Norton Medical and Scientific Research & Biotechnology: EU, US Greenlit Google-Motorola Deal

http://norton-scientificmedical.com/resources/2012/02/20/norton-medical-and-scientific-research-biotechnology-eu-us-greenlit-google-motorola-deal/


US regulators have given their go-signal for Google to buy Motorola Mobility for USD 12.5 billion but warned that they will strictly monitor the former to make sure that key patents to telecom sector will be licensed at reasonable prices.
The European Commission approved of the acquisition as well for the regulators do not see it as a threat to fair competition. But the deal is far from being over as approval from officials in Taiwan, Israel and China are still pending.
Google's intention to purchase the tablet, mobile phone and set-top box maker Motorola was announced in August 2011. Their Android platform is already leading the competition for top operating system being used in web-capable smartphones.
This potential acquisition (possibly the biggest in the history of Google) wills the company's most critical foray into the hardware industry where it has very little experience.
But Google has already announced that they plan to run Motorola Mobility as a separate unit.
However, an EU Commissioner has expressed worry over the possibility that Google will abuse the patents and dominate the market underhandedly.
This can be done through Google making it hard for new technologies to be used by others through making it unprofitable for others to adopt the technologies. That is precisely what observers are worried about as it will surely bring an antitrust probe later on.
Chinese regulators are given until the 20th of March to decide if they will approve the deal or commence a third stage of review.
Google's decision to purchase Motorola came briefly after they failed in acquiring Nortel's patents. They were later bought by a consortium led by Apple, Microsoft, Ericsson and Sony, EMC and RIM. The group paid USD 4.5 billion for 6,000 patents and patent applications.
Google has openly admitted that they are interested in Motorola mainly because of the latter's 17,000 patents (and 7,500 patent applications) as it gears to go head-to-head with Apple and protect Android manufacturers from patent litigation.
It also appears that the search engine giant is serious in their goal of delving into the hardware business. Just like what Apple has been doing, Google might want to have a hand on both the hardware and software facets of their products. This will allow them to develop their own line of smartphones eventually.
With Motorola's technology in set-top box, Google will be in the position to shift into the home entertainment service that includes TV.
Up until now, Google has been in a disadvantage in terms of litigation. However, having all these patents on their possession might just turn the tables in their favor.

Norton Medical and Scientific Research & Biotechnology: Transistors the Size of One Atom Created

http://norton-scientificmedical.com/resources/2012/03/21/norton-medical-and-scientific-research-biotechnology-transistors-the-size-of-one-atom-created/ 



A transistor made up of only one atom has been made, according to a report published this month in Nature Nanotechnology. Physicists have built a working transistor using just one phosphorus atom accurately placed in a silicon crystal.
A group of researchers from Australia, US and South Korea have cooperated in creating a single-atom transistor from a single phosphorus atom in silicon.
According to researchers of Purdue University who already did digital simulations of transistors, this technique that utilizes liquid nitrogen-cooled device can only be possible at very low temperatures of negative 391 F.
It is made possible through manipulating single atoms in a scanning tunneling microscope. In the past, silicon's atomic structure has made it hard to engineer circuits using STMs in an atomic scale. What they used is a combination of etching and STM to make a transistor with an accurate location on a silicon surface.
A transistor is the device that can switch and/or amplify an electronic signal, provided that it is connected to an external circuit by at least 3 terminals. Transistors are made of semiconductor materials and are basically crucial in today's lifestyle for they are part of almost every electronic device we have like mobile phones and computers.
Ordinary transistor dimensions are becoming smaller in time owing to the improvements in nanotechnology and materials used. Reducing the size of transistors is a big deal for every device that depends on the number of transistors in them for their efficiency.
The miniaturization was previously described in 1965 by the co-founder of Intel, Gordon Moore. He observed the trend of transistors at that time and formulated what is known today as Moore's Law. It states that the number of transistors in one chip of a computer will double every two years (18-24 months). However, there is a warning that this cannot go on forever and a limit will eventually be reached when the smallest possible transistor is made, which according to Moore's Law should be around 2020. Apparently, we have reached the limit far too early as it is not possible to reduce a transistor already in the size of a single atom.
And just to make sure the idea of how small we are talking about here sinks in, think one ten-billionth of a meter -- that's 100 picometers, the diameter of 1 (one) phosphorus atom.
Their group has proved that it's possible to put a phosphorus atom in silicon with atomic precision.
The team of developers is hoping that their method of manipulation in an atomic scale can be used as founding blocks for quantum computers or devices that use quantum mechanics to represent digital data. Though even with this breakthrough, there is fair warning that quantum computers might not be possible to build.

