Jeff Bezos
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Jeff Bezos buys 'The Washington Post' for $250 million in cash
Some big (and surprising) news in the media industry today: The Washington Post has just confirmed that it and its affiliated publications have been acquired by Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos for $250 million in cash. The paper notes that Amazon itself "will have no role in the purchase," and that Bezos "will buy the news organization and become its sole owner when the sale is completed, probably within 60 days." It also goes on to explain that the existing Washington Post Company, which owns a number of other businesses (including Slate), "will change to a new, still-undecided name and continue as a publicly traded company without The Post thereafter." In an interview with the paper, the Post Co.'s chief executive, Donald Graham, says that "The Post could have survived under the company's ownership and been profitable for the foreseeable future. But we wanted to do more than survive," adding, "I'm not saying this guarantees success but it gives us a much greater chance of success." In a letter to Post employees, Bezos, who was apparently one of several suitors considered by the company, says that he "won't be leading The Washington Post day-to-day," but that "there will of course be change at The Post over the coming years," and that "we will need to invent, which means we will need to experiment."
Amazon's latest employee patent won't pay you for unsatisfactory work
Jeff Bezos seems like a nice guy with big dreams (and a bigger wallet), but some Amazon patents make us worry that there's a sour cherry at the heart of all that whipped cream. The retailer has been awarded a patent entitled "Facilitating improvement in the results of human performance of tasks," but is actually concerned with not paying potential digital employees if their services are deemed to be unsatisfactory. Those whose efforts are judged and found wanting could have the option of taking a reduced cut of the original fee, or getting computer-aided feedback on how to improve and snag the rest. While we hope this one remains locked inside a Seattle filing cabinet, we can just see how Judge Judy's going to react when people take Mechanical Turk disputes public.
Amazon eyeing up TI's smartphone chip business, according to Israeli newspaper
Remember when Texas Instruments revealed it was planning to dump its mobile processor business in favor of embedded systems? Israeli business sheet Calcalist is reporting that Amazon is in "advanced negotiations" to snap up that part of TI's OMAP division, which currently supplies processors for the Kindle Fire and the Nook HD. The paper suggests the company is emulating Apple's purchases of chip designers in order to lower the price of future hardware -- which it currently sells at cost.
Bezos: Amazon breaks even on Kindle devices, not trying to make money on hardware
Amazon makes a pretty good case for its Kindle Fire HD and Paperwhite with prices as low as $199 and $119 respectively, but it turns out there's more at work than just special offers to keep them affordable. In an interview with the BBC, the company's head honcho Jeff Bezos revealed that they can keep the price tags reasonable since they don't turn a profit on the devices. "Basically, we sell the hardware at our cost, so it is break even on the hardware," Bezos said. "We're not trying to make money on the hardware." Instead, Amazon banks on making a buck when owners of the slates and e-readers purchase books, movies, games and other content through their digital storefront. This doesn't exactly come as a surprise, but we're glad that Jeff's confirmed our suspicions.
Editorial: Bring on the ads, Amazon
Huge week for Amazon, last week. But all that Kindly goodness was nearly upstaged by lock-screen ad nonsense. When I searched on the keyword "amazon" in my RSS tech folder, Friday and Saturday of last week looked like two big parade floats: "OMG, there are ads on the new Kindle tablet!" and "Praise the heavens, you can disable the ads!" Tempest in a teapot, those ads. And Amazon took the wrong approach to removing them.
