SAN FRANCISCO, Jan 24 (Reuters) – Amazon.com Inc
said on Thursday that it acquired speech-recognition company
Ivona Software, a sign the world’s largest Internet retailer may
be looking to develop more services similar to Apple Inc’s
Siri voice-based search product.

Amazon did not say how much it paid for Ivona and an Amazon
spokeswoman declined to comment on a purchase price.

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Prosper, a leader in the fast-growing “peer-to-peer” lending sector, said on Tuesday it raised $20 million from venture capital firms led by Sequoia Capital, stepping up competition with rival Lending Club.

Prosper also named Stephan Vermut, a veteran from the hedge fund brokerage business, as its chief executive. Dawn Lepore had been serving as interim CEO since last March.

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Amazon.com Inc’s unfamiliar role as tax collector may have dented its crucial holiday quarter by reducing the online retail giant’s longstanding price advantage over its rivals in several major markets.

Sales growth in California for merchants who sold their goods via Amazon lagged growth in the rest of the country after the company began collecting state sales tax there on September 15, according to an analysis by e-commerce firm ChannelAdvisor.

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Acting as a tax collector may have hurt Amazon.com, Inc’s holiday sales analysts and industry executives said, but they expect to know more when the internet retailer reports its fourth-quarter results on January 29.

Best Buy Co., an archrival of Amazon in consumer electronics, saw holiday online sales increase in three states where Amazon started collecting sales tax ahead of the period.

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – EBay Inc reported holiday quarter results that beat Wall Street expectations as the e-commerce company benefited from a boom in mobile shoppers, but it gave a 2013 forecast in line with analyst estimates, restraining share price gains.

The stock rose 1 percent to $53.43 in after-hours trading following the announcement.

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – EBay Inc reported holiday quarter results that beat Wall Street expectations as the e-commerce company benefited from a boom in mobile shoppers, but it gave a cautious forecast for 2013, restraining share price gains.

The stock rose 1 percent to $53.43 in after-hours trading following the announcement.

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – EBay Inc reported holiday quarter results that just beat Wall Street expectations, but the e-commerce company also gave a cautious forecast for 2013.

EBay shares climbed 1.2 percent to $53.53 in after-hours trading following the announcement.

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – PayPal took another step in its effort to expand in the physical retail world on Tuesday, unveiling a partnership with ATM company NCR Corp that will get the payment service into restaurants and gas stations.

PayPal, the dominant online payment business owned by eBay Inc, said its mobile service will be integrated with NCR’s point-of-sale, or POS, technology to allow diners to pay for their meal at restaurants using a smartphone.

SAN FRANCISCO, Jan 14 (Reuters) – PayPal unveiled new deals
with a chain of gas stations and a grocery store operator on
Monday, as the payments division of eBay Inc tries to
expand its service further into physical retail locations.

PayPal said it signed payment deals with Mapco Express, a
unit of Delek US Holdings which runs more than 440 retail
fuel and convenience stores, and Spartan Stores, which
distributes groceries to more than 400 locations, including 97
of its own stores.

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – While much of the tech world is struggling with the switch to mobile devices, eBay Inc (EBAY.O: Quote, Profile, Research) and its PayPal online payments division likely had a strong holiday season as more consumers used eBay’s apps and PayPal’s mobile payment service to shop.

EBay and PayPal forecast mobile transaction and payment volume of $10 billion for each business earlier in 2012 and they are likely to exceed that guidance when eBay reports results on Wednesday, according to analysts and investors.