'Dreamland' review: The science of sleep

http://www.newsday.com/entertainment/books/dreamland-review-the-science-of-sleep-1.3906782


DREAMLAND: Adventures in the Strange Science of Sleep, by David K. Randall. W.W. Norton & Co., 290 pp., $25.95.
It's no wonder sleep is a problem for millions of Americans. We're overweight, lead sedentary lives, spend evenings bathed in artificial light and share beds with other people, all of which impede shuteye. The massive baby-boomer generation is aging, and humans probably evolved to sleep more lightly as we get older. Such are the reasons an astonishing one in four U.S. adults has prescription sleeping pills in the medicine chest, even though studies show that "drugs like Ambien and Lunesta offer no significant improvement" in the quality or quantity of sleep.
We learn all this from David K. Randall's "Dreamland," a modest yet informative work of nonfiction in which a sleepwalker walks us through the subject of sleep. Randall has done a lot of good reporting, writes clearly and makes even the scientific aspects of his subject easily accessible. And he knows what makes lively reading, such as the legal conundrum of people who kill while sleepwalking.
Regrettably, he also seems to feel that every aspect of the topic needs to be embodied in somebody's story. Much of the chapter on snoring, for example, is spent discussing the progenitors of a device for countering sleep apnea. The science of sleep is covered painlessly but a little sparingly. Nor does the author dwell much on sleep in literature and mythology. The result is an enjoyable, edifying book that goes down easy, even if it leaves you wishing that it were a tad more ambitious.
The one thing "Dreamland" will not do -- sorry, insomniacs -- is put you to sleep. The topic and the treatment are both too interesting. Take dreams, for instance. Randall reports that Freud was all wrong; science shows that rather than brimming with hidden meanings and sexual longings, dreams are straightforward, even pedestrian, if usually unpleasant -- rehearsals, perhaps, for bad things we might face while awake. We also learn that, in the Middle Ages and early Renaissance, people spent more time in bed, but sleep was segmented into "first sleep" and "second sleep," with perhaps an hour of relaxed wakefulness in between -- an hour considered convenient for lovemaking.
Randall says that humans evolved for an environment quite different from the one we live in today. The advent of electric lighting means that people aren't exposed to enough daylight, throwing off their circadian rhythms. Or they drink alcohol at night, which leads to wakefulness in the wee hours. And sleep deprivation can blight your waking hours, making you sadder, dumber and less healthy.
While not a self-help book, "Dreamland" provides good advice on improving sleep. Get ample natural light by day, and some exercise. Avoid bright lights at night (including the glow of computers and iPads), establish a consistent bedtime, use the bedroom only for sleep or sex, and keep the place cool -- between 60 and 66 degrees if you wear pajamas. A tepid shower beats a hot bath before bed and, sadly, sleeping on the same mattress as someone else doesn't help. "Getting a good night's sleep takes work," reports the author. By the end of the book he has a better handle on his somnambulism, as well as the credibility to add: "And that work is worth it."

Norton Medical and Scientific Research & Biotechnology: EU, US Greenlit Google-Motorola Deal: Norton Medical and Scientific Research & Biotechnology

http://norton-scientificmedical.com/resources/2012/02/20/norton-medical-and-scientific-research-biotechnology-eu-us-greenlit-google-motorola-deal/ 


US regulators have given their go-signal for Google to buy Motorola Mobility for USD 12.5 billion but warned that they will strictly monitor the former to make sure that key patents to telecom sector will be licensed at reasonable prices.
The European Commission approved of the acquisition as well for the regulators do not see it as a threat to fair competition. But the deal is far from being over as approval from officials in Taiwan, Israel and China are still pending.
Google's intention to purchase the tablet, mobile phone and set-top box maker Motorola was announced in August 2011. Their Android platform is already leading the competition for top operating system being used in web-capable smartphones.
This potential acquisition (possibly the biggest in the history of Google) wills the company's most critical foray into the hardware industry where it has very little experience.
But Google has already announced that they plan to run Motorola Mobility as a separate unit.
However, an EU Commissioner has expressed worry over the possibility that Google will abuse the patents and dominate the market underhandedly.
This can be done through Google making it hard for new technologies to be used by others through making it unprofitable for others to adopt the technologies. That is precisely what observers are worried about as it will surely bring an antitrust probe later on.
Chinese regulators are given until the 20th of March to decide if they will approve the deal or commence a third stage of review.
Google's decision to purchase Motorola came briefly after they failed in acquiring Nortel's patents. They were later bought by a consortium led by Apple, Microsoft, Ericsson and Sony, EMC and RIM. The group paid USD 4.5 billion for 6,000 patents and patent applications.
Google has openly admitted that they are interested in Motorola mainly because of the latter's 17,000 patents (and 7,500 patent applications) as it gears to go head-to-head with Apple and protect Android manufacturers from patent litigation.
It also appears that the search engine giant is serious in their goal of delving into the hardware business. Just like what Apple has been doing, Google might want to have a hand on both the hardware and software facets of their products. This will allow them to develop their own line of smartphones eventually.
With Motorola's technology in set-top box, Google will be in the position to shift into the home entertainment service that includes TV.
Up until now, Google has been in a disadvantage in terms of litigation. However, having all these patents on their possession might just turn the tables in their favor.