Amazon unveils new Kindle Fire with doubled RAM, 44 percent better performance and $159 price
Amazon has officially unveiled the 2012 vintage of the Kindle Fire, which is reportedly 44 percent more powerful than its predecessor. The service-orientated slate (as opposed to a gadget, which CEO Jeff Bezos claims nobody wants) comes with a bigger battery, a new processor and 1GB RAM -- double that of the 2011 model. The only other change comes in the form of a front-facing camera, unlike its closest rival. Internally, the device is called the Kindle SD as it now plays second-fiddle to a pair of Kindle Fire HD devices with 1,920 x 1,200 displays, but will be called the "new" Kindle Fire in public. Amazon has also slashed the price of the hardware, which at $159 is $40 cheaper than Google's Nexus 7 -- as well as competing with e-book tablet adversaries Kobo Arc and the forthcoming Nook Tablet replacement with an "incredible" 243ppi display, unless Barnes & Noble are also producing SD and HD hardware. It'll begin shipping on September 14th, with pre-orders expected to begin very soon. %Gallery-164584% %Gallery-164613%
Amazon's Kindle Fire has sold out just in time for the company's next big event
Amazon has just announced that the Kindle Fire has joined the Kindle Touch on the out-of-stock list, presumably forever, a week before the company's mysterious product announcement. Jeff Bezos has teased that the company's got an "exciting roadmap" ahead, which we'd expect to include at least one touchscreen e-reader and a vastly revamped 7-inch tablet, designed to better compete with Google's similarly sized budget offering.
Boeing, SpaceX win NASA 'space taxi' funding race (updated)
NASA has reportedly picked Boeing and SpaceX as the two companies to receive primary funding for the "Commercial Crew Program." The news was reportedly leaked to NBC News' Jay Barbree, but all parties involved have refused to comment until NASA makes the official announcement later today. While Boeing and SpaceX are likely to take home the bulk of $1 billion in funding, Sierra Nevada has been picked as the "standby" candidate -- with a mandate to step in if either primary partner fails. If true, then it means that Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin has been cut out of the race entirely -- although disappointment is easier to take if you're a billionaire... we've heard. Update: NASA's confirmed its picks, with back-up choice Sierra Nevada picking up $212.5 million, while Space X and Boeing got $440 million and $460 million, respectively. To celebrate, SpaceX's crafted another stargazing video -- it's right after the break.
Blue Origin dishes more details on its Bezos-backed spacecraft
Blue Origin typically keeps pretty tight-lipped about its projects. The private space-travel firm claims it prefers to talk about what is has done, rather than what it hopes to do. As such, We recently heard about its "Space Vehicle" (that's its actual name,) having completed wind-tunnel testing, and now the firm (partly funded by Amazon's Jeff Bezos) has revealed a little more. The craft in question is a seven-seater, and it took 180 rigorous tests to get to the final design. Blue Origin has been working with NASA under the agency's CCDev program, which awarded the firm $22 million to develop the project. Under the same initiative, Blue Origin is about to start testing on its BE-3 engine thrust chamber, which will help give the BE-3 rocket motor its 100,000 pounds of thrust. Once complete, this engine will be used in the company's multi-launch vehicle, and is currently on the test stand at NASA's Stennis Space Center, Mississippi. We'll spare you the puns about it not being "rocket science."
Commercial space shuttle prototypes fly through wind tunnel testing
A pair of companies developing their own commercial space shuttles are presumably trying to flatten their hair after some rigorous wind tunnel testing. First up, Blue Origin, founded by Jeff Bezos (the guy behind Amazon), a company that's remained pretty quiet on its efforts to shuttle astronauts to the International Space Station. Its Space Vehicle setup will plump for a biconic shape (seen above), with a flattened side and a split flap. According to Blue Origin's president, Rob Meyerson, the shape allows greater volume than traditional designs, but forgo the "weight penalty" of winged craft. Compared to earlier capsules, the Space Vehicle's shape, with its fuselage flap to generate lift, should also give it better control on re-entry to earth.Juggling for wind tunnel time, Sierra Nevada's Dream Chaser has also been blasted with smoke to test its own air resistance credentials. Its module would launch from the top of the rocket, and glide (as much as anything that costs this much can) back to earth like NASA's own space shuttles. The Dream Chaser is planning its first flight for this fall. You can check out its more traditional take on the future of space travel after the break -- and decide which of the two you'll want sending your children to the mines.[Picture credit: Blue Origin, SNC]
Amazon's Bezos finds Apollo 11 rocket engines in ocean, contemplates shipping options
Ya' know, there's nothing like a little rocket engine hunting to save oneself from the doldrums of generating billions of dollars in revenue in the private sector. At least that appears to be the case for Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos, who spearheaded an ocean expedition to find the F-1 engines used in the Apollo 11 mission. Forget newer stuff like the GENIE, Vega and Slytherin's SuperDraco -- the classic F-1 is still the rocket engine that ignites Bezos' proverbial liquid fuel. Having found his prize resting 14,000 feet below the surface via deep sea sonar, Bezos' team is now trying to recover at least one of the engines. Bezos says NASA still retains ownership of the F-1s but he's hoping the agency will allow one of them to be displayed at the Museum of Flight in Amazon's home turf of Seattle if both are successfully retrieved. No word on whether the rocket engines will be delivered via Super Saver Shipping.
