He says they didn't block Blippy, but simply insisted that the service stop pulling user purchase data, and erase all historical data they had already collected. They were also summoned to Seattle to speak with a "high ranking executive" of the company. Blippy complied (with both the summons and the demand to stop accessing user data).

Kaplan is soft stepping around the Amazon issue, and is hoping to come to some agreement with the company to allow them to access data in the future. He says "We believe our users feel strongly, as we do, that it is their right to access and use their data however they want. We're optimistic that Amazon will come to the same conclusion."

We've checked with our sources, who have been amazingly accurate on the number of Kindle's sold over the last couple of years. The total number of all types of Kindles out there in users hands hit 3 million sometime in December, says a source close to Amazon. And that was before the new model with worldwide data hit.

The retailer is recruiting software engineers to work on a service to allow consumers to trade in used consumer electronics gadgets in exchange for Amazon gift cards.

The move highlights the surge in interest in trade-in services, spurred in part by the newly frugal mood of US consumers, with leading retailers including Walmart, Target and Costco starting partnerships last year with a variety of online services.

"As people upgrade to the latest and greatest there is a plethora of valuable, perfectly good products that need a new home," an Amazon job advert states. "We help facilitate the pairing of new owner with device, while also creating an open marketplace."

Customers who buy some of the more than 1.5 million products on Walmart.com can have them shipped free to a local Wal-Mart, where new service desks at the front of some stores make it easier for shoppers to retrieve their stuff. On the outskirts of Chicago, it is testing a radical new concept: a drive-through window, similar to those found at pharmacies and fast-food restaurants, where shoppers can pick up their Internet orders.

"There was a time when the online and offline businesses were viewed as being different," said Walmart.com Chief Executive Raul Vazquez. "Now we are realizing that we actually have a physical advantage thanks to our thousands of stores, and we can use it to become No. 1 online." Heading into Christmas, the company said 40% of its online orders are being delivered through stores.

The stock fell the most in 13 months in New York trading. Best Buy cut prices on laptops and flat-panel TVs to fend off Wal- Mart Stores Inc. and online retailers such as Amazon.com Inc., said Chris Horvers, an analyst with JP Morgan Securities Inc. The company said it gained 2.3 percentage points in domestic market share last quarter, helped by the absence of Circuit City Stores Inc., which ceased operations this year.

The forecast for gross margin, the fraction of sales remaining after subtracting the cost of goods sold, "fuels concerns on the commoditization of the product cycle and that the bankruptcy of Circuit City is not relieving the competitive environment with Walmart and Amazon," Horvers, who rates the shares "neutral," wrote today in a note.

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The chain discounted laptops and offered $299.99 flat-screen TVs to attract customers in the final weekend of November, the traditional start of the U.S. holiday-shopping season.

Property landlords said that the American company, which has a market value of $59.1 billion (£35.6 billion), had launched a secret search for bricks-and-mortar stores to support its rapidly growing website. It is understood to be scouring the country for high-profile sites just as the Borders book chain is shutting up shop.

It represents an extraordinary reversal from the dotcom boom, when there were fears that internet shopping would kill off the high street. It would also be the most high-profile move by a web-only retailer into stores.

Lastminute.com is one of only a handful of web retailers to have opened shops. It has kiosks in train stations to support its late booking service for holidays, hotels and pamper days.

You shouldn't have to stand in a long line to get a great deal. We're searching for the best Black Friday deals everywhere--including deals other stores are planning--so we can meet or beat their prices and bring them to you even earlier. These limited-supply offers will go quickly but we'll add new ones throughout the day, every day this week, so you can skip the long lines and still save a bundle.