'Awexa, play Disney songs' -- Amazon unveils new Echo Dot Kids Edition
While the likes of Google and Apple are making some headway in the home voice assistant market, Amazon remains king. Part of the reason for its success (beyond simply being the first to market) is the retail giant offers a range of Alexa compatible devices to suit every need and budget.
Today, it adds another device to its range, targeting a different, but inevitable demographic -- Echo Dot Kids Edition.
Amazon Key In-Car lets Prime subscribers have orders delivered to their car
Through Amazon Key, Prime subscribers can grant delivery drivers access to their home using a special keypad so packages can be delivered when they're out. Today Amazon announces an extension of the program, Amazon Key In-Car, which lets Prime users have deliveries placed in their cars.
To start with, the service is available in 37 US cities, and there are plans to roll it out further. Shoppers are given a four-hour delivery window during which time their goods can be delivered to their vehicle. To start with, there is support for compatible 2015 or newer Chevrolets, Buicks, GMCs and Cadillacs with an OnStar account, and 2015 or newer Volvos with a Volvo On Call account. Vehicle support is also due to extend.
Amazon launches Alexa Skill Blueprints
The voice assistant hardware market is exploding in popularity lately, with devices running software from Amazon, Google, and to a lesser extent, Apple. We can pretty much leave Cortana out of the conversation despite a very good hardware offering from Harman Kardon.
As Apple's HomePod fails due to a still-disappointing Siri, Google and Amazon's offerings remain the cream of the crop. Which of those two you prefer is a matter of personal preference, although I prefer Alexa having tried both. Today, Alexa is getting a unique new feature that sets it apart from Google even more. Called "Alexa Skill Blueprints," you can easily create custom Skills without any programming experience.
International Shopping experience comes to the Amazon Shopping app
Amazon is making it easier to browse for goods from international sellers and have them shipped to your home country. The company is bringing the "International Shopping" experience to the Amazon Shopping app, and this simplifies the process of accessing Amazon with local language support and to track down items that ship to your country.
The new experience is available to iOS and Android users, and there is support for Spanish, English, Simplified Chinese, Brazilian Portuguese and German. To start with 25 currencies are supported, but more are due to be added later in the year.
Amazon to delete MP3s from its Music Storage service for some users
Subscribers to Amazon's Music Storage service have less than a month to access their music before it is lost forever.
The company has announced that as of April 29, there will be no new subscriptions accepted for the service, and any existing subscriptions will be allowed to expire. If you do not opt to save your MP3s before this happens, you will lose access to them completely.
Amazon launches Prime Student in the UK with one-day delivery, Prime Video and more
University students and anyone in higher education in the UK can now take advantage of Amazon's Prime Student. The monthly plan costs just £3.99 -- half the regular price of Prime -- and it includes unlimited one-day deliveries, access to Prime Video, Prime Music and much more.
Anyone eligible for the program can take advantage of a six-month free trial to see if it's something that works for them. In addition to numerous Amazon services, Prime Student also gives subscribers money off textbooks, stationery and university essentials.
Should Amazon create its own cryptocurrency and banking products?
Amazon is a company that isn’t afraid to take risks, and try new things. Some of its ideas -- like the Echo -- paid off handsomely, while other gambles, like the Amazon Fire Phone, failed miserably.
Amazon is also happy to splash the cash to expand its reach, buying Whole Foods in 2017, and Ring this week. But where can Amazon go next? LendEDU ran a poll of 1,000 American consumers who had purchased something from Amazon in the last 30 days, and asked them whether they’d be interested in using an Amazon-created cryptocurrency for purchases, or banking with the retail giant. The results may surprise you.
Amazon buys smart doorbell and home security firm Ring for over $1 billion
Amazon has opened up its wallet and splashed more than $1 billion on buying Ring. Famed for its selection of smart doorbells, security cameras and other security devices, the purchase of the Santa Monica, California firm is Amazon's latest foray into home security.
While details of the deal are currently a little thin on the ground, it is expected that the Ring name will live on, and it is likely that future products released under the brand will feature Alexa smart assistant integration.
Apple iCloud now powered by Google Cloud, not Microsoft Azure
Public Cloud is a massive business for tech giants like Amazon, Microsoft and Google. Amazon Web Services (AWS) is currently the clear leader, with 62 percent share, followed by Microsoft Azure, on 20 percent, and Google on just 12 percent.
However, Google has scored an important win over Microsoft, replacing its rival as the cloud infrastructure service Apple relies on for its own iCloud services.
Amazon offers refunds to people who paid to remove ads from Prime Exclusive Phones
For anyone looking to bag a bargain-priced handset, Amazon Prime Exclusive Phones were a great idea. There was just one drawback: lockscreen ads. Of course, there was the option to pay to hide the advertising, but that sort of negated the benefit of the initial low price.
Last week, Amazon announced it was going to get rid of these ads. This is great news for owners of Prime Exclusive Phones, but it irked people who had paid for ad removal. Now Amazon has announced that it will be offering refunds to anyone who parted with money to hide ads.
Official Amazon Music app for Windows 10 lands in the Microsoft Store
Part of the reason why Windows 10 S failed was because it only allowed software from the Microsoft Store and the Store is famously lacking in quality apps.
It’s always news when a big name app arrives in the Store, and today Amazon Music debuts there for users in the US, UK, Germany, Austria, France, Italy, Spain and Japan.
Amazon removing lock screen ads from Prime Exclusive Phones
Amazon’s Prime Exclusive Phone Program is very admirable. True, Amazon itself benefits from selling these devices, but ultimately, the true winners are consumers. If you aren’t familiar, these Android phones are priced very low because they are subsidized by lock screen advertisements. It allows people that are struggling financially (or those that just like to save money) to achieve a solid phone at an affordable price.
Today, the Prime Exclusive Phone program gets even better. You see, Amazon is dropping the lock screen ads! In other words, Prime members can now score affordable phones with no gimmicks. Amazon will even issue updates to existing Prime phones to remove ads from them too. Nice!
Ask Amazon Echo who will win the Super Bowl, Alexa may surprise you
Amazon Echo is amazing. That's my personal opinion of course, but I use it for various things every day. And yes, I know that some of you who wear tin-foil hats will say Amazon is listening to everything. It may well be, but I don't really care, I've accepted that trade-off in exchange for functionality.
I regularly use it to set a timer for cooking or baking, checking sports scores, game schedules, playing music and much more.
illy Y5 DRS Espresso and Coffee System has integrated Amazon Dash technology
Coffee... is life. For me, and countless other people, the drink is responsible for daily motivation. Without a cup or two (or five) of the caffeinated beverage, I’d probably be asleep at my desk all the time.
If you live alone or simply don’t want to deal with brewing entire pots of coffee, single-serve pods have proven to be a godsend (not so great for the environment, though). You can quickly make a cup without stress. A new coffee system is looking to make coffee pods even easier. The "illy Y5 DRS Espresso and Coffee System," as it is called, can connect to your smartphone via Bluetooth for more intuitive controls. Even cooler, it can leverage Amazon Dash technology for automatic coffee pod reordering. How clever!
Amazon Go, the AI-powered, checkout-free store, is now open in Seattle
Today sees the opening of the first Amazon Go store. The online retailer is looking to change the face of real-world shopping with its AI-powered brick and mortar stores that are free from checkouts and time-consuming lines.
Anyone shopping in the new Seattle store will find that they are constantly monitored by cameras as they shop, with the camera monitoring which items they place in their baskets. Customers are automatically billed when they leave the store.
Recent Headlines
© 1998-2025 BetaNews, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy - Cookie Policy.