How would you change Amazon's Kindle Fire?
The Kindle Fire is less a tablet and more a $200 window into Amazon's storefront. The 7-inch slate that shares its DNA with the BlackBerry PlayBook lacks any physical features bar a micro-USB port, headphone jack and speaker. Internally, that 1GHz CPU is paired up with 512MB of RAM and 8GB storage, with no option for increased size, Bluetooth, 5GHz WiFi or 3G. Performance was fine inside the company's carousel sandbox, but step outside and things became outrageously herky-jerky, especially in the Silk browser, which didn't live up to its name. We found that there was plenty we'd like to change to make it more of a useful tablet, but did we miss the point? You probably had one bought for you in the Holidays and it's had three or four months solid use since then, so what do you think? Is it a good companion on your daily commute, did it justify winning our E-Reader of the year prize and if Jeff Bezos was reading all of your comments in anticipation for version two, what would you demand he changes?
Amazon marks 'best holiday' for Kindle devices, fills stockings full of cash
It was yet another solid year for Amazon's Kindle family of products. The mega online retailer sent out its yearly post-Christmas card, bragging about moving "well over one million Kindle devices per week" for December, making it the best holiday yet for the e-reader / tablet line, according to the company. Three Kindles held the top spots on the site's list of best sellers, led by the Fire, the Touch and the plain old fourth generation Kindle. No exact numbers from Amazon, as per usual, but it looks to have been a pretty green Christmas for Bezos and co. Jingle all the way to the celebratory press release after the jump.
Amazon reportedly considered a RIM purchase, 'commercial partnership' still on the table
According to those all-knowing "people with knowledge," Research in Motion could've been cut down to a single CEO company -- that is, if Amazon would've pushed through with its purported takeover wishes. Based on a new Reuters report, the same company shipping out your grandmother's holiday gifts was hot-to-trot on the idea of buying RIM, but those desires seemingly cooled after the BlackBerry maker decided that it'd rather "fix its problems on its own." Wildly enough, the report states that an investment bank was hired earlier this summer "to review a potential merger with RIM," but no formal offer was ever extended. Of course, it's not atypical to hear of Amazon buying unusual assets -- it's snapped up everything from a touchscreen startup to a UK-based movie streaming and rental service -- and sources have affirmed that "other kinds of commercial partnerships" could still be in the cards. In fact, the two are rumored to be actively discussing ways to "expand their commercial ties, which currently include a service launched last year to make Amazon's music catalog available to some BlackBerry users." BBM for the Kindle ecosystem? Zanier things have come to pass.
Bezos' New Shepard takes off and escorts itself back to the landing pad (video)
Since being awarded $22 million from NASA to develop a commercial space vehicle, Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin has been relatively quiet. There's been a couple of test flights, one of which didn't end so well for the water tank-shaped ship, but we haven't actually gotten to see the New Shepard (a nod to Alan Shepard) in action. Well friends, take a gander after the break to see the reusable, suborbital launch vehicle climb a short distance into the air then gracefully settle back down with the aid its landing thrusters. This particular craft is meant to launch a separate passenger capsule on short suborbital flights, but Blue Origin is also working on an orbital vehicle. But, please, don't waste any more time -- go watch the take off and landing below.
