Friday, 2 December 2011

Today in Tech: Google creating Amazon Prime competitor

Fortune's curated selection of newsworthy tech stories from the last 24 hours. Sign up to get the round-up delivered to you every day.

* Is Google (GOOG) working on an Amazon Prime competitor? The Wall Street Journal reportsthat the Internet giant wants to tackle Amazon's successful $79-a-year program, which offers features like expedited shipping, by letting its own users order goods online and receive them within a day. (The Wall Street Journal)

Castleville-maker Zynga revealed IPO details.

* Zynga revealed in an SEC filing that it's planning to raise up to $1 billion in an IPO that might value the casual gaming company at around $7 billion. (Fortune)

* Carrier IQ, a network diagnostic tool found on many smartphones, became the subject of a mini-media firestorm after reports surfaced that the software logs user activity and relays some of that information back to wireless carriers under the guise of improving network performance. For its part, Carrier IQ says the tool only relays back info related to call quality, battery life, and device crashes and doesn't say, store or analyze text messages. (Mashable and All Things D)

* Research in Motion (RIMM) reported it would take a $485 million noncash charge in its third quarter due largely to poor BlackBerry PlayBook sales. The company has seen its shares fall nearly 70% this year alone. (The Wall Street Journal)

* It's about time: YouTube revealed a major web site redesign with big changes to its homepage and channel pages. The homepage follows a format not unlike Facebook or Google+'s, with a navigation bar on the left side that emphasizes your social network accounts and a news feed dominating the center. (TechCrunch)


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