Amazon setting up first "fulfillment center" in India (Reuters)

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) ? Amazon.com Inc is setting up its first "fulfillment center" in India as the world's largest Internet retailer tries to break into the world's second most-populous nation.

Fulfillment centers are giant warehouses that help Amazon and other online retailers store many products, ship them and handle returns quickly.

The fulfillment center is based in Mumbai, the biggest city in the country, according to job listings on Amazon's India careers website.

Amazon "has an immediate opening for an IT Manager in our first Fulfillment Center based out in Mumbai, India," one recent listing said.

Another recent Amazon job posting sought a "Stations Operations Manager" to work for the fulfillment center team in Mumbai.

Amazon was also recently looking for a financial analyst in Mumbai to report to a general manager and controller and help the fulfillment center operate more efficiently and predictably.

Amazon spent heavily last year setting up more than 10 new fulfillment centers in the United States. The company also lists fulfillment centers in China, Germany, Japan and the U.K. on its website, but currently lists none in India.

Fulfillment centers cost a lot to set up, so Amazon's efforts to start one in India signals the company is serious about getting into the country's $550 billion retail market.

"While it has been speculated that Amazon would be expanding internationally, it seems that the international expansion plans have been accelerating," said Ben Schachter, an analyst at Macquarie. "Last year, they launched a country-specific site in Spain and now it looks like India could be next."

An Amazon spokeswoman did not respond to emails seeking comment on the company's plans for India.

Amazon has software development centers in Bangalore, Chennai and Hyderabad and a customer-service center in Hyderabad.

Shoppers in India can also buy products from Amazon websites in other countries and have the items shipped to them. But the company does not have a dedicated online retail business in India yet.

That has allowed e-commerce start-ups, led by Flipkart, to expand quickly in India.

"India is a tremendously large potential market for Amazon," said Mahesh Murthy, a venture capital investor in India and founder of digital marketing start-up Pinstorm.

"In fact, from the metrics we see, Amazon currently gets more traffic from India than Flipkart does, even though the former has no formal presence in India," he added.

Amazon already does a lot of business in India through its U.K. website, amazon.co.uk, because the company offers free shipping and handles customs for all books, music and DVDs bought from that site and shipped to India, Murthy said.

"But this would be significantly smaller than what Amazon could do if it came with a full offering into India," he added.

(Reporting By Alistair Barr; editing by Andre Grenon)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/asia/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120120/wr_nm/us_amazon_india

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Google results fall short, rare miss hurts shares (Reuters)

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) ? Google Inc's quarterly results fell short of Wall Street's heightened expectations for the holiday season as declining search advertising rates contributed to a rare miss, triggering a 9 percent slide in its shares.

The No. 1 Internet search engine underperformed on both revenue and earnings in the fourth quarter, disappointing investors who had counted on record U.S. online-commerce to prop up results.

Its shares dived to about $583 in after-hours trade, from the Nasdaq close of $639.57 before the results. Several analysts zeroed in on an 8 percent drop in cost-per-click, or money paid by advertisers to the company, versus analyst estimates of a slight increase.

"Expectations had got ahead of themselves for Google, largely because investors don't have a good feel for what happens outside the U.S.," said Stifel Nicolaus analyst Jordan Rohan. "North America has remained strong, but there are parts of the world where there's a lot of economic pressure.

"I would have to assume Europe -- particularly Germany and some others undergoing austerity measures -- the underlying demand in those countries is weak."

Google's net revenue, which excludes fees shared with partner websites, was $8.13 billion in the fourth quarter, versus $6.37 billion a year earlier. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S were looking for $8.4 billion.

That shortfall marks an unusual slip-up for a company that has exceeded Wall Street's revenue targets for eight consecutive quarters.

The number of clicks on Google's search ads increased sharply during the last three months of the year, but the cost per clicks -- the money that Google charges advertisers for the ads -- decreased 8 percent from the third quarter and 8 percent from the year ago period.

Executives on a conference call blamed foreign currency effects and changes in ad quality formats.

EXPENSES SWELL AGAIN

Operating expenses increased to 32 percent of revenue during the fourth quarter, from 30 percent of revenue in the year-ago quarter.

Google said on Thursday it earned $2.71 billion, or $8.22 per share, in the fourth quarter, compared with $2.54 billion, or $7.81 per share, a year earlier.

Excluding certain items, Google earned $9.50 per share, lagging estimates for $10.49 a share.

Some analysts questioned whether Google was investing heavily on projects -- such as its Android mobile software or Chrome Internet browser -- at the expense of the bottom line.