Amazon Prime adds new reading option with Kindle Owners Lending Library
Amazon's home page has a new message for Prime members from CEO Jeff Bezos, indicating that their membership plan has a new bonus: free books. The Kindle Owners Lending Library service offers up to one book per month from a selection of thousands of titles, including "over 100 current and former New York Times Bestsellers" with no due dates. That's in addition to the free two-day shipping and access to TV shows and movies offered through Prime Instant Video as a part of the $79/year package. Of course, it also serves to the platform lock-in tighter between a suddenly very compelling subscription entertainment service, and its hardware (you will need a Kindle device, from what we're reading the apps won't work), including the upcoming Kindle Fire. Fans of the E inked word can check out the press release after the break for a few more details. [Thanks, Straton & Abbas]
Big publishers to provide fuel for Amazon's Kindle Fire tablet?
So, word on the street is that Amazon's got an Android-based tablet in the works that looks like a PlayBook and will probably be called the Kindle Fire. But, until now, we didn't know what kind of content would be available on this new Kindle with a color screen. According to All Things D, Bezos' baby has been blessed by Hearst, Conde Nast and Meredith publishers in time for the slate's unveiling later this week -- giving users access to magazines ranging from GQ and Cosmopolitan to Car and Driver and Wired. Evidently, Amazon's taking around a 30 percent cut (not unlike the competition in Cupertino) of slate-based subscriptions, with small variations depending upon the magazine. With these latest leaked tidbits, we're beginning to wonder what details are left for Amazon to reveal on Wednesday -- a little mystery adds to the anticipation, after all.
Amazon CEO's flying water tank crashes, leaves dent in his space travel dream
In a moment of profound candidness, Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos has revealed that the mid-air failure of his unmanned spaceship 11 days ago was "not the outcome any of us wanted." The searing truth of his statement is certainly borne out by the fact that NASA has poured millions of dollars of funding into Bezos's space company, Blue Origin, in the hope that it will one day ferry people to the ISS and replace the scuttled shuttle program. Indeed, Blue Origin's latest craft looked every inch a shuttle-beater until it suddenly went berserk at 45,000 feet, forcing the Asimovian onboard computer to cut power and nose dive into the ground in an effort to avoid civilian casualties. Not an ideal result, to be sure, but Jeff is hardly likely to give up on his starry ambitions -- everybody knows he has a thing for thrusters.
Jeff Bezos drops phone, has eureka moment, patents mini airbags
Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos must have time on his hands and butter on his fingers. Why else would he have personally signed this patent application for a horrendously complicated "damage avoidance system?" It involves using a smartphone's inbuilt motion sensors to detect a free-fall calamity, then sending an emergency signal to a separate protective sleeve, which finally "deploys an airbag prior to contact." Heck, if we're going down that road Jeff, why not just stick some mini thrusters on it and make it hover?
Bezos says 'stay tuned' on potential Amazon tablet
Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos didn't confirm a Samsung-built tablet today, but he's not saying no -- in fact, the tell-it-like-it-is founder of the massive e-tailer suggested quite the opposite in an interview with Consumer Reports. "Stay tuned" was the answer, and then Bezos told the publication that if such a device were on the way, it would be complementary to Amazon's existing Kindle, as Bezos doesn't want to disturb the market for that "dedicated reading device." If we were to read between the lines -- which is often a bad idea -- we'd say that could pave the way for an Amazon tablet to launch without a sunlight-readable screen, but it could just be that a tablet would be pricier, while the Kindle could remain relatively cheap. Speaking of E Ink, the CEO said that a color version "is not ready for prime time." As of January, we'd agree.
