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Amazon made a Dash button just for boxes of assorted candy
If you're a creature of habit who doesn't mind introducing a little branding into your home, Amazon's one-touch ordering buttons are useful for re-stocking everything from laundry detergent to Nerf ammo. They can even be programmed to remind you that you have Dash buttons. Now, Amazon wants to help brighten your day with random boxes of small-batch candies.
LG put Alexa in a refrigerator and it seems like a great idea
Alongside a load of new TVs, you can count on all the big tech companies to roll out new smart appliances every year at CES. LG is no exception, adding Amazon's Alexa to its line of Smart InstaView refrigerators. We've seen previous versions of the fridge with huge touchscreens in the door, but this time around the company has tacked on a virtual assistant and webOS software in the US. For the global model, expect Windows 10 integration and access to Cortana for spoken assistance.
ICYMI: Snap's Spectacles are being used to broadcast surgery
try{document.getElementById("aol-cms-player-1").style.display="none";}catch(e){}Today on In Case You Missed It: A surgeon who goes by the name virtualsurgeon on Snapchat used Spectacles to broadcast a hernia surgery. Meanwhile the Office of Naval Research demoed its prototype autonomous swarm watercraft, that no joke travel in packs and investigate other boats. There was so much big news this week but we recommend reading up on how scientists are duplicating climate change data before a Trump presidency. As always, please share any interesting tech or science videos you find by using the #ICYMI hashtag on Twitter for @mskerryd.
ICYMI: Amazon made its first drone-powered delivery
try{document.getElementById("aol-cms-player-1").style.display="none";}catch(e){}Today on In Case You Missed It: Amazon has been testing drone deliveries for three years now, even having to move to the UK to keep it going once the FAA changed its UAV guidelines. The company released a video of its first fully autonomous drone delivery, which happened on December 7. Meanwhile a team of researchers from Los Alamos National Laboratory dug into what would happen if a sizable meteorite hit the ocean and the modeling shows a substantial amount of water vapor would get thrown into the stratosphere, which would not do great things for climate change. Finally, the Danish Neighborhood Watch came out with a robbery-preventing Christmas light and app combination to deter robbers-- and provide laughs for the rest of us. If you're looking for the dash cam video of an Uber car going through a red light, that's here. As always, please share any interesting tech or science videos you find by using the #ICYMI hashtag on Twitter for @mskerryd.
Amazon completes its first drone-powered delivery
It's already been three years since Amazon first revealed its somewhat audacious plan to make deliveries by drone. But the company is quite serious about this, and today it is announcing that it completed the first Amazon Prime Air delivery on December 7th. The shipment, which took 13 minutes from order to delivery, was sent to a customer in Cambridge, England, where Amazon is operating a custom-built fulfillment center.
Amazon's 'Grand Tour' is the most pirated show ever (update)
Amazon's The Grand Tour, a reboot of the BBC's hit show Top Gear, has been an unmitigated success, with fans with its first episode alone garnering "millions" of views. It's also a hit with pirates who, instead of paying the annual $100 fee for Amazon Prime, have downloaded the first three episodes at unprecedented rates.
The best Christmas movies on Amazon UK Prime Video
Not so long ago, the festive film choice on TV at Christmas involved a toss up between Mary Poppins and One of Our Dinosaurs is Missing. Now, Amazon Prime has a small but varied selection of festive hits on offer on-demand. Here are the films we think you should add to your free watch list to watch over the holiday period.
Amazon Prime discounted to £59 for 'The Grand Tour' launch
Good news: The Grand Tour, Amazon's answer to Top Gear, is now only three days away from release. The bad news is that you'll need a Prime subscription to watch it. Amazon knows this, so it's sweetening the deal by slashing £20 off the price of its annual subscription for anyone who has yet to sign up.
Amazon's bookstores charge more if you're not a Prime member
If it wasn't clear already, Amazon really wants you to sign up for Prime. As GeekWire reports, the company has adopted a unique pricing model inside its physical bookstores: one sticker price for Prime members, another for regular customers. Subscribers get the same amount shown on Amazon's website, while everyone else has to pay the normal (usually higher) list price. The unusual system has been in place since August, according to one store clerk, but this is the first we've heard of it. The message from Jeff Bezos is simple: sign up for Prime if you want the true Amazon experience.
Amazon Prime arrives in China to further challenge Alibaba
With over 63 million people already paying for Prime, Amazon is now expanding its subscription service to one of the largest marketplaces in the world: China. The retailer has announced that mainland users can now enjoy free, unlimited shipping on millions of domestic items, as well as others from the special "overseas orders" category. As part of a promotion that lasts until February, Amazon is offering the membership for $188 yuan (around $30) for the first year. Once this rate ends, Prime will cost 388 yuan (about $60) every 12 months.
Amazon wants to sell internet service in Europe
In Europe, Amazon is looking to bring users more just speedy deliveries and award-winning TV shows. According to a new report from The Information, the online retail giant and Hollywood production studio is considering a plan to become its own internet service provider and sell broadband internet access directly to users.
Amazon makes food delivery cheaper for Prime members
Amazon has cut the price of an AmazonFresh membership down to just $14.99 a month as long as you also subscribe to Prime. For that, you'll be entitled to unlimited grocery deliveries in the locations where the service operates, including Boston, Seattle and San Francisco. It makes the business effectively a bolt-on for Amazon's paid tier which has developed substantially in the last few years. Users will be able to save a little bit of cash with the new charges compared to its predecessor, which was a $299 flat rate for a whole year. That should help beat back competition from traditional retailers like Walmart and Target, who are trying to catch up on this whole tech-based delivery lark from a standing start.
Amazon picks up 'Lore' TV series
Though comic conventions might traditionally be the domain of superheroes and space epics, Amazon Studios used its New York Comic Con panel today to announce that Amazon Prime will be the home of the upcoming Lore TV series, based on the popular nonfiction podcast of the same name. Producer Gale Anne Hurd and program creator Aaron Mahnke were on hand to talk about the show, set to debut on Amazon Prime in early 2017.
Amazon's latest Prime perk is free books and magazines
While members of the Amazon Prime club get all kinds of benefits with their subscription, bookworms don't receive a great deal of special treatment. Sure, they can borrow one e-book for free each month and access new novels early, but the all-you-can-read Kindle Unlimited service requires a separate, $10 per month subscription of its own. That isn't changing today, but Amazon has just announced something of a light version of Unlimited called Prime Reading, which is now available to Prime subscribers in the US.
Twitch announces ad-free streaming for Amazon Prime members
Today at Twitch Con 2016 in San Diego, Amazon and the world's biggest livestreaming platform announced a new perk of their deepening relationship. It's called Twitch Prime and starting today Amazon Prime members get ad-free viewing on Twitch, plus exclusive deals on new releases and "free loot" like skins, characters, boosts and even free games.
Amazon's 'The Grand Tour' car show launches November 18th
If you've been missing Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May, then it's time to mark your calendar. The old Top Gear trio's new show is called The Grand Tour, and will begin streaming its episodes on November 18th. You'll need a subscription to Amazon Prime to watch, but there's no word on if or where it will air in countries where the subscription video service isn't available yet.
Amazon Prime gives you Audible streams for free
Amazon Prime members get a pretty decent bunch of benefits for their $99 a year subscription, and the list of goodies just got a bit longer. The online retail giant now offers its subscribers free access to Audible Channels, a collection of talk show-type streams and audiobooks that would normally cost $5 a month.
Moto G4 Play joins Amazon's ad-injected Prime phone deals
Motorola's budget-minded Moto G lineup just got an even more affordable addition thanks to Amazon's Prime exclusives. For a mere $99.99 unlocked, the newly announced Moto G4 Play comes loaded with Android 6.0 Marshmallow and solid specs like 4G LTE, a 5-inch 720p display driven by a quad-core Snapdragon processor, 2GB of RAM, 16GB internal storage and an 8-megapixel camera with a 5-megapixel selfie shooter.
CBS All Access hits Xbox One
If you have been patiently waiting to try CBS All Access on your Xbox One, there's good news. CBS has announced that its streaming service is now available on Microsoft's console. It's perfect timing for Xbox fans, as the anticipated January, 2017 premier of the All Access-exclusive Star Trek series is only months away.
Amazon is rebooting Scorsese's 'The Departed' into a TV series
Streaming services continue to gobble up popular titles to adapt and reimagine for their content-craving audiences. But unlike Netflix's recent decision to adapt the timeless children's novel Anne of Green Gables, Amazon Studios has shown that it's willing to go in a bit harder of a direction. After announcing last week they'd be making a series exploring Playboy creator Hugh Hefner's life, the company will be re-imagining Martin Scorsese's 2006 mobster drama The Departed as a TV series, according to a Deadline report today.
