When people think of Amazon Alexa, they probably just associate it with asking questions or playing music. For me and many others, however, the assistant is much more than that. She (Alexa is female) controls my lights, thermostat, and even my television by integrating with my Harmony Hub. While relaxing on my couch, I no longer need to reach for a remote -- I just tell her what to do. Is it laziness? I suppose, but it is very cool too.

While Alexa and Harmony work very well together, there is one big issue. When I call upon Alexa, I can't just tell her what to do -- I must first say "Tell Harmony to" followed by the command. For example, when I want to watch TV, I must say "Alexa, tell Harmony to turn on the TV" rather than just "Alexa, turn on the TV. Today, this changes, as Logitech Harmony gets simplified Amazon Alexa voice controls. In other words, the pesky "tell Harmony to" is no longer needed. Finally!

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The Electronic Frontier Foundation has published the latest edition of its "Who has your back" privacy report. This is the seventh report from the digital rights group, and this year it criticizes both WhatsApp and Amazon for having policies that "fall short of other similar technology companies."

Four big telecom companies -- AT&T, Comcast, T-Mobile, and Verizon -- performed very poorly, while at the other end of the scale Adobe, Credo, Dropbox, Lyft, Pinterest, Sonic, Uber, Wickr, and WordPress were all praised. In all, the report rates 26 technology companies in five key areas relating to privacy and government data requests: "Follows industry-wide best practices," "Tells users about government data requests," "Promises not to sell out users," "Stands up to NSL gag orders" and "Pro-user public policy: Reform 702."

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The stock prices for many major US technology companies nose-dived last night following a computer glitch. The problem also sent shares in Apple, Google, Amazon and Microsoft to the same price after the pre-Independence Day early closure of the stock market.

With all four companies seemingly having a stock price of $123.47, Microsoft's market value appeared to increase by nearly 80 percent, while that of Google and Amazon were both slashed by more the 85 percent. Nasdaq stresses that actual stock prices were not affected, and no trading completed with incorrect pricing.

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Today the European Union gave Apple a great gift to celebrate iPhone's 10th anniversary (on June 29th): The ridiculous, record $2.7 billion fine, and associated sanctions, against Google that once again demonstrates the EU's small-minded oversight that wrongly regulates evolving technologies in a big world. The adverse antitrust ruling finds that the online titan favored its own online shopping services (and paying customers) over rivals.

In February 2010, with the EU Competition Commission's preliminary investigation starting, I rightly called "Google a dangerous monopoly". Seven years later, the competitive landscape has dramatically changed, and rapidly evolves. The Commission's action is too much, too late, and in the short-term can only benefit rivals like Apple that will dominate online activities and commerce as what we knew as traditional web search becomes something else.

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Some people don't like advertisements, but I do. They are a great way to learn about new products while also helping to pay for "free" content. People think I am crazy when I say this, but many times I don't bother fast-forwarding commercials when watching my DVR. Heck, in 2017, there is so much great content that is subsidized by ads, such as news articles, YouTube videos, and of course, both television and radio. If it weren't for advertisements, you would probably be "nickle-and-dimed" at every turn.

A great example of advertisements helping consumers is Amazon's 'Prime Exclusive Phones' program. The consumer gets a discount on the smartphone by agreeing to see ads on the device's lock screen. It is not forced on the buyer -- they get to choose if it is worth it to them. It actually empowers the consumer. Today, Amazon is introducing five more handsets into the scheme from Motorola, Alcatel, and for the first time, Nokia.

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Logitech recently unveiled the versatile Circle 2 -- its second-generation home surveillance camera. Unlike the first version of the cam, the newer variant can be used both indoors and outside. Plus, thanks to the many mounting options, you can position it in many different ways. It looks like a great product.

Today, the Circle 2 gets even more attractive thanks to an upcoming new feature. You see, the internet-connected camera is getting integration with the upcoming Echo Show -- Amazon's assistant device that features a display. This actually makes a lot of sense, as it transforms Amazon's screen-having device into a voice-controlled surveillance monitor.

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Market analyst Gartner has released a new magic quadrant that visualizes how cloud companies are currently sitting in the market. According to the report, Amazon and Microsoft are the sole leaders of the market, with the rest far, far behind.

