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eBay retires stand-alone, same-day delivery apps
When eBay Now first surfaced two years ago, it appeared in the guise of an iOS app that promised same-day delivery for products sold by local stores. The service managed to pick up some steam (or at least that's what company execs led us to believe) but after a burst of bad news over the summer, eBay's grand app experiment has finally bit the dust. Over the weekend, the company quietly pulled the eBay Now app from its spots in the iOS and Android app stores, a turn of events that Reuters called well ahead of time. Don't fret, though! The thing is, eBay Now's heart still beats -- it's just being transplanted into a different body.
Starbucks' new app will let you skip the line and sort delivery
Love your morning coffee break, but hate having to wait in line amongst the masses? Well, Starbucks will allow you to skip the line entirely with its new app. Just place your order via that trusty smartphone, and you'll be able to walk in and pick it up. Of course, the company's mobile software sorts payments too, which certainly helps expedite the process. What's more, plans for a delivery option are in the works for folks who belong to its loyalty program -- but only in select markets. "Imagine the ability to create a standing order of Starbucks delivered hot to your desk daily," CEO Howard Schultz said. "That's our version of e-commerce on steroids." The new version of the bean-slinging mobile app is set to arrive in December, beginning with Portland, Oregon before a nation-wide rollout in 2015. [Image credit: Jason Alden/Bloomberg via Getty Images]
DHL will do delivery-by-drone, but only for one tiny European island
While Netflix laughs, Amazon petitions and Google runs tests in New Zealand, DHL is about to actually launch drone delivery for its customers -- sort of. Of course, it's a rather limited launch, since the only eligible recipients are residents of Juist, a German island in the North Sea. DHL has been testing its PaketKopter system since late last year. Now, in partnership with the German government, it's established a flight path for its UAVs to take off and fly themselves 12km from a harbor in Norddeich to the island at a height of about 50m (164 feet) and up to 18 m/s (about 40mph). There's still no plans to use these for regular service, but you can get a peek at the drone in action by checking out the video after the break.
NASA explains why you won't get a drone delivery anytime soon
Delivery drones are great at exactly one job right now: generating buzz. However, NASA has told the New York Times that actual widget-shipping drones from Amazon or Google are still far in the future. And the space agency should know: it has taken on the task of developing an "air traffic control" (ATC) system for drones flying below 400 feet. Such a system would be run by computers without human aid, and take into account weather, air traffic, geographic obstacles and other factors. The space agency is quite familiar with existing air traffic issues, as it has been advising the FAA on the NextGen system for "real" planes. Armed with that know-how, it sees a number of problems for UAV couriers.
Google shows off 'Project Wing' delivery drones
Amazon is selling a phone and reportedly even getting into the online ad business, so of course Google is ready to compete with its still-in-testing Prime Air drone delivery service. The Atlantic has a report on what is being called "Project Wing," a part of the Google X labs that have worked on Project Loon, Glass, driverless cars and so much more. As shown above, the idea is for a tail sitter unmanned aircraft (shown above, described as a hybrid between a plane and a helicopter that takes off and lands vertically), where the drone flies in like a plane, then hovers and lowers a package to the ground by wire before releasing it. The "egg" at the end of the wire hits the ground and drops the package before being pulled back up into the drone. So can you expect to receive a Google Shopping Express order this way anytime soon? Probably not right away, as the test shown took place in Australia, and there's plenty of testing and regulatory hurdles to get over before anyone is dropping off packages this way. If you're an interested partner (hey Netflix, maybe drones aren't a joke?) there's a sign-up sheet available. Update: Check after the break for a video of the project.
Uber's Corner Store delivery service takes aim at Amazon in Washington, DC
Uber leveraged couriers in NYC to deliver goods a few months back, and now it's offering drop-offs of convenience items to folks in certain areas of Washington, DC. The company's Corner Store "experiment" uses its drivers to take over 100 items -- like toothpaste, vitamins, allergy medicine and others -- to folks in need who make a request through the smartphone app. Along the bottom of the UI, there's now an appropriately-named option that allows you to set/confirm your location, and if a driver is free for a delivery, you'll get a list of what's available before they call to take your order. The system is already in place in cities across the US for its car service, so leveraging idle Uber drivers for a diaper run takes aim at Amazon's (and others) same-day delivery. Right now, the service is available during the week from 9 AM to 9 PM and the outfit says the program is only slated to run for a limited time. Unless, of course, it's super popular.
Barnes & Noble looks to Google to rival Amazon's same-day book deliveries
Need that yoga for dogs book yesterday? You can now get it "today" at least from Barnes & Noble, who have joined Amazon with same-day book deliveries. It's enlisting an odd partner for the service: Google, one if its competitors in the e-book space. With Shopping Express, Google has been delivering goods for a while, and the NYT says it wants to take on Amazon's same-day book deliveries by working with Barnes & Noble. The service will be free for Shopping Express subscribers (Amazon Prime members pay $5.99 per same-day delivery), and will cost $4.99 for non-members, compared to $9.98 on Amazon. Instead of ordering through Barnes & Noble's website, you'll need to go directly through a participating outlet, which will pass the delivery on to Google. You can do so at stores in Manhattan, West Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay area, with expansion coming soon to Queens and Brooklyn.
