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Twitch Collections embrace the randomness of non-gaming streams
Game (and food-eating) broadcasting service Twitch has been in the news quite a bit this week, and here's another instance of that. First up we have a few major additions to the Twitch Creative umbrella. The Creative homepage has undergone a revamp, with each type of stream (cosplay, painting, drawing, etc.) getting its own directory tab. Twitch says that anyone can make a suggestion for adding to these, and that it'll accept "the most active and diverse ones."
Amazon opens up grocery deliveries to more of London
Amazon's grocery delivery service only went live in the UK a couple of weeks ago, but already the company is expanding beyond the launch footprint of various central and east London areas. As of today, Amazon Fresh is now available in 59 additional postcodes in northern, eastern and southern parts of the capital, taking the total up to 128 (full list here). Reside within one of those postcodes, and you can order any of over 130,000 everyday products for home delivery, including meat, seafood, fresh fruit and vegetables.
Amazon's Prime Day clearout returns on July 12th
It's probably fair to say that Amazon's homegrown shopping event, Prime Day, wasn't the most exciting of retail events. For every discounted PlayStation 4 or Xbox One, there was a litany of deals for lawn chairs or to bulk-buy yoga mats. But even an underwhelming product line won't deter the world's biggest store from trying to make its mid-summer version of Black Friday an annual event. This year, July 12th will play host to more than 100,000 deals that are exclusively for Prime members in 10 countries. As before, the event will be structured around a series of lightning deals, some of which that will pop up as frequently as every five minutes.
Amazon is offering deep smartphone discounts for Prime members
If you're an Amazon Prime member in the market for a new smartphone, you might consider one of these enticing offers. The retail giant is offering exclusive pricing on select unlocked Android phones, including the BLU R1 HD for $49.99 ($50 off its retail price of $99.99) and the Motorola Moto G for $149.99 ($50 off its normal price of $199.99.)
Amazon's new Dash buttons restock Nerf, Play-Doh and more
Since first introducing its connected buttons for easily ordering the goods Prime members use most, Amazon has regularly added new Dash options to its arsenal. Today the retailer tacked on 50 more, including easy ordering for Nerf, Play-Doh, Goldfish crackers, Campbell's soup and dozens of others. You know, in case you lost all of your Nerf darts the day after you bought that last pack. There are new additions for toilet paper, cleaning supplies, groceries and beverages as well.
Ask Alexa to add new features to your Amazon Echo
Amazon opened up Alexa to developers a year ago, and there are now over 1,400 apps or "skills," as the company calls them. To take the hassle out of installing those on your Echo product, it now lets you do it automatically just by asking Alexa. For instance, if you want to test your trivia skills, you say "Echo, enable Jeopardy" and it'll add that third-party app. Up until today, you had to go to the Alexa app, find the skill and then add it manually, so the new feature will save you some time.
Amazon made flipping through books on Kindles and tablets easier
As useful (and as crazy thin) as e-readers can be, there's something terribly satisfying about thumbing through a sheaf of processed plant matter with words on it. While you'll never get the same sensory experience using a Kindle, Amazon at least tried to make it easier to skim through digital books, and you'll get your chance to try it for yourself today. The feature is called Page Flip, and it's coming to Amazon's Kindle app for iOS and Android, along with certain Kindle readers and Fire tablets by way of an automatic, over-the-air update.
Twitch introduces 'Cheering' emotes for tipping streamers
Twitch, the popular game-streaming site, has a funding problem. Not related to the company -- it's owned by Amazon and is just fine -- but its streamers. Like on other video platforms, creators are paid based on ad views and subscriptions, and by all accounts not at a very high rate. While popular streamers make a living -- helped in part by sponsorship deals and the like -- it can be hard for smaller channels to make ends meet. That's why the sub-economy of donations and tips exists, and today, Twitch is trying to formalize that economy with a new feature it calls "Cheering."
Dolby's wide color range technology comes to Amazon Video
Amazon has already dipped its toes into the waters of high dynamic range video, but it's now ready to get its feet wet. The internet giant has started integrating Dolby Vision HDR into its video subscription and purchase services. Watch the right shows (currently Amazon's Bosch and a handful of Sony movies, like Fury) and you'll get a wider color range as well as more details in highlights and shadows. The big catch? Right now, you'll need one of LG's HDR-capable 4K or OLED TVs to notice the difference -- until there's more content and hardware support, this is more of a technology showcase than anything else.
Amazon helps teachers share free digital education tools
Part of the promise of digital education is the ability to share knowledge between schools, but that's not easy when there isn't a central hub for making that happen. Amazon, however, thinks it can help. It's launching Inspire, a free service that helps American educators find and share resources. If a teacher creates useful material for a grade 8 science course, it's just a matter of uploading it and giving it the right tags -- classrooms around the country can then find it when they need to bolster their curriculum.