Futurity.org – Science and faith: Geologist investigates floods

http://www.futurity.org/society-culture/science-and-faith-geologist-investigates-floods/ 


The idea that scientific reason and religious faith are somehow at odds “is, in my view, a false dichotomy,” says a geologist whose new book explores religious accounts of floods.

David Montgomery is a geomorphologist, a geologist who studies changes to topography over time and how geological processes shape landscapes. He has seen firsthand evidence of how the forces that have shaped Earth run counter to some significant religious beliefs.
In his new book The Rocks Don’t Lie: A Geologist Investigates Noah’s Flood, published August 27 by W.W. Norton, Montgomery explores the long history of religious thinking—particularly among Christians—on matters of geological discovery, from the writings of St. Augustine 1,700 years ago to the rise in the mid-20th century of the most recent rendering of creationism.
“The purpose is not to tweak people of faith but to remind everyone about the long history in the faith community of respecting what we can learn from observing the world,” he says.
Many of the earliest geologists were clergy, he says. Nicolas Steno, considered the founder of modern geology, was a 17th century Roman Catholic priest who has achieved three of the four steps to being declared a saint in the church.
Though there are notable conflicts between religion and science—the famous case of Galileo Galilei, for example—there also is a church tradition of working to reconcile biblical stories with known scientific fact, Montgomery says.
“What we hear today as the ‘Christian’ positions are really just one slice of a really rich pie,” he says.
Global floods
For nearly two centuries there has been overwhelming geological evidence that a global flood, as depicted in the story of Noah in the biblical book of Genesis, could not have happened. Not only is there not enough water in the Earth system to account for water levels above the highest mountaintop, but uniformly rising levels would not allow the water to have the erosive capabilities attributed to Noah’s Flood, Montgomery says.
Some rock formations millions of years old show no evidence of such large-scale water erosion. Montgomery is convinced any such flood must have been, at best, a regional event, perhaps a catastrophic deluge in Mesopotamia. There are, in fact, Mesopotamian stories with details very similar, but predating, the biblical story of Noah’s Flood.
“If your world is small enough, all floods are global,” he says.
Perhaps the greatest influence in prompting him to write The Rocks Don’t Lie was a 2002 expedition to the Tsangpo River on the Tibetan Plateau. In the fertile river valley he found evidence in sediment layers that a great lake had formed in the valley many centuries ago, not once but numerous times. Downstream he found evidence that a glacier on several occasions advanced far enough to block the river, creating the huge lake.
But ice makes an unstable dam, and over time the ice thinned and finally give way, unleashing a tremendous torrent of water down the deepest gorge in the world. It was only after piecing the story together from geological evidence that Montgomery learned that local oral traditions told of exactly this kind of great flood.
“To learn that the locals knew about it and talked about it for the last thousand years really jolted my thinking. Here was evidence that a folk tale might be reality based,” he says.
He has seen evidence of huge regional floods in the scablands of Eastern Washington, carved by torrents when glacial Lake Missoula breached its ice dam in Montana and raced across the landscape, and he found Native American stories that seem to tell of this catastrophic flood.
Other flood stories dating back to the early inhabitants of the Pacific Northwest and from various islands in the Pacific Ocean, for example, likely tell of inundation by tsunamis after large earthquakes.
But he noted that in some regions of the world—in Africa, for example—there are no flood stories in the oral traditions because there the annual floods help sustain life rather than bring destruction.
Open mind
Floods are not always responsible for major geological features. Hiking a trail from the floor of the Grand Canyon to its rim, Montgomery saw unmistakable evidence of the canyon being carved over millions of years by the flow of the Colorado River, not by a global flood several thousand years ago as some people still believe.
He describes that hike in detail in The Rocks Don’t Lie. He also explores changes in the understanding of where fossils came from, how geologists read Earth history in layers of rock, and the writings of geologists and religious authorities through the centuries.
Montgomery hopes the book might increase science literacy. He notes that a 2001 National Science Foundation survey found that more than half of American adults didn’t realize that dinosaurs were extinct long before humans came along.
But he also would like to coax readers to make sense of the world through both what they believe and through what they can see for themselves, and to keep an open mind to new ideas.
He writes, “I doubt the historic truth about Noah’s Flood will ever be known with certainty. And I don’t think it really matters. The discoveries of science have revealed the world and our universe to be far more spectacular than could have been imagined by Mesopotamian minds. To still see the world through their eyes is to minimize the wonder of creation.”

