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Apple took home a 5-point jump in customer satisfaction, according to the E-Retail Satisfaction Index published today by customer analytics site ForeSee.

The iPhone maker's retail Web site scored 85 out of 100 in this year's index, compared with 80 last year. Only one other retailer, RueLaLa.com, managed a 5-point gain though that site grabbed an overall grade of only 75.

Despite Apple's ascent, it could only rise to second place, having achieved the same grade as QVC. On top as usual was Amazon.com, which captured a score of 89, up from 86 last year.… Read more

Last updated: 9:04 a.m. PT

AOL had a stronger-than-expected first quarter, posting higher revenue and profits than Wall Street had expected.

The online giant today announced that it generated $529.4 million in revenue during the first quarter, beating the Street's $527 million consensus. AOL was able to make a $21.1 million profit, or 22 cents per share, during the period. AOL's profit was up 349 percent year-over-year from the $4.7 million net income it posted last year.

"AOL is a much stronger company today than a year ago and began 2012 by … Read more

Americans like to love, but also like to incarcerate.

Indeed, despite only enjoying 5 percent of the world's human beings, the United States seems to be home to almost a quarter of all the world's prisoners.

Who could not have imagined, then, that some hardy, enterprising soul would see in this population a market gap?

Please greet, therefore, Meet-An-Inmate.com. Actually, this site claims to have been "serving inmates since 1998," yet the service had somehow passed me by until today's Daily Mail brought its full glory to my attention.

Meet-An-Inmate allows you to peruse … Read more

In an exciting development and confirmation to long-standing rumors, developer Zenimax Online Studios today announced The Elder Scrolls Online, a new massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) set for release in 2013.

Initially revealed by Game Informer, the long-anticipated game offers a massive world "set a millennium before the events of Skyrim as the daedric prince Molag Bal tries to pull all of Tamriel into his demonic realm," according to the magazine. … Read more

Amazon announced today that its Cloud Drive storage apps (Windows | Mac) are available for download, so I went ahead and downloaded the apps on both my desktop machines to check them out. The service was already available at the Amazon Cloud Drive Web site, but with a dedicated app you get easy access for storing just about any type of file on the fly.

After a fairly easy setup (requiring my Amazon account log-in info), a cloud-shaped icon was placed in my system tray (in the menu bar on the Mac) for easy access. Upon first launch, Amazon gives you … Read more

Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology today launched an initiative to make its education material available online for free.

Through an initiative called edX, the two storied learning institutions will develop an open-source software platform and offer some of their courses online starting this fall. Harvard and MIT will govern the not-for-profit joint venture and dedicate $30 million each in grants and institutional support.

With edX, Harvard and MIT are seeking to learn about online education to enhance how they offer classes online, both to remote students and students on campus, university officials said at a press conference … Read more

Norton Identity Safe is not a password manager in the traditional sense. It's more of a log-in manager, able to automatically plug in your username and password when you sign into various sites that require them -- all the while keeping that info secure and synced.

Originally, the software came bundled with various Norton security suites, but now it's a standalone product with a surprising (for Symantec) price. As long as you grab it before October 1, you can get Norton Identity Safe absolutely free.

The tool is available not only for Windows and Mac, but also Android and iOS. … Read more

Microsoft giveth, and it taketh away. At least, that's how it looks with the latest incarnation of the SkyDrive online storage service.

Unveiled this week, the preview of the new SkyDrive kicks in several improvements over its Web-based predecessor.

The old SkyDrive Web site separates documents that you upload from those synced via Live Mesh, creating a limited and clumsy workspace. The new preview edition ensures that all files are stored in one place, whether they're uploaded or synced from your PC.

You can now view and open all your SkyDrive files directly from Windows Explorer, eliminating the … Read more

Is Spotify looking to beat Pandora at its own online radio game?

The streaming music provider may be building an online radio service that could rival that of Pandora, according to Bloomberg.

Citing "two people with knowledge of the situation," Bloomberg said the new service would launch before the end of the year and be funded by advertising. Spotify has just begun informing content partners about the new service, according to the sources.

Spotify currently works as a downloadable application that provides access to your local music libraries and lets you search for and play music online. Users … Read more