Amazon's same-day delivery expands in six cities
If you're the sort who just can't wait to get household goods but cringe at having to brave the lines at the local store, today might be your lucky day. Amazon has officially expanded its same-day delivery options in six cities that include Baltimore, Dallas, Indianapolis, New York City, Philadelphia and Washington, DC. You can now order from a catalog of a million common items (such as movies, games and supplies) and expect to get the shipment within hours. You can pull the trigger as late as 12:15PM in most places, and up to 1PM in Baltimore and Washington. Just be prepared to pay for those urgent arrivals. As before, same-day shipping costs $10 (plus 99 cents for every extra item) if you're an ordinary customer, and $6 for all items if you're a Prime subscriber.
Square just bought a restaurant delivery company
Here's something unexpected: Square -- the company that turned your cell phone into a credit card reader -- just purchased Caviar, a company that delivers food from restaurants that don't normally deliver. It's an unexpected acquisition; Caviar is a consumer facing service, while Square tends to market its services to independent businesses. Still, Square CEO Jack Dorsey says the purchase is completely on track with the company's goals.
Amazon now offers two-day Prime shipping within Europe
Amazon believes its European distribution network is pretty damn solid, so to prove that, it's added a new delivery tier for Prime members within Europe. From today, subscribers can enjoy free two-day deliveries on over a million products stored in other EU countries. Previously, Amazon would make you wait between 3-7 days, but thanks to a number of "improvements and innovations in its cross border delivery network," the company reckons it can offer expedited shipping on more than 3 million products by year end. Although most will continue to rely on domestic next-day deliveries (when available), Amazon's expansion will be welcome news to those who can only get what they need from sellers in other countries.
Uber and Google are just getting started
This week, Google announced a huge update to its Maps app on Android and iOS, bringing new tools such as lane guidance along with one particularly intriguing feature: Uber integration. If you have the ride-sharing service's app on your phone, Uber will show up as an option when you search for public-transit directions, and you'll be able to jump into the Uber app from Maps to order a ride. Google's clearly favoring one ride-ordering app over others like Hailo and Lyft. Of course, Uber's integration with Maps will mean nothing to you if you don't already have the app on your phone, but for current customers, it's one more reminder that a ride's just a few taps away. Looking at the larger picture, though, this move points to Google's (literal) investment in Uber -- and it could be the first step in a wide-reaching partnership between the two companies. Driverless rides to the airport, anyone?
Amazon's same-day delivery service adds two cities, but loses one
Amazon's same-day delivery option has been a boon to impatient shoppers in those few areas where it's available, and it's significantly expanding its reach today -- with one notable exception. The speedy shipping is now available in Dallas and San Francisco, letting locals get some of their orders on a given day by 9PM that night. If you're not an early riser, you'll also be happy to know that cutoff times for same-day ordering are getting later. Those in Dallas, Los Angeles, Phoenix, San Francisco and Seattle can purchase as late as 12:15PM and still expect a package by the evening. Indianapolis residents, meanwhile, can check out by 11:30AM instead of the previous (and not very realistic) 7AM.
Amazon is setting up a US delivery network to ship your orders faster
Amazon isn't waiting for the advent of courier drones to ship your orders faster than usual: the Wall Street Journal reports that the e-commerce giant has been testing its own US delivery network in New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco. Described in job listings as Last Mile, the initiative is meant to outperform established shippers like FedEx and UPS. These companies are increasing costs, can't always meet capacity and are "impeding innovation in delivery services," Amazon says in one job description.
Amazon to invest in the UK's least popular delivery service
With Prime subscriptions on the rise, Amazon is constantly exploring ways to cut the cost of regular home deliveries. One option the retail giant is considering is to invest in the companies that deliver its parcels, with UK courier firm Yodel currently the object of its desire. The Guardian reports that the two companies have agreed a deal that could see Amazon acquire 4.2 percent of the UK's least popular parcel delivery service for £8.7 million. While Yodel is now the second biggest service of its kind behind recently-privatized Royal Mail, customers haven't been so supportive, putting the company at the bottom of the delivery polls for the second year running. Amazon continues to use a variety of delivery firms across the world, but the company has recently begun using its own trucks to deliver parcels in the US. It's not clear whether Amazon could amass a bigger fleet on the other side of the Atlantic, but strategic investments such as this suggest it could be a possibility.