Amazon Web Services is leading the charge. Microsoft is (sort of) trailing, but it is still considered a leader in the IaaS market.

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Not content with splashing some cash on Whole Foods, Amazon is also spreading out into other new ventures. The latest is Prime Wardrobe, a new clothes shopping service for Prime subscribers that's currently in beta and offers the chance to "try before you buy."

The service ties in with Amazon Fashion, and it covers more than a million items of clothing. Users can select three or more items to have shipped out to them completely free of charge, and payment is only required for anything that's kept. Returns are free, and Amazon gives shoppers a full week to try out clothes.

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Home automation, "the internet of things" or IoT, has been a popular subject for the past couple of years. Unfortunately, that subject isn't always good -- some things have proven infinitely hackable, making it a bit on the worrisome side.

One of the first items to make the mainstream was light bulbs, and we've played around with a few and here is what we have found.

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Personal data and profiling information about millions of American voters has been exposed in what is believed to be the largest ever leak of its kind.

198 million records were found stored on an unsecured Amazon S3 server owned by Deep Root Analytics, a Republican data analytics firm. It is thought that the data, which dates back more than a decade, includes information about every registered American voter.

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My first reaction to Amazon buying Whole Foods is "Huh?" Few brands could be any more different. The online retailer is all about giving customers the most for the least amount spent, while the grocer is the pricey purview of the alt-organic lifestyle elite. No moment is better metaphor for Whole Foods' clientele than the exchange I heard between a thirtysomething couple standing at the deli holding chicken luncheon meat. "Is it free range?" the women asked her husband. It had to be, or she wouldn't buy. They argued. I silently chuckled: luncheon meat—not a bird! It's all pressed meat, Honey. You do know that?

But from another perspective, and one transcending retail store presence, are other considerations, like brand affinity and buyer demographics. For the first, Amazon may be all about value, but in an increasingly middle-class and well-to-do demographic kind of way, particularly among city dwellers. Despite sharing similar cut-throat margin, expansive business philosophies with Walmart, Amazon doesn't carry the same stigma among the socially conscious "better-thans". For the second, who do you think plunks down 99 bucks a year for Prime membership or can't wait for two-day free delivery or is too busy to go to the store to buy groceries? Without hard numbers to back the supposition, I'd bet there is lots of existing and potential regular shopper overlap among these customers and those who walk Whole Foods' aisles.

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Amazon's increasingly overt and aggressive push into the grocery retail market has officially gone into full-blown, alarm-blaring fever-pitch mode today as its plans to acquire the brick-and-mortar chain Whole Foods was publicly announced.

Under the terms of the tentative deal, Amazon will pay $42 per share of Whole Foods stock for a total purchase price of $13.7 billion. At the end of trading yesterday, Whole Foods was going for around $33 per share, making Amazon's offer represent a reasonable 27 percent premium.

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Amazon has launched a new cashback program to attract more people to take out Prime subscriptions. Prime Reload lets subscribers earn 2 percent cashback for making payments with a debit rather than a credit card.

It's not quite as simple as that, however; it's not just a case of filling up your basket and checking out. The Reload part of the name refers to the fact that you need to reload your Amazon Gift Card Balance using a debit card. And there lies the rub -- you need to remember to keep your balance topped up.

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Anyone looking for unlimited cloud storage now has one less option available to them. Amazon is dropping the unlimited storage option for Amazon Drive, meaning that the largest package now available is 30TB.

The unlimited tier has been with us for two years, but it's no longer available for new subscribers, and anyone currently signed up will find their storage space drops when renewal time rolls around. It's not all bad news, however. Amazon Prime subscribers still have access to unlimited cloud storage for photos.

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Amazon is slashing the price of a Prime subscription for US customers in receipt of government assistance. Customers with an Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) card are eligible to have their monthly subscription discounted from $10.99 to $5.99.

There are no restrictions on the cheaper Prime subscriptions, and it includes Prime Video, Prime Music, Prime Reading, Prime Photos and free shipping just like its full-price counterpart, but Amazon points out that EBT cannot be used to pay for membership.

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