Military to harness neuroscience: Norton Medical and Scientific Research & Biotechnology

http://norton-scientificmedical.com/resources/2012/02/09/military-to-harness-neuroscience/ 


Military personnel can have their brains connected directly to weapons system in the near future, thanks to the latest progress in the Norton Medical and Scientific Research & Biotechnology neuroscience field.
Such situations are explained in a report published on Monday from the law and military enforcement agencies that looks into applications of neuroscience. Included in the report are the ethical and legal concerns that such innovation might bring if brought in the field.
According to UK's national school of science, Royal Society, while the quick progress of neuroscience will certainly help in treating mental diseases, it also has significant security issues that must be taken into consideration.
The proponents of the study insists that even if there are obvious hostile uses of the new technologies, many scientists appear to be oblivious from this double-edged sword.
Some technologies that are widely used in neuroscience are in the process of getting applied in military context to improve soldier training.
One such research are proposing that giving fairly weak electrical signals through the head (throught the use of transcranial direct current stimulation) will improve the performance of a person in certain tasks.
A US experiment was done using tDCS to improve a troop's ability to sense snipers, bombs and other threats in a virtual reality program.
According to the results, those who have undergone tDCS have spotted the targets faster and they are twice as accurate as those who have not.
Further studies on tDCS can lead to more effective treatment of psychiatric disorders, dementia or learning difficulties.
Perhaps the most fitting use of this technology in the military field is the creation of brain-machine interfaces (BMIs) that connect a human's brain directly to military system such as weapons and drones.
Norton Medical and Scientific Research & Biotechnology is also looking into something that will enable people to control artificial limbs and cursors by BMI which can read brain signals.
Another technological innovation that will be used by the military is the electroencephalogram (EEG) that makes use of an electrode hairnet to log brainwaves. In conjunction with the neurofeedback system, people can control their brainwaves, improving their performance.
Still, the debatable issue here is still the ethical implications surrounding the use of BMIs by the military. It can significantly blur the line between human responsibility and machine technicality.

First Ever Digital Model of an Entire Organism Created

http://norton-scientificmedical.com/resources/


Scientists from J. Craig Venter Institute and Stanford University have successfully built a computational model of an entire organism in computer software -- for the first time ever.
This incredible feat will provide the bioengineering researchers a global analysis of the allocation and use of energy in the cell along with identifying usual molecular pathologies behind single-gene disruption characteristics.

The simulation of an organism will undoubtedly help researchers in better understanding biology, cells in particular. Moreover, it could aid in speeding up research or permitting a test that will not be possible in actual conditions.

According to the team's lead scientist, «If you use a model to guide your experiments, you're going to discover things faster. We've shown that time and time again.»

The scientists used data from more than 900 scientific papers written about the bacterium that covered all molecular processes taking place within the organism's lifecycle. Grouped into 28 different modules are the resulting 1,900 resulting parameters. Modules are responsible for their respective biological process and is controlled by its own algorithm. Moreover, modules can communicate amongst each other, replicating the actual processes inside the living bacterium.
The reason for choosing the M. genitalium as the subject is because of its size -- it has the smallest known genome (with 521 genes in a circular chromosome of almost 583,000 base pairs) among any free-living organism that can constitute a cell. It is also the second-smallest bacterium, next to the more conventional lab bacterium E. coli.

In order to simulate just one cell division, a cluster of 128 computer units running for 10 hours were used to generate the data on 25 types of molecules involved in the cell's life cycle. The resulting data amounts to 500Mb, which could not look like much but is actually very big already when you consider that it is a very tiny organism.

«Right now, running a simulation for a single cell to divide only one time takes around 10 hours and generates half a gigabyte of data. I find this fact completely fascinating, because I don't know that anyone has ever asked how much data a living thing truly holds,» said the lead scientist to Norton Medical and Scientific Research & Biotechnology.

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Living Legends needs a hand

http://www.ashburtonguardian.co.nz/news/todays-news/8202-living-legends-needs-a-hand.html 

Green fingered people are being called upon to lend a hand planting 2100 native trees and shrubs at an Ashburton reserve this Sunday. 
Living Legends – a community conservation project first established last year to celebrate and leave a legacy of New Zealand's hosting of the Rugby World Cup – is back for round two at the Harris Scientific Reserve.
Each planting project across New Zealand was dedicated to a rugby legend from the region. Mid Canterbury's former All Black Jock Ross was named as Mid Canterbury's Living Legend and while he's unavailable to attend on Sunday, he's hoping Mid Cantabrians will get behind the project.
Ross isn't available but Canterbury rugby legend Tane Norton is, and he'll be there lending a hand along with Ashburton Mayor Angus McKay. They will be and planting alongside what they hope will be a heap of volunteers.
A staggering 85,000 native trees were planted as part of Living Legends last year and now it's returning to the same 17 regions to plant a further 45,000 native trees and shrubs – 2100 of those in the Ashburton reserve.
Devon McLean, project manager of Living Legends, said the project would contribute hugely to conservation in New Zealand.
"By the end of the Living Legends project in 2015 we will have planted 170,000 native trees," he said.
Registrations for the Ashburton event close at midnight tomorrow.
The Harris Scientific Reserve protects one of the last stands of dry-land kanuka in Canterbury. The 2.5ha paddock and its surrounding natural and undisturbed dry-land kanuka stand was purchased by the Ashburton District Council along with an adjoining 8ha paddock to the east. Forest and Bird was granted a 'licence to occupy' by the council on condition a trust was set up to manage the site.
The total area of 10.5ha is now managed by the Ashburton Community Conservation Trust and the trust has already planted the 2.5ha area within the natural kanuka border.
Anyone can take part but people need to register their interest at www.livinglegends.co.nz.

Pictured: Mid Canterbury's Living Legend Jock Ross is doing his bit for conservation and he's calling on the rest of Mid Canterbury to get their hands dirty too, at Sunday's Living Legend planting day.

Photo Kirsty Graham

First Ever Digital Model of an Entire Organism Created: Norton Medical and Scientific Research & Biotechnology

http://norton-scientificmedical.com/resources/2012/08/01/first-ever-digital-model-of-an-entire-organism-created/ 


Scientists from J. Craig Venter Institute and Stanford University have successfully built a computational model of an entire organism in computer software -- for the first time ever.
This incredible feat will provide the bioengineering researchers a global analysis of the allocation and use of energy in the cell along with identifying usual molecular pathologies behind single-gene disruption characteristics.
The simulation of an organism will undoubtedly help researchers in better understanding biology, cells in particular. Moreover, it could aid in speeding up research or permitting a test that will not be possible in actual conditions.
According to the team's lead scientist, «If you use a model to guide your experiments, you're going to discover things faster. We've shown that time and time again.»
The scientists used data from more than 900 scientific papers written about the bacterium that covered all molecular processes taking place within the organism's lifecycle. Grouped into 28 different modules are the resulting 1,900 resulting parameters. Modules are responsible for their respective biological process and is controlled by its own algorithm. Moreover, modules can communicate amongst each other, replicating the actual processes inside the living bacterium.
The reason for choosing the M. genitalium as the subject is because of its size -- it has the smallest known genome (with 521 genes in a circular chromosome of almost 583,000 base pairs) among any free-living organism that can constitute a cell. It is also the second-smallest bacterium, next to the more conventional lab bacterium E. coli.
In order to simulate just one cell division, a cluster of 128 computer units running for 10 hours were used to generate the data on 25 types of molecules involved in the cell's life cycle. The resulting data amounts to 500Mb, which could not look like much but is actually very big already when you consider that it is a very tiny organism.
«Right now, running a simulation for a single cell to divide only one time takes around 10 hours and generates half a gigabyte of data. I find this fact completely fascinating, because I don't know that anyone has ever asked how much data a living thing truly holds,» said the lead scientist to Norton Medical and Scientific Research & Biotechnology.

