectangles) mimics the look of vintage high school educational […]

Credit reporting giant Equifax is acquiring consumer profile and e-marketing company Naviant in a $135 million deal that will allow for the combination of both companies’ extensive databases. Naviant’s e-mail database consists of more than 100 million unique permission-based addresses, following its merger last year with eDirect. “Naviant accelerates our strategy of growth through the […]

“CHEAP CIGARETTE PRICES WITH FREE DELIVERY!!!!!! $9.95 Generic, $15.50 Premiums, No Joke!! Marlboro, Winston, Camel, Newport” Chances are if you’ve been on the Internet for more than a nanosecond or so, you’ve received spam like this. And guess what? So has the government, and they are not amused. In fact, state governments are said to […]

Yet another bug has been found in Microsoft’s Internet Explorer browser, this one said to potentially allow the theft of data from consumers who are banking online or shopping at e-commerce Web sites. Microsoft is investigating, but has yet to make a formal statement or issue a fix. One security expert was quoted as saying […]

Recovering Internet real estate operation Homestore managed to cut its second-quarter loss despite reduced revenues as it continues to restructure following an accounting scandal over the recording of ad revenues. The Westlake Village, Calif.-based company , whose stock is below $1 a share, said revenues were down 15 percent year-over-year at $65.9 million for the […]

Taking another step to build up its online travel business, Cendant is acquiring hotel site Lodging.com, which offers unpublished, discounted rates at approximately 3,000 hotels, mostly in North America and the Caribbean. Financial specifics of the all-cash deal were not disclosed but New York City-based Cendant said the transaction is expected to be accretive to […]

Making good on its 11-month-old technology deal with Amazon.com, discount store retailer Target launched an upgraded e-commerce site with merchandise not only from its own inventory and Amazon’s, but also from Marshall Fields and Mervyn’s. The site – Target.com — is powered by technology from Seattle-based Amazon , which signed a partner deal with Target […]

Competition from online travel companies, many of which are offering low price guarantees, is likely to garner revenues of about $15.5 billion in 2006, up from an estimated $3.8 billion in 2000, according to a new industry study. The report, prepared by Bear Stearns , predicts that most of the growth will go to third-party […]

“Your bid is still the highest as the auction is about to close. You wait excitedly by your computer expecting to be notified that you’ve won, but … somehow you’ve lost. In the last seconds of the auction a new bid has appeared, too late for you to respond. You’ve been sniped.” – from the […]

A new industry study, running contrary to the conventional wisdom, contends that active multi-channel shoppers are not inherently more valuable as customers and in fact may be something of a hindrance to retailers. The report from Jupiter Research, entitled “Redefining the Online Retail Consumer,” says that while 52 percent of the U.S. online population (82 […]