Another new initiative -- the fledgling Google+ -- appeared to be gaining momentum. Executives said three-fifths of the service's estimated 90 million users "engage" with it daily, and four-fifths do so weekly. User engagement or time spent on the social network, which Google hopes can eventually take on Facebook, is key to determining future revenue potential.

"Google+ investments are showing some results. They are investing in future revenue growth," said Global Equities Research analyst Trip Chowdhry.

For now, Wall Street wants answers on Google's mobile strategy as it dives into a fiercely competitive smartphone market through its $12.5 billion acquisition of Motorola.

Investors have been uneasy about Google's plans to buy Motorola, a deal the companies expect to close early this year. Chief Executive Larry Page has never fully detailed his long-term strategy for the asset other than saying it will be run as a separate company. Analysts say the company fears alienating Samsung Electronics and other Motorola rivals that helped Android become the world's foremost mobile-software system.

Executives said more than 250 million devices powered by Android had been activated since its inception.

"Google got hit with the ugly stick," said Fort Pitt Capital analyst Kim Forrest. "You've got to ask yourself, 'Where is the money going? What are they spending it on?' I have a feeling it is on platforms like Chrome and Android, and things like that."

(Reporting by Alexei Oreskovic in San Francisco; Editing by Phil Berlowitz, Edwin Chan and Steve Orlofsky)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/business/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120120/bs_nm/us_google

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PFT: Bengals WR Simpson indicted on drug charge

AP

Tom Brady and Bill Belichick are the constants. ?But what makes this 2011 Patriots go as opposed to teams in the past? What defines them?

We?d argue this era of Patriots football started the day they drafted Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez. Wes Welker is a great piece to the puzzle, but the tight ends make the offense unique.

While Gronk Nation and Hernandez represent a very modern way of attacking defenses, Belichick in some ways has been working with this approach since the 1970?s. As a member of the Lions coaching staff, Belichick helped pair Charlie Sanders and David Hill in a two tight end attack that was the first of its era.

?Yeah, that was really the first ? I mean, honestly there wasn?t a lot of two tight ends in the mid-70s, there really wasn?t,? Belichick told Jason Cole of Yahoo! Sports this week.

We highly recommend checking out Cole?s piece on the evolution of the two tight end attack. Hill and Sanders combined for half of the Lions? touchdowns in Hill?s rookie year of 1976. In the past, two tight ends would only be used together in short yardage situations. Sanders, a Hall of Famer, thanks Belichick every time he sees him.

?Bill always says back to me, ?No, thank you and David [Hill] for all you did,? Sanders told Cole. ?Without you guys, none of this would have happened.???

Falcons coach Mike Smith explains the matchup problems that Gronkowski and Hernandez create, calling them ?queens on the chessboard.?

?If you want to play standard personnel on defense, they flex one or both of those guys out and force you to cover them with linebackers. If you put extra defensive backs in, they line up in double-[tight end] and maul you. You never have the right personnel on the field,? Smith said.

That becomes an even bigger problem when the Patriots use their hurry up offense. Defenses can?t substitute to get the right matchups on the field.

We expect to see the Patriots play plenty of hurry up offense Sunday against Baltimore, with Gronkowski and Hernandez at the center of it all.

Source: http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/01/19/jerome-simpson-indicted-on-drug-charges/related/

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Power of Attorneys

Unlike Congress, presidents of both parties actively promote their executive prerogatives in court. The executive branch benefits from the approximately 10,000 attorneys at the Department of Justice who regularly participate in litigation defending the President?s actions. Although the Department of Justice generally makes principled and legally sound arguments, it should not be mistaken for an impartial third party. It is headed by presidential appointees, such as Attorney General Eric Holder, who serve at the pleasure of the President, and who understandably promote executive branch interests over those of Congress. These lawyers are some of the best and brightest legal minds in the country, and their carefully vetted legal arguments are highly valued by federal judges. This is particularly true in the U.S. Supreme Court, where the Justice Department participates in more than 75 percent of the cases each term, winning 60 to 70 percent of the time and playing an influential role in the Court?s selection of cases.

Source: http://feeds.slate.com/click.phdo?i=5a71d830d51fce770b9cca8cee6d61f1

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Haiti to scold 'Baby Doc' for defying house arrest

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) ? The former Haitian dictator known as "Baby Doc" has been summoned to court to be scolded for violating the terms of his house arrest by venturing outside the capital, a judge said Thursday.