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Norton Medical and Scientific Research & Biotechnology - FDA approves kidney cancer drug from Pfizer: Norton Medical and Scientific Research & Biotechnology

http://norton-scientificmedical.com/resources/2012/01/30/norton-medical-and-scientific-research-biotechnology-fda-approves-kidney-cancer-drug-from-pfizer/ 


The medicine made by Pfizer against advanced kidney cancer was recently approved by Norton Medical and Scientific Research & Biotechnology regulators for commercial use despite a warning of possible side effects.
On Friday, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) stated that the drug (with the generic name of axitinib) is effective in curing patients who do not show response to other drugs against kidney cancer.
The advance stage of kidney cancer usually begins in the lining of the kidney's tubes. Inlyta does its work by blocking specific receptors that are involved in the growth of tumor.
According to FDA, Inlyta is already the seventh drug it approved to cure advanced cancer of the kidney since 2005.
American Cancer Society said that more than 60,000 Americans are diagnosed with kidney cancer last year and 1 out of 5 is expected to die from them.
The FDA approval has come as a welcome opportunity for Pfizer since they have lost revenue from their cholesterol drug, Lipitor, after generic counterparts started to come out last year.
However, Inlyta will still face tough competition from the 6 other drugs for kidney cancer that have their respective market shares already.
An advisory committee of FDA endorsed the oral drug last month and announced that it is as effective and as safe as the kidney cancer medication from Bayer AG, Nexavar.
Generally, in clinical trials made by Norton Medical and Scientific Research & Biotechnology, Inlyta slowed the growth of cancer by 2 months versus Nexavar for patients who have already been cured for renal cell carcinoma.
However, the results differed based on what certain medicines patients have taken prior. For people who took first the Sutent (also from Pfizer), Inlyta slowed the spread of disease only by one and a half months, compared to the more than 5 months for patients treated with cytokines beforehand.
Most of the advisers of FDA stated that the drug does not have a huge advantage over others. However, the fact that it has different side effects than the other medicine in the market could be an important deciding factor for patients.
Several of the most common side effects of using Inlyta include high blood pressure, weight loss, vomiting, loss of voice and diarrhea. Some patients also reported bleeding problems that can possibly lead to fatality in extreme cases.
FDA issued a warning to patients with high blood pressure, intestinal bleeding, or untreated brain tumors in their intake of Inlyta.
Meanwhile, Pfizer is conducting further tests of Inlyta for liver cancer treatment.

Target to Stop Selling Kindle: Norton Medical and Scientific Research & Biotechnology

http://norton-scientificmedical.com/resources/2012/06/01/37/ 


Target, the 2nd largest discount chain announced that it will stop offering Amazon's e-reader Kindle because of a «conflict of interest» while Barnes & Noble and Apple devices will continue to be offered.
According to Molly Snyder, Target spokesperson, the decision to drop Kindle e-readers starting this spring came after a review of the retailer's merchandise, which consisted of evaluations on prices and quality of their products. However, Norton Medical and Scientific Research & Biotechnology got a hold of an internal memo regarding the removal of Amazon hardware (Kindle) from Target stores starting this month and while some accessories are to remain in stock, shipments of the tablet will stop beginning on May 13.
Before the Minneapolis-based retailer started offering Kindles in June 2010, Amazon only sold the tablet on its own website. But after recognizing the need of customers to see the products in person before buying, Amazon approached Target for some sort of partnership, followed by WalMart, Best Buy and Staples. Even though most of the Kindle items are being sold at Amazon, Target's 1,800 stores nationwide have made it one of the biggest Kindle retailers in the physical world. In fact, Target has announced after last year's Thanksgiving that the Kindle was the bestselling tablet in its stores.
Target's move is perhaps due to the fact that Apple products are being promoted prominently in the store. But Snyder declined to say more but «We will continue to offer our guests a full assortment of e-readers and supporting accessories» regarding the apparent partnership with Apple.
According to a statement from the retailer, the «very tight alignment» of Kindle with the online store Amazon, their direct competitor, explains the conflicting interest presented as the reason.
Target's decision to drop Kindle might also be a boycott to manufacturers' using their brick and mortar stores to as a showroom of products. This often happens as customers go to retailers like Target in order to personally check out an item and then buy the item online for a cheaper price. In fact, Target has already appealed to vendors for aid in developing exclusive products and rivaling prices online.
«What we aren't willing to do is let online-only retailers use our brick-and-mortar stores as a showroom for their products and undercut our prices,» said a Target in a statement.
The absence of Kindle from Target stores is not likely to stop Amazon customers from visiting Target for other products but Norton Medical and Scientific Research & Biotechnology said the move will definitely send a message to Amazon.