Report: Two-thirds of Kickstarter projects have yet to deliver
According to research unveiled earlier this month from Evil as a Hobby, video game Kickstarter projects have shown a delivery rate of 37 percent. The findings are a result of manual data collection during the turn of the new year of 366 total successful projects funded from 2009 through 2012, all of which was divulged in a separate post on the site. The data set notes that 357 successfully-funded projects were due for release before January 2014, of which 2.8 percent were formally canceled by their creators and an additional 2.2 percent were formally listed as "on hiatus." Interestingly enough, those rates decreased year-over-year, with the cancellation rate of 2012's 262 projects set at just 1.9 percent. Evil as a Hobby found that the monetary value of the 119 delivered projects amounts to $16,879,712, which compared to that of the 149 as-yet-undelivered projects: $21,964,861. It's important to keep in mind that 58 percent of the projects are ongoing; each may still deliver to their respective backers. So, the 37 percent delivery rate ultimately denotes the rate at which developers are missing their initial deadlines, which may not be all that uncommon in the gaming space. Steadily decreasing failure and cancellation rates do indicate a maturation of the crowdfunding space as it relates to video games, a growth seen in our own Crowdfund Bookie's findings. During a six-month period in 2013, 186 video game projects on Kickstarter and Indiegogo earned over $23 million collectively. [Image: Evil as a Hobby]
Deutsche Post shows off its Paketkopter drone delivery service in Germany
Well, it looks as if Amazon really started a trend since taking the wraps off of its Prime Air service. Not long after UPS said it, too, was experimenting with a delivery method lead by drones, Deutsche Post DHL, which is deemed to be the world's largest carrier, has begun to test its very own service in the German city of Bonn. Earlier today, the company used what it is calling the Paketkopter to transport and deliver a box of medicines across the Rhine river, with the entire trip totaling about 0.6 mile and taking the drone around two minutes to complete it. Although this particular Paketkopter model was being controlled by humans, Deutsche Post did say there is an option for its drones to be flown without any assistance and have them rely solely on GPS. However, the parcel carrier isn't actually planning to launch a drone delivery service anytime soon, noting that this stage is only "the beginning of the research project." We'd suggest paying the DW link below a visit, where you'll find a video of the Paketkopter's first successful mini trek.
UPS experimenting with delivery drones, set to challenge Amazon's Prime Air
When Jeff Bezos went on 60 Minutes and mentioned that Amazon was experimenting with delivery drones, we knew it was only a matter of time before other companies revealed similar plans. And, one day later, sources at UPS have told The Verge that the delivery giant has its own unmanned flying couriers in the lab. Publicly, the company is largely keeping silent, saying only that "the commercial use of drones is an interesting technology and we'll continue to evaluate it." But Ryan Calo, a law professor specializing in drones, isn't afraid to speculate about what the program might look like. While he doesn't rule out Amazon's ambitious vision of an octo-copter dropping a package at your doorstep, he believes the first versions will be much more limited in scope. For example, he foresees a company like UPS using the self-piloted vehicles to move packages from airports and major cities to more remote pickup points. It wouldn't be quite as convenient as having a robot bring your family's Christmas gifts to your home, but it would certainly speed up delivery while keeping the cost in check. It would hardly be a surprise if UPS beat other delivery firms and Amazon to the punch on this one, as it invests quite heavily in R&D. According to a spokesperson, "UPS invests more in technology than any other company in the delivery business, and we're always planning for the future." That's hardly a surprise coming from the company that already offers 3D printing services at some of its retail locations.
Amazon begins deliveries to US and UK customers on a Sunday
If you can't wait for the working week to begin again in order to receive your latest delivery, Amazon has some good news for you. The company says it has teamed up with the US Postal Service (USPS) to deliver packages to all customers on Sundays, starting this week in New York and Los Angeles. Amazon's so excited that "now every day is an Amazon delivery day" it'll expand its service to include customers in Dallas, Houston, New Orleans, Phoenix and other US cities within the next year. There's no word on whether the company intends to bring extended weekend deliveries to other countries, so for now, people living in Amazon's first two test cities will be the only customers seeing the new Sunday delivery promise when they go to checkout. Update: The Wall Street Journal reports that Londoners will get Sunday deliveries too. Amazon is set to use its own vehicles to deliver packages "later this month." We've also updated the article to show that, contrary to wording in Amazon's press release, Sunday deliveries will be available to everyone -- not just Prime members.
Google's first batch of BufferBox delivery lockers arrives in San Francisco
There may be a few less places to find an Amazon delivery locker after Staples and Radio Shack announced they were removing them from their stores, but Google's competing offering is now getting a boost with its biggest expansion to date. The company announced today that it's bringing its BufferBox lockers to San Francisco, marking the first expansion of the delivery service into the US since Google acquired the Canadian company late last year. Much like Amazon's lockers, the BufferBox service simply lets you direct deliveries to a locker instead of your own address if you don't expect to be at home -- a service that remains completely free for the time being. This latest expansion also brings integration with Google's recently announced Shopping Express service and mobile apps, which can now be used to direct same-day deliveries to a BufferBox locker. Those in SF can find a full list of locker locations at the source link below.
Google Shopping Express intros new mobile app, expands Bay Area service
Google began testing its new same-day delivery service, Shopping Express, with a limited trial for San Francisco customers back in March, and it's apparently proven successful enough for an expansion. Starting today, residents of the greater Bay Area -- from San Francisco to San Jose -- can streamline their to-do list by having local stores deliver straight to their doors. Included on the list of participating retailers are national giants like Target, Toys R Us, Walgreens, Staples and Whole Foods (just to name a few), though some smaller businesses will also take part. The service is also expanding to mobile phones, as Google is launching a new Shopping Express app for both Android and iOS devices; with it, you can search for items, browse different stores and place orders from your phone. For more information, check out the source link below.