FAA fines Amazon for two more shipments of unlabeled chemicals
Last week, the FAA announced a $350,000 fine for Amazon after the retailer mishandled chemical shipments that resulted in injuries to UPS workers. Today, the agency hit the company with two more fines totaling $130,000 for similar incidents. In 2014, Amazon shipped separate packages, corrosive rust remover and a flammable gas used to clean air conditioners without properly labeling the boxes or sending along the required paperwork. Failure to do so violates the FAA's hazardous materials guidelines. The box containing Rid O' Rust Stain Preventer Acid leaked through, but there were no injuries reported.
Amazon backs 'Vainglory' mobile eSports tournament
Amazon is throwing its weight behind mobile eSports yet again. The company -- the Amazon Appstore, in particular -- is the main sponsor of the 2016 Vainglory summer eSports season. Vainglory is a multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) game for touchscreen devices, which Apple demoed on stage back in 2014 to show off the power of its A8 chip. It has become the biggest touchscreen eSport since then, convincing Amazon-owned streaming website Twitch to ink a deal with its publisher, Super Evil Megacorp, to broadcast its tournaments.
The new entry-level Kindle is thinner, lighter and still $80
The luxurious Kindle Oasis is no longer the new kid on the block. Amazon just unveiled its new entry-level Kindle device, which is more portable and packs in twice as much RAM (512MB) as the last model. And yes, it's still $80/£60 (with Amazon's "Special Offers" ads). Unfortunately, it doesn't look like the resolution for its 6-inch E Ink screen has been improved at all -- you'll have to bump up to the $120/£110 Paperwhite for sharper text (that model is now available in white, as well).
Feds finalize rules for commercial UAVs
The Federal Aviation Administration and Department of Transportation announced on Tuesday that they had completed the first set of operational rules for commercial UAV flights in the US. Any UAV under 55 pounds and flying for "non-hobbyist purposes" will be subject to the regulations when they come into effect in August. The agencies expect these rules to create 100,000 new jobs and generate $82 billion for the economy over the next decade.
Your iBooks price fixing credit is on its way
Don't fret about your piece of Apple's e-book price fixing settlement -- the check is in the mail, virtually speaking. The attorneys behind the class action lawsuit have revealed that digital credits from the case will start reaching book buyers from various online bookstores (including Apple's iBooks as well as Amazon and Barnes & Noble) as early as June 21st. What you'll get depends on what you bought, mind you, and it's not exactly a windfall.
Tumblr to launch live video with an hour of wacky streams
It seems Tumblr is planning to jump on the live video bandwagon to join Facebook, Twitter and Amazon. The blog platform has posted eight updates on a subdomain that features a logo with the words "Live Video on Tumblr," accompanied by a caption that says, "Launches Tuesday, June 21."
Paris fears Amazon Prime Now will 'destabilize' its economy
Amazon has brought its one-hour grocery delivery service to Paris, and the city isn't thrilled. Prime Now is available to Premium subscribers who pay €49 per year (Prime is called "Premium" in France) with free two-hour deliveries and €6 for one-hour shipping. Besides groceries, the company will ship "thousands" of other products like Kindles and electronics. However, it's the food deliveries that have Paris and its mayor, Anne Hidalgo, most upset. "This service could seriously destabilize the retail balance in Paris," she says.
Amazon's Echo Dot is a great way to bring Alexa to more rooms
I haven't been shy about my love for the Amazon Echo. I wake up with it, and aside from my phone, computers and TV, it's one of the gadgets I rely on most throughout the day. So when Amazon announced the $90 Echo Dot, which brings all its larger sibling's features to any speaker, I was onboard before you could say "Alexa, what's the weather?" I couldn't wait to bring Amazon's Alexa virtual assistant, which is the heart of soul of the Echo, into my bedroom (ahem) and office. It took a long while for the Echo Dot to finally reach me (Amazon, once again, refused to make it available early for reviewers), but after a week of living with it on my nightstand, I'm finding it just as useful as the original.
Logitech beta testing Harmony integration with Amazon Echo
It looks like Amazon's Echo, Echo Dot and Tap could soon be enjoying integration with Logitech's Harmony remote control if an email circulating from Logitech is any indication.
Blue Origin will livestream its next launch on June 19th
Jeff Bezos' spaceflight outfit Blue Origin has kept their first three New Shepard rocket launches under wraps in the past, only posting videos and announcements after the the booster safely returned to Earth. But for its fourth test flight, the company will be streaming the whole thing live from its West Texas launch facility.