"Jean-Claude Duvalier needs to be in my office by 11:05 a.m." on Friday, Judge Carves Jean told the Associated Press at his the courthouse office in downtown Port-au-Prince. "If he's not, he'll be arrested by 11:10 a.m."

Duvalier's attorney argued that his client wasn't violating the law, because no such law exists. He also said he may file a complaint against the judge.

The law "is fantasy," lawyer Reynold Georges said by telephone. The judge "can do whatever he wants but he also has to pay the consequences. I'm a snake. I don't play."

Duvalier faces criminal charges that include embezzlement, torture and murder.

After making an unexpected return to his homeland last year, Duvalier was placed under house arrest, meaning he wasn't authorized to travel outside the Port-au-Prince metropolitan area without legal consent.

The former dictator, always dressed in a navy blue suit, has been seen traveling the country, often at the wheel of a SUV. He delivered a commencement speech to law school graduates at a university in the countryside last month and has been spotted lounging on the beach.

Duvalier attended a memorial service last week that marked the two-year anniversary of the devastating earthquake. The event was hosted by President Michel Martelly and guests included former Haitian president Prosper Avril and former U.S. President Bill Clinton, the United Nations' special envoy to Haiti.

The prosecution of Duvalier has made little headway since it began last year and rights groups fear he will go unpunished.

Georges and the rest of the defense team argue there are no grounds to prosecute the former president because the statute of limitations on his alleged offenses has expired.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2012-01-19-CB-Haiti-Duvalier/id-f838496bcf7540a9aa6b996dc534ac79

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Experts see tough road for Kodak to reinvent self (AP)

CHICAGO ? Even in bankruptcy, Kodak boasts some enviable strengths: a golden brand, technology firepower that includes a rich collection of photo patents, and more than $4 billion in annual sales of digital cameras, printers, and inks.

But all that may not be enough to revive its declining fortunes in a Chapter 11 overhaul. Kodak is at a crossroads: It could to go the way of fallen Montgomery Ward and Circuit City, two corporate names that never recovered from long declines. Or Kodak could prosper after bankruptcy like General Motors.

Of the many restructuring experts interviewed by The Associated Press on Thursday, none are optimistic that Kodak can make a strong comeback.

Selling select business lines and patents and making the right bets on a limited number of new technology products could allow the Eastman Kodak Co. to survive, several experts said. But none see a path back to anything close to the glory days of the former photography titan.

"You can pick your metaphor: `Stick a fork in them,' `They're over the cliff' -- they're done," said Bill Brandt, chief executive of turnaround consultant Development Specialists Inc. in Chicago. "The Kodak as we know it is done, unequivocally."

The company's only hope, Brandt said, is to reinvent itself as an intellectual property company. But first it will have to put its patent portfolio up for sale and determine whether it wants to sell them based on what's offered, he said, or retain them and try to remake the company over a period of years.

Kodak said only that it has appointed a chief restructuring officer to head the effort: Dominic DiNapoli, vice president of FTI Consulting. It expects to complete its U.S.-based restructuring next year.

Whatever the company does now is likely to be too little, too late, said Gary Adelson, managing director of turnaround firm NHB Advisors in Los Angeles.

"I can't imagine a big future for Kodak," said Adelson, who thinks the company should just sell its assets. "I think it's going to be another one of those companies that didn't make the transition to the future."

Some experts think the company can get by once it cuts debt by reducing pension and employee benefit costs in bankruptcy, then disposes of its least valuable products.

Only a much leaner, more focused Kodak can survive, said Haresh Sapra, an accounting professor and bankruptcy specialist at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. "They probably should go back to basics and focus on one or two of those business lines that are self-sustaining," he said.

The primary hope lies in digital businesses that generated some $4.5 billion in revenue last year, an amount Kodak said accounted for about 75 percent of total sales. That includes consumer devices such as self-service photo kiosks, printers and high-volume document scanners.

"If they can take their existing products and improve them and make them much cheaper, I see no reason why the company can't emerge with a healthier balance sheet," said Edward Neiger, a partner at New York bankruptcy law firm Neiger LLP. "It's going to be a shell of what the old company was, but I don't think they need to liquidate."

In a statement accompanying the Chapter 11 filing on Thursday, the company touted its "pioneering investments in digital and materials deposition technologies" in recent years.

The best-case scenario for Kodak in the long run may be to end up like Polaroid, suggested Eli Lehrer, who heads the nonprofit Heartland Institute's Center on Finance, Insurance and Real Estate in Washington. The company long known for its instant-film cameras stopped making them and filed for bankruptcy in 2008. The Polaroid name, however, lives on under private ownership, albeit as a much smaller firm.

Kodak has a better brand name, Lehrer said, although "That doesn't necessarily translate to people keeping their jobs, or stockholders keeping anything."

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/personaltech/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120119/ap_on_hi_te/us_kodak_how_to_fix

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Google+ for Business is Good Business - @ChrisBrogan Book Review

Google+ has been on the lips of every online marketing professional since early 2011. ?With a base that has now passed 62 million users?and the integration of Google+ into Google search,?it has become clear that Google+ is here to stay.

As this new social platform continues to evolve it may be difficult to keep up with the latest trends, changes, and tactics for creating an optimized and influential Google+ profile for you and your business. ?With recent events and the release of Chris Brogan?s new book ?Google+ for Business: How Google?s Social Network Changes Everything? Lee and I thought it seemed a good time to compile some helpful tips of our own and some from Chris?s new book to help professionals take some of the fear and uncertainty out of using Google+.

Author Information in Search Results

I?m sure over the last couple of months you?ve noticed author information included in Google search results. ?This feature displays a photo of the author as well as an opportunity to add them to your Google+ circles. ?Getting Author information to appear in the search results next to content that you create can be accomplished a few ways.

Google suggests adding your name and your email address to each article or blog post and then verifying that same email address within your Google+ profile. ?The other option is a good old fashioned link exchange between the content you create and your Google+ profile. Add a Google Profile button to your site or manually add the link using:?<a href=?[profile_url]?rel=author?>Google</a> and replace the [profile_url] with the long id in your Google+ profile web address. Then make sure you link to the sites that you contribute to from your Google+ Profile in the area called ?Contribute to?.?Once you do that, there?s a form you need to fill out.

Google Plus for Search

Many SEO professionals and Marketers were up in arms after last weeks release of Google+ search functionality. ?It appears that Google is favoring it?s own content over others. ?Google does include information from some networks such as Quora or Flickr, but at this point is excluding popular social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter. ?What does this mean for marketers?

Take full advantage of these changes and post useufl information on your Google+ profile or company page that are relevant to your business and the business problems of your customers. Engage with others and be useful and interesting so that as many other relevant users of Google+ add you to their circles as possible. The larger your network on Google+, the more likely your content will appear prominently in their search results.

?Where Google+ Fits in the Business Ecosystem?

Outside of the obvious need to have a presence in Google+ for search visibility, there are other good reasons for professionals to leverage the social network. In his book, Chris Brogan expresses that how a company uses Google+ for business is up to them, and that there are many opportunities to consider when building a Google+ strategy. ?The suggestions in the book are pretty much best practices for any kind of social network involvement and with all the attention being paid to Google+ the past few months it?s a good time to review. Some of the ways you may want to consider using Google+ for your business or professional online presence include:

• Collaboration
• Learning
• Discovery
• Community Building
• Contests & Promotions
• Customer Service
• Engagement
• Listening
• Referrals
• Sharing

?The Most Important Part of Your Profile: The Introduction?

Building out your Google+ profile is essential for how people perceive your brand. Google+ for Business puts special emphasis on creating a stellar introduction for Google+ profiles. ?The introduction field in you Google+ profile should include:

• Professional Experience: ?give your potential customers an idea of what it might look like to work with them.
• Personal Information: this will inform prospects what matters most to you outside of business.
• Linking: do not stuff your profile with links but be sure to link to outside resources where appropriate.

?Posting to Build Connections?

If part of your marketing strategy is to connect with interesting or influential people, Google+ this is a good way to inspire creativity in your own content. ?Some helpful tips for creating content to drive connections would include:

• Source information from websites that are not always sources. ?Posting interesting information from a more obscure sight is likely to catch the attention of new followers.
• Original content that takes a different stance from the majority of users is likely to get you some attention.
• Curiosity drives traffic, share some interesting knowledge that you have about something you care about such as music or film.

There is a wealth of information being created each day on optimizing, creating content, and socializing using Google+. ?Over the next few months Google will only continue to roll out changes to their Google+ platform and either by incentive or usefulness, Google+ will grow.

What are your most pressing questions about Google+? Has your business created a page yet? How are you getting your staff on board with Google+ profiles or are you focusing more on your brand page?

Be sure to connect with TopRank Online Marketing on Google+ here.

Source: http://www.toprankblog.com/2012/01/5-things-google